To be disappointed with a veggie only menu?

[Chewbecca]

We booked an event at our local wine shop ‘summer Mediterranean supper club’. £45 for 3 courses including paired wines. Menu tba.

Event is tomorrow and the menu has arrived today and it is 100% veggie. I do enjoy veggie food but can’t help but feel a bit ‘short changed’ and my committed meat eater DH is really unimpressed.

It is a fab venue with great owners that always put on a good evening.

AIBU to be disappointed?
Would you tell the venue you were a bit disappointed?
If you would, how would you say it, terribly nicely?

Thanks.

It's a bit of a shame that your first reaction is to feel "disappointed" when you haven't even tried the food yet! Veggie food can be flavoursome, look great and taste amazing, give it a go.

If you're still disappointed at the end of the evening, say so - you'll have some sort of reason to complain by then and can explain yourself.

What is the menu?

yanbu. thats a lot for a meal you have no choice over.

I would be so happy since I am veggie :p

I know. I am annoyed with myself for being disappointed. I guess I think it is a cheaper option too.

There was never a question of options so I am good with that.

It is arancini, feta cheesecake and semi fredo. I like it all, just would have preferred some meat or fish to be in there!

I'm not sure I would have even noticed tbh.

Obviously depends on the quality of the food. Is it £45 each or both of you? Even if it's each, if you're getting 3 glasses of wine, that is at least £15-20 at restaurant prices.

Puddings and a lot of starters are mostly vegetarian anyway, so it's only really the main you're disappointed about and if it's done well with interesting/expensive ingredients, I don't see why it still can't be great. You say it's a fab venue, so it's not like they're going to short change you with tomato pasta is it?

Also curious as to what the menu is.

Veggies probably wouldn’t have booked as it was no menu and I don’t think you would expect it to be veggie.

What's the problem with having one vegetarian evening?

Don’t visit southern India. Everything is veggie with a small reluctant meat option like the reverse of here. I was travelling with a veggie and she was in heaven!

As it is a wine shop, I assume that the actual star of the show is the paired wines; and they will be designing the menus around what goes best with the wine they are providing as opposed to the other way around.

I think the fact that the £45 for 3 courses including paired wine makes it really very reasonably priced.

As the menu was "tba" when you booked, I don't imagine there is a whole lot you can do about it now. You could certainly opt to mention it to them but I doubt it will have any results. If your DH was heart set on meat then I think you had an opportunity to enquire on whether it was likely to be included when ordering and now you're a bit stuck. I would go and enjoy the evening, soak up the wine and look at the food as more of a complementary wine side dish (lol) You can always get a kebab on the way home

I would be disappointed. Mediterranean makes me think of fish/sea food etc. I would have expected a meat and veggie option.

Hmm, a little too much of overlap in styles/textures, but I'm sure the feta cheesecake would come with some decent sides to add interest.

I love arancini so usually go for those if available.

I've just Google semifreddo and that's a dessert it seems. Why are there two desserts? The arancini sounds lovely but I'm assuming it's the starter?

I love arancini too!

Though always think of them as a cheapie option made from leftovers.

In India I would expect veggie. For a summer med evening, I did not.

Veggies probably wouldn’t have booked as it was no menu and I don’t think you would expect it to be veggie.

ah well that's a bit silly of them isn't it? maybe they didn't want to advertise it because it might put the meat eaters off and they're the bigger base?

Feta cheesecake is the main course, it is a savoury cheesecake. Delia has a recipe for one!

Every event sells out, they don’t need to do much selling. As I say, great little venue!

That sounds like a very boring menu both by vegetarian and by Mediterranean standards. I'm assuming the arancini will be cheese-filled so its three dairy courses, none of which I'd say are especially med cooking!

I'd be stuffed. I don't like those three things and I think £45 for such a fixed menu with no options seems steep.

goes of to google arancini and semi fredo....

I guess when we book, we know we could get anything so it probably isn’t for people who are, ahem, a bit fussy.

Agree it is not the most balanced menu. As a pp said, hopefully the sides will mix it up a bit.

I’ll eat the lot and have a good night anyway!

I wouldn't necessarily be disappointed with a vege menu if it had lots of texture and interesting flavours, I would be dissapointed by cheese, cheese and cream though! It's a bit lacking in variation and balance isn't it?

I'd be disappointed too - I like veggie food but there's certain ingredients I can't eat - mushrooms, nuts, courgettes - and these do appear in a lot of veggie dishes! I wouldn't book until I'd seen a menu, for that reason.

I think they are having a laugh serving that for £45, I'd hope the wines were extremely special to warrant that price. Dh would not be impressed.

Love arancine but unless the wines were lovely I'd be disappointed by a feta main. I'd have expected some fish somewhere. I think I'd be hungry after that so wouldn't be able to enjoy the wine.