Work trip restaurants have no vegetarian options and I hate fuss

[Clockinginat2pm]

Away abroad with work.
We have clients with us, there’s a few of us flown over.
Activities all organised by head office, lovely, it’s really well organised day & evening.
Restaurants booked for each evening… Smash burger place and steak & fish place x2. Checked out menus and there is zero, and I mean zero vegetarian option on any of the menus at all. Starters/mains ALL meat or fish pf some form. There’s not even any sides (which would usually be more go to)

I do not want to draw ANY attention to myself at all as I am excruciatingly dreading these events as I am introvert, socially extremely anxious and feeling very very out of my depth with it all.

Fade into the background is my main aim..

So, do I order something with meat/fish & just pretend to eat it and be hungry for a few days?

I don’t speak the language, the waiter from last night spoke no English so ringing them to order something else is not an option here at all. (I ended up with an appetiser of grilled asparagus which I couldn’t eat so pushed it around my plate for 40 minutes.

Ive used my emergency pack of biscuits as I was starving.
What would you do in my shoes???

You need to speak to the boss!!! Don’t be ridiculous and grow up and use your words!!!

Where are you in case of any mn locals?
but absolutely no veg sides? No soups?

Not even any chips? At a smash burger place?

Who at head office organised it, and where is head office based? Can you call whoever organised it and let them know there is a vegetarian offering issue? I once attended a conference in spain where they had catered for two vegetarians (of which I was one) and we were given tofu cubes on a skewer.

What about hotel breakfast? Can you sneak fruit / bread into your bag for the day? Can you ask the hotel to provide food? Frankly, office should cover -- they are not providing you with food you can eat so you are not being unreasonable.

In other words -- there are ways you can fix this without needing to be visibly making a fuss with the group that you were with.

Talk to your boss. It’s fine to tell them.

Are you in a hotel? Talk to the hotel if so.

Or google translate ‘plain salad no meat or fish please’.

use google translate on your phone and show the message to the restaurants?

Also, why couldn't you eat the asparagus? Is it anxiety making you unable to eat?

If you are that anxious about eating (which my DD is) you need to be bringing crackers / nuts with you.

Nice. Thanks for that. Helpful.
Once I return I will, right now I’m here and they ain’t going to change the itinerary now just me now are they.

They won't change the itinerary but the restaurants WILL be able to provide veggie food, even if not on the menu. Someone needs to ask them; and if you don't speak the language you need help doing so. Head office or boss.

It had some form of meat wrapped around it. I did try picking it off but it was fused…

Speak to the senior person on the trip and explain the situation. People will have noticed you're not eating. I would be annoyed / perplexed as to why a colleague couldn't explain why they weren't eating.

Take a deep breath and ask for a quiet word, explain you're vegatarian and seeing nothing on the menus which cater for you and ask for their help.

I would use ChatGPT to translate a sentence explaining what foods you don’t eat then present it to the waiting staff and ask what they can provide for your dinner.

No, but whoever booked the itinerary can contact the restaurants and ask that at the very least they make chips and a burger bun with just a cheese slice and salad available to you.

I am astonished that there is no catering for vegetarians.

Or talk to reception at the hotel who will be able to be an local speaking go between for you.

Ok - so clearly that restaurant could have served you asparagus without the Parma ham wrapping if they’d been alerted.

I've been in this situation and I had to source some crisps and chocolate from the hotel lobby. Been vegetarian since 1984.

I would (a) eat the food from the restaurant or (b) stop being such a complete baby and speak up or (c) accept with good grace that the two solutions above are available to you and having rejected both, the natural consequence of that is that you go hungry and the people around you see that you let a problem escalate rather than take action (A bad look on a work trip)

Soup is always a winner but alas it’s available in one of the restaurants but it’s a fish & squid concoction.

Bread baskets are going to be saviour here I think. It was dry bread last night, no olive oil or butter.. pfffft

Use google translate on your phone and show them the words , no fish and no meat. Please.
Pop to the kitchen or reception. They will understand.

Sorry to hear you're dreading the event so much, I totally get it!
Aware you dont want to be 'visible' so I'd go for 'hey boss, just a quick one, im on a temporary restricted diet to figure out some allergy issues so wont be eating later, but happy to join for drinks'
If you leave it and then dont eat anything people will make more of a fuss i think, which is what you are trying to avoid! At least this way you just get a moment of awkwardness with your boss and then hopefully no more questions later?

I’m sorry but this isn’t very credible. Three different restaurants and none of them has a single dish, including starters and sides, that’s vegetarian? Have I understood correctly?

No, they are highly likely to not understand.

But you’re creating the situation, OP, by not ensuring that the relevant people know your dietary needs in advance of work trips. Just talk to whoever is most senior who is on the trip, and have them liaise with the restaurant. And you really need to work on basic assertiveness. What you’re describing isn’t ‘introversion’.

I've been involved in organising work trips and as a vegetarian I'm always really mindful of making sure everyone's dietary requirements are catered for.
Your work should have checked beforehand and planned restaurants accordingly.
Since they haven't, you should speak to whoever is in charge of logistics and explain the problem. Even if they can't change the restaurants, they can call ahead and ask for a vegetarian option. Even if it's just an omelette.