Vegan as the default. Specifically slightly annoyed with the McPlant

[streamee]

I'm not vegan, I'm vegetarian.

I want a McPlant with proper (if American cheese slices can be called proper) cheese.

I would like to order a Big Mac, and sub out the burgers for the plant burgers!

Surely there are more people like me?

Vegan options being the default for vegans and vegetarians is very annoying. AIBU?

(No this isn't all I have to worry about in life before someone says it.)

As a side-complaint, a lot of vegan biscuits, cakes etc in the 'free from' part of supermarkets tend to be gluten free as well. Which (my heart goes out to people who need gluten free food) means they tend to be a really sandy texture, with rice flour and so on.

I guess it does make business sense - try to make things as accessible to everyone as you can, so you sell more stock. But it's not a perfect solution.
The more people who become vegetarian and vegan, though, hopefully the more flexible this will get.

I’m happy to eat vegan sausages/ quorn etc, but I would like the option of having my food with dairy-based cheese. Yes, it irritates me to be given vegan cheese instead. (But not as much as buffets where the meat eaters eat all the veggie food as well as the meat, leaving us nothing suitable to eat.)

You can add dairy cheese, we’re both vegetarians, I’m dairy free but my husband isn’t, he’s had it with dairy cheese and egh mayo.

I miss proper vegetarian food. I used to love the burgers made with beans and veggies but it's rare to see them now.

I don't want to eat unhealthy highly processed fake meats.

Agree - vegetarian 30 years and want proper veggie food .. I don’t mind the odd mcPlant but I don’t want the pretend cheese

Yes I agree with you. I'm not even a total vegetarian,let alone a vegan,but I eat very little meat,mainly because I just don't like it most of it. But I am finding this habit of thinking that people are either voracious meat eaters or strict vegans rather annoying. My gripe is with Gregg's bakers. A couple of years ago,they stopped selling my favourite,their vegetable bakes. The reason I was given was because something had to be withdrawn to make way for their vegan sausage rolls. I cannot eat Quorn as it upsets my stomach,so for me,it wasn't a viable alternative. But I got this distinct attitude of if you like vegetable bakes,you should be happy with a vegan sausage roll!
I admit I do eat McDonald's now and again,and although I do like Big Macs and quarter pounders,it would be nice to be able to swap the beefburgers for the plant based ones.

Yes definitely agree.

And plane food - there’s the meat option and then there’s the Other Option - vegan, gluten free, dairy free (obviously), nut free, food free, taste free. Just great on a 17 hour flight when you can’t take a cheese sandwich through security and have normally picky vegetarian children.

Have you asked asked and been told that they can’t do it, or are you just getting annoyed that it isn’t on the main menu? I’d be very surprised if they refused

I love a mcplant.
Order one minus cheese and buy real cheese slices.
I can’t tell the difference.

I’ve skipped all the way to the end of this thread to shout YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSS!!!

Looking at you Wagamamas who offer a meat free donburi with a fake egg ONLY!!

Also, all meat free options being “plant meat”. I don’t want plant meat. I want vegetables and pulses or at least the option!

At subway you can get regular cheese on the vegan meatball sub, which is amazing as their vegan cheese tastes like sick.

Planning my wedding was a PITA for this, the venue wanted everyone who wasn't a meat eater to have the same and I had to fight quite hard as I hardly thought it was fair for nearly 20 vegetarians to have to go vegan just because I had ONE vegan guest.

YANBU Even worse, IMO, I've noticed a lot of places that have perfectly lovely vegetarian cheese dishes on the menu offering meat meal deals/set menus and vegan meal deals/set menus but no vegetarian ones.

YANBU. It's very frustrating that just as vegetarian options seemed to be getting better, and more numerous, they're now being replaced by vegan options.

I also hate the rise of fake meat. I don't like the taste or texture of meat and, like another poster, I really miss vegetable and bean burgers. So there's now fewer options available that I can eat.

I've found my people.

Burger King are the same, they did this lovely spicy bean burger with cheese and now it's a bland patty with a slice of shite on it.

@Elphame

I miss proper vegetarian food. I used to love the burgers made with beans and veggies but it's rare to see them now.

I don't want to eat unhealthy highly processed fake meats.

The original bean burger from BK was gorgeous. I’m not a vegetarian but that was always my order.

YANBU
It also annoys me when there is a bug list of lovely sounding meat burgers then the vegan/veggie option is listed separately. Why can’t they offer a vegan/veggie burger patty with any of the cheese, salad, sauces etc. that are offered for meat or vegan. It’s hardly impossible for the average chef to stick some blue cheese on a beyond burger.
When they made a vegan version of quorn it went from a pretty bland but okay product into an inedible one.

I agree, I don't want to eat fake meat, I want to eat vegetable versions of things. Asian cuisines are so much better for this. You can go to a Chinese or Indian restaurant/takeaway and get vegetable versions of pretty much everything.

@dickiedavisthunderthighs

I've found my people.

Burger King are the same, they did this lovely spicy bean burger with cheese and now it's a bland patty with a slice of shite on it.

Burger king don't do vegan cheese so you're telling porkies.

Should do a bingo card for any vegan thread on here

Veggie for X years
Frankenfood
Highly processed
I WaNt ChEeSE
Bacon though
Why would a vegan want to eat something like meat

YANBU! I’m a vegetarian too. Toughest is I have a DD with coeliac disease. So many food options in free from are now vegan as default. I have to go to larger supermarkets than previously to get her things she likes.

@takealettermsjones

I agree, I don't want to eat fake meat, I want to eat vegetable versions of things. Asian cuisines are so much better for this. You can go to a Chinese or Indian restaurant/takeaway and get vegetable versions of pretty much everything.

Because there are a lot of dishes with a mix of meat and veggie anyway? All they're doing is removing the meat, rather than attempting a poor substitute.

Agree with points r.e. burgers, you should be able to customise.

But restaurants can make limited dishes and unless they're a vegan/vegetarian restaurant the meat stuff is probably what most people want. Why would you expect multiple options for BOTH vegans and vegetarians?

McDonalds did a fairly decent veggie burger back in the day. It was a breadcrumbed vegetable patty with lettuce and mayo. The patty tasted a bit curried. It was enjoyable.

I really resent being offered whole plates of seitan which is essentially just a plate of gluten.

YABU. You can customize burgers at McDonalds, you just have to ask.
I don't eat beef but love big Mac sauce so I order a big Mac with a veggie pattie. Simples

@WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor

YANBU It also annoys me when there is a bug list of lovely sounding meat burgers then the vegan/veggie option is listed separately. Why can’t they offer a vegan/veggie burger patty with any of the cheese, salad, sauces etc. that are offered for meat or vegan. It’s hardly impossible for the average chef to stick some blue cheese on a beyond burger. When they made a vegan version of quorn it went from a pretty bland but okay product into an inedible one.

There’s a restaurant in St Ives in Cornwall that does this. It’s called Hub I think. Works quite well.

Burger King are the same, they did this lovely spicy bean burger with cheese

Oh I used to love that! It was so huge and fatty it actually gave me reflux but it was worth it.

YANBU OP. I like cheese, I like eggs, I like cream...these things are delicious and not made of weird science stuff. I'm not a vegan and I'm increasingly faced with a choice between meat or vegan, and it sucks.