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Original poster

Work trip restaurants have no vegetarian options and I hate fuss

405 replies

Clockinginat2pm · 29/04/2026 08:27

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???

OP posts:
RampantIvy · 02/05/2026 13:10

steppemum · 02/05/2026 13:07

but chips are often not veggie, and at least in more rural France, many salads have random bits of meat chucked in (a bit like bacon bits I suppose)
It really is quite hard, and no-one wants to be arguing with the waiter.

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I think it is more common to fry chips in dripping in the UK than on the continent. It's an easy thing to ask the waiting staff.

I'm happy to be corrected though.

Smittenkitchen · 02/05/2026 13:11

Probably Asturias. It is tricky there but I'm sure they'd be more than happy to prepare something if asked.

midlander79 · 02/05/2026 16:03

Poulaphooka · 01/05/2026 12:28

It's more of a philosophical issue, I think. Vegetables are either integrally part of a meat dish, or sides and/or a vegetarian diet codes as something to do with healthfood or weightloss. For a long time in France, vegetarian restaurants were very rare and where they existed (in Paris), were seen as cuisine minceur. (I remember once going to one near Opéra and it was full of stick-thin older Frenchwomen eating undressed salads, with little dogs under the table.

We have good, foodie French friends we visit often who explained vegetarianism carefully to their caterers when they got married, and suggested recipes etc. What we got was a delicious, but deeply odd, platter with a big empty space (where the meat 'should' be) in the middle, and a number of tiny portions of vegetable side dishes arranged around the rim -- a thimble-sized pommes dauphinoise, a few artfully arranged haricots verts with almonds, a sort of reduction of ratatouille, a little salad etc. Grin

Show quote history

Yes! I suppose the English felt like that for a time. I was very frowned upon as a pre-teen who went vegetarian, everyone thought I was doing it to lose weight (I was a chubby child). 34 years later they've learned that it wasn't plus it wouldn't have worked.

I hope you had some snacks in your bag! I just don't understand that. Why, if they're capable of creating those dishes, couldn't they just make them larger for you to have a normal sized meal? I suppose like you've said cuisine minceur.
It has reminded me of a time I was in my twenties and back at my parents for a meal. Seeing that out of all my Mother was making, I could only eat the potatoes and roast vegetables, I chopped up more of the veg and put it in the oven so that I would have more to eat.

When it came to serving, I learned that my Mother had taken them out!
When I asked, she said that there was already enough for everyone. Yes, there was, if we were all having them as a side, but that's all I am having to eat!

My mother is a highly intelligent woman, but all I got was a blank look.

WhereAreWeNow · 02/05/2026 17:41

RampantIvy · 02/05/2026 13:10

I think it is more common to fry chips in dripping in the UK than on the continent. It's an easy thing to ask the waiting staff.

I'm happy to be corrected though.

Show quote history

Belgian frites are definitely fried in beef fat.

Lemonthyme · 02/05/2026 18:34

WhereAreWeNow · 02/05/2026 17:41

Belgian frites are definitely fried in beef fat.

Show quote history

She's in Spain. Olive oil or grain oils are far more likely.

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