Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think the vegetarian who was served and ate chicken by mistake in Nandos is overreacting?

362 replies

musicboxwoundbyakey · 30/12/2013 14:51

Sorry Mail link

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531093/I-feel-like-not-body-anymore-Vegetarians-outrage-going-Nandos-served-chicken-mistake.html

She asked for grilled halloumi cheese pitta and was served chicken. Which she ate half and didn't realise as she was talking to her friend.

She tried to make herself sick and had to sent home from work the next day as she was so upset and feels her body is not her own anymore.

How you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between cheese and chicken is a little beyond me. The cheese would be gooey and runny and chicken would have chewy - and they both have completely difference tastes??

It doesn't mention this in the article but the server always comes over and says - "chicken burger with medium sauce" etc so surely they probably said chicken pitta to her too??

But maybe iabu because she has never had meat before for religious reasons.

OP posts:
AmberLeaf · 31/12/2013 18:38

She isn't unreasonable as a vegetarian to be upset that she ate meat .

But, even if she has never eaten chicken before, she has I presume eaten halloumi?

Halloumi is very distinctive. it squeaks when you bite into it. if it doesn't squeak, it isn't halloumi.

Going to the papers is overkill IMO. She wasn't hurt by it, she isn't allergic. Being vegetarian, even for religious reasons is a choice.

It's not like Nandos were serving food and deliberately pretending it was something it wasn't, it seems to be a case of human error, by both the server/cook and her for eating so much of something that clearly wasn't cheese [she obviously noticed at some point]

scottishmummy · 31/12/2013 18:42

Halloumi has a bite to it,a definite resistance when bitten
She would have eaten halloumi before,enough it have recognised one would think?
Clearly the dressing can mask both taste and consistency to huge extent

figrus · 31/12/2013 18:45

Nandos are probably thrilled with all the free advertising. I'm a vegetarian for 30 years but I've never eaten in nandos. That halloumi wrap sounds yummy and I'm going to try it. I'll just double check when it's served.

scottishmummy · 31/12/2013 18:48

The nando halloumi wrap is yum,as is halloumi portobello mushroom

cardibach · 31/12/2013 18:58

Hindus eat chicken if nobody has said that yet. It's beef they don't eat.

litdog · 31/12/2013 18:58

I've just looked at the Nando's menu and it sounds revolting, and I absolutely love homemade peri peri chicken. I keep thinking I ought to try Nando's as people go on about it but one look at the menu finishes me off.

That girl would most likely have been paid by the news agency she went to originally.

OP YANBU

JapaneseMargaret · 31/12/2013 18:59

Clearly YANBU.

Anyone who says YABU to think someone going to the Daily Mail as a result of eating meat is over-reacting, is as much of a fruit loop drama llama as the woman herself.

It is fine to be upset; distraught, even. It is not fine to contact the press.

ItsIgginningToLookALotLikeXmas · 31/12/2013 19:02

Cardibach depends entirely on the Hindu. Beef is a particular no-no, but many are full vegetarians. The situation here would be a bit of a non-event otherwise!

Rufustherednosedreindeer · 31/12/2013 19:02

Just because you are a vegetarian doesn't mean you have eaten halloumi before

She probably has, but we don't know for certain

AmberLeaf · 31/12/2013 19:02

Ok, I've read the link now and have about 1% sympathy for her.

She chose a grilled halloumi pitta and, when her meal arrived, she covered it in peri-peri sauce, added salad, and tucked in

So she opened up the pitta making the chicken visible, faffed about with it adding sauce and salad, but yet still didn't notice that it wasn't halloumi?

Having Googled her briefly, IMO she is milking a non event to self publicise.

The pics Ive seen don't give me the impression of someone who is devoutly religious either.

JapaneseMargaret · 31/12/2013 19:07

It doesn't even matter if she is devoutly religigious. There is still no actual need to involve the press.

Way to go though, notifying the world en mass, that you're a daft bint of the highest order...

scottishmummy · 31/12/2013 19:10

She's been to nando before "I was a Nando's fan but I will never go there again."
fan and again suggest numerous visits
Given the limited veg menu I'd say it likely as fan she's eaten halloumi in nando

Blu · 31/12/2013 19:39

Strict Hindus are strictly vegetarian.

Rufustherednosedreindeer · 31/12/2013 19:50

Thanks scottishmummy

(Didn't read the link....oops, naughty Rufus )

Having said that I have been a number of times and have only had the halloumi (but that's cos I am very boring)

anotherrandomusername · 31/12/2013 21:02

I've never been vegetarian (not seriously anyway) but I can imagine that it would be horrifying to find out you'd eaten dead flesh when you'd avoided it all your life.

I don't think it's reaching too much to compare it to a regular meat eater mistakenly eating human flesh - not something you'd ever want to do, and you would be revolted to have it in your system. I don't blame this lady for being upset at all.

(Oh, and Nando's is SHIT! I would rather chew cardboard than eat their bone dry stringy chicken again.)

SomethingOnce · 31/12/2013 22:19

Do they use a separate fryer for meat and veggie stuff?

Think of the molecules!

Methe · 31/12/2013 22:21

I had Nandos today and there was only one grill that I could see.

delusionindex · 31/12/2013 22:30

"how would you feel if you ate a piece of meat - & then found out it was human flesh,"

Well if I went to a restaurant whose main business was selling human flesh and ordered a chicken wrap I'd make damned sure I checked the contents of the food I was served before I ate it. Anyone who has strict beliefs/demands about what they eat needs to either prepare food themselves or check what they are about to eat before they eat it. Surely this is obvious - mistakes happen, food preparation is no exception.

SomethingOnce · 31/12/2013 22:40

Do Nando's do a free-range, organic chicken option yet?

If not, this needs to happen.

JapaneseMargaret · 31/12/2013 22:40

Nobody's blaming her for being upset.

It's the drama queen, attention whore, going to the press extravaganza, that's totally uncalled for...

scottishmummy · 31/12/2013 22:40

It would be unfortunate,but foreseeable that a chicken restuarant mix up order
It's wholly unforeseeable that a restaurant Would mistakenly sell human flesh
Given no restaurants openly sell human flesh on the menu with or without peri peri sauce

JapaneseMargaret · 31/12/2013 22:43

Quite.

AnUnearthlyChild · 31/12/2013 22:49

bruffin

Am dead jealous of you being able to get the real deal. Have only ever had that when in Greece.

I am fighting the craving for the supermarket shite.

Please don't throw the good stuff into the mix too. :)

anotherrandomusername · 31/12/2013 22:50

Yes, amazingly I'm aware that no restaurants serve human flesh. But it's the nearest possible comparison - actually maybe I could have suggested dog/cat meat instead, but I would have received the same pithy replies.

But I've seen a vegan friend hyperventilate when she was asked to help with the stock for the meat aisle when we both worked in a supermarket, for some non meat eaters, it is as abhorrent as human flesh would be. Just as most of us would be horrified if we accidentally ate cat or dog.

And it's not surprising that she wasn't hyper vigilant. If she'd never had that happen before, she had probably relaxed about restaurant ordering years before and didn't realise she had to be on her guard.

JapaneseMargaret · 31/12/2013 22:51

There is absolutely zero chance that vegetarians eating in Nandos have not eaten animal by-products.

Zero chance.