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???

Honestly, saying now that they’ve missed the fact you’re veggie, and getting them to contact the restaurant to make arrangements, is better than them realising at the table and the inevitable fuss!

Slightly gobsmacked at the amount of people on this thread who have absolutely no understanding of the fact that anxiety doesnt presents itself in one way or that if you can do THIS thing, then SURELY you must be able to do THAT thing.

I think it is just frustration in a lot of cases, anyone with anxiety like OPs should be paving the way for smooth trip, not leaving all this to chance, there was a simple solution to the problem, which she completely ignored .. she isn't part of the host companies booking as she said she had made her own arrangements for this trip, they haven't asked her dietary requirements because she isn't part of their booking.. her bosses haven't told the company because why would they? She has made her own arrangements so I would assume she has was capable of making her own arrangements when it comes to asking for dietary considerations wherever they go.

She needs to be the one to have told the company that she would like to follow their itinerary but she has a dietary restriction, can it be factored in.. not wait for them to ASK her?? They aren't responsible for her on this trip, they are responsible for the clients.

Your company / whoever arranged the itinerary need to know this: suppose one of the clients was veggie?

You need to raise it because you may not be the only person. Someone with an allergy could get really ill if not catered for properly. Plus if your boss has paid for an agency they havent done their work properly and been paid for it!

Not really. I live in an EU country and travel to our offices all over Europe. It's only the London office that ask for dietary requirements.

Sometimes the chips are cooked in duck fat or similar, so not vegetarian.

Sure, but as a vegan who has travelled to remote and rural places where the choices are literally making the least upsetting food choice or going hungry, I hope you can appreciate that the thrust of my reply was "if you don't want to speak up, make the best acceptable choice you can".

I know not everyone will agree but my view is that I am vegan because I don't want to contribute to animal suffering. Choosing to go hungry because of what chips are fried in in a foreign country thst have far more important animal rights issues and attitudes isn't making a single difference to the world or culture. Speaking up to her bosses would, but OP doesn't want to do that and the point of this forum IMO is to try and offer support and help for her situation within what she is comfortable doing, not to debate the ethics if eating chips abroad. I don't mean that rudely or confrontational to you.

What was wrong with the asparagus?

If it were me, and anything else was going to be awkward, I’d just order chips/fries and whatever veg/salad is on the menu.

She said it came wrapped in ham that was practically fused on so not like you could just pick it all off easily.

why didn’t you use a translator app to ask for the asparagus without the meat element?

you need to do this at the next meal, order a burger with the cheese and salad but without the meat, add a side of chips or onion rings it’s basically a cheese salad sandwich with chips???

Use Google translate, and have the local word for vegetarian on your phone ready to show to the waiter. We hade this in Lanzarote for DD, even in a tourist area very few restaurants catered for veggies, and DD doesn’t eat dairy which made it even harder. It’s depressing, in this day and age. Most places were able to rustle up a plate of pasta with tomato sauce at a push though.

I think the clients will think more of you if you make a very slight fuss, than if you sit there just with a plate of bread.

Don't order meat then not eat it - what a bizarre idea! Completely against the principle of vegetarianism. If you're going to order it, eat it, or you've contributed to the demand for meat without even getting nutrition from it.

Amazed that there's places where a business trip would be organised but it's impossible to explain vegetarianism. I've been to places where vegetarianism isn't a thing, but with enough foreign visitors places will accept the concept as a thing some of us foreigners ask for.

OP, in your first post you asked what we would do in your shoes. Many people have answered by saying they'd speak up and say they're vegetarian, can't eat meat and fish and so need alternatives.

THAT is what I would do in your shoes.

So any staff visiting a European office runs the risk of serious harm if they have a food allergy??? Thats a disgrace!

Vegan introvert here! I've printed out the following when travelling and it's been a lifesaver (inc in a restaurant in China where the staff had no English). You can tear off the information and hand to waitstaff so you don't have to get into a long discussion and the kitchen staff have all the info to hand. In the past, people have said they understood after a conversation, then added fish/ham to dishes. You could cross out the dairy bits or there may be some vegetarian equivalent.
www.all-creatures.org/articles/act-vegan-cards-106.pdf

I worked in a boarding school for a while. One of the weekend staff who worked with boarding was vegan. In theory, over the weekend, he was supposed to be on duty for 48 hours straight. No leaving at all, because 24 hour duty with the students (obviously sleeping when they slept).

The school made NO provision for him at all. None. Even the veg provided for meals had butter on it. He didn't want to confront anyone about it so I brought it up, in a 'next time he's on duty, can we make sure there are vegan options for meals so X can eat?' And the head went OFF IT!!! Despite being desperate for volunteers for weekend boarding staff (no one wanted to work weekends) the head immediately took him off the roster and blacklisted him due to his 'offensive ideology'.

It was nuts. I'm not vegan / veggie but meh. It's the food people eat, no biggie. The concept of just providing more veg / stuff without meat was regarded as crazy. And they would rather shoot themselves in the foot than just make a small change to menus.

As someone with food allergies this is worrying!
Good to know how slack other countries can be when it comes to allergies and incredibly grateful the UK is great when it comes to them!

Has op said where the trip was to yet?

Where are you? in some countries it is very hard to find vegetarian food, but there is usually some - but you need to be familiar with the culture to find it, and ask for it correctly!
I’ve been served chicken as vegetarian often enough to feel you pain! let us know the country, and we’ll figure it out!

Would the op even be comfortable eating alone in a restaurant in a foreign country, with her level of anxiety? It sounds crippling.

This OP, THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU

If it's Spain you can usually have a tomato salad. I spent a lot of time eating tomatoes in Spain recently. A Spanish colleague took us to favourite restaurants and explained that I was vegetarian. They happily brought me tomatoes .
You could try a couple of sentences on Google translate and show it to a senior looking member of staff.
And keep your fingers crossed for local fruit platter!

You aren't making a "fuss" by communicating your needs. You are making a really big unnecessary fuss for yourself by keeping quiet. I am trying to raise my children to be the complete opposite of this. Be unapologetically yourself. State your needs. Love yourself enough that you deserve to eat a meal for goodness sakes! Tell your manager you are vegetarian and they need to please make arrangements for you.

Why lie? So many people are vegetarian/vegan these days that the OP should just tell the truth. I'm sure if she did this the hotel would be able to come up with options.

Speak to the waiter using Google translate? Where are you out of interest?