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.)

And to think we used to moan about the veggie option always being a veggie lasagne or risotto- both with cheese but usually full of veg and tasty. If you got lucky there was a lovely nutty/veg dish encased in pastry. YANBU, it is all manufactured substitutes now and no way a treat to eat out. Even if there is a nice looking veggie burger on the menu for some reason it now is always in a brioche bun. I know this has been a thing forever now but why is it still a thing?! It is bloody cake for God's sake.

This is a very interesting question. I've been a vegetarian for a long time and then was more recently diagnosed with coeliac disease so now I have to eat gluten free too. I am not a vegan and I generally hate vegan cheese.

On the one hand it can be annoying when all the vegetarian options in a place are dairy-free. But on the other hand the increased number of vegans has meant there's a lot more options generally for vegetarians. For example, here in Cambridge the only vegetarian restaurant had closed down but now there are 5 vegan restaurants and 2 of them (Stem And Glory, and even better the Tipsy Vegan) are very good.

So I think on balance things are better now for non-vegan vegetarians than before.

But YANBU!

I agree in general yes

But specifically the mcPant is really nice for a veggie burger, it’s probably the best one on the fast food market, it doesn’t bother me that it’s vegan cheese. I think it’s really good.

But YANBU in general - I never ever used to pre order the vegetarian option on flights because you’d always end up with a chick pea and lentil tagine (lovely but not on a long haul flight!), whereas if you asked on the flight they always had a meat free option of something like spinach and ricotta pasta. No idea why!

YANBU. I’m not a vegetarian but I am annoyed on your behalf, mainly because of the abomination that is vegan cheese.

Yes I find this extremely irritating too. I don’t want to eat tzatziki made with coconut milk and most vegan cheese is horrible and I object to it on my veggie burgers.

Or veggie burgers disappearing in favour of vegan only or salads with jackfruit instead of feta! No thank you.

That being said, the mcplant is bloody delicious! I don’t tend to go to McDs as a veggie but there were no other options at a service station and it was 👌

Just have it without the cheese and bring a slice of your own to put in. Hell, why not even bring two with you This is what ed and I do. She is allergic to dairy and I'm not keen on beef burgers so we both get a Mcplant, one with and one without cheese so I can add my fake cheese slices to it when we get home.

Completely agree. I want real cheese and mayo not the fake vegan crap :(

On the side - is it actually possible to swap out the burgers of the big mac for the mcplant patties?!?! Always wanted to try a big mac!!!!

Yabu - veganism is the future so it makes commercial and ethical sense (as ethical as you can get at McDonald’s!)

Anyone who is vegan for animal welfare reasons wouldn't eat at McDonalds anyway.

Ordinarily I'd agree but in the specific case of the McPlant I can't.

It's amazing!! It doesn't taste like a compromise at all.

YADNBU!
This is really annoying, I try to reduce my meat intake and if there is a cheesy/eggy vegetarian option I'll usually get that, but if the only veggie thing on offer is vegan I'm just not interested (unless it's a really good veggie curry). Fake cheese can fuck off

@WibbleWobbleWibble

Yanbu. My chef brother would agree with you but says its because vegans are more vocal

I have found fakeatarians and to be worse!

Went out for dinner with friend and his GF who made a Big Fuss about being vegetarian, and grilled the poor waiter about the menu options (what’s that, how is it cooked, is it nice, can you take the meat out of this and add it to that…). The veggie options weren’t to her taste - so she had the lamb.

Went out for a work lunch and the bosses wife came along - it was Veganary. Which she mentioned a little a thousand times to much ‘ooooo aren’t you gooood!’ ‘Well done, YOU!’ Made a huge fuss about the menu, got the waitress to go through all the options (it was an Indonesian). Such a performance. Then sat mournfully poking at something that didn’t look very nice as the 2 veggies and the vegan at then end of the table ate a very nice lunch (we did suggest some nice options to her, but she just decided to get the waitress to walk her through the menu).

I don't understand anyone eating anything from McDs. It's all low quality, over-processed, awful food. It falls a long way short of healthy even if it is made with plants and not meat. White processed bread and ultra processed 'vegan' burgers. No thanks.

@MissDollyMix

YANBU. So many of my veggie friends are getting annoying with phasing out of vegetarian food in favour of vegan.

I am too, I don't want the vegan option I want a vegetarian one, preferably one that uses vegetables as the main ingredient not some weird meat like substitute and I want butter, cheese and milk used not vegan alternatives to those.

Vegetarian options were becoming better and now they are going backwards with this obsession with vegan.

@edenhills

Why are you vegetarian? Obviously it's not about animal welfare or you would be vegan. If it's about health then why are you eating in McDonalds?

That's what I was thinking too 🤔

Why are you vegetarian? Obviously it's not about animal welfare or you would be vegan. If it's about health then why are you eating in McDonalds?

I felt like this about the Vegan sausage rolls, I wanted the meat substitute as it was lovely but with real pastry not the awful vegan one. I’m not vegetarian but like to pick the meat free option if I can.

Why are you vegetarian? Obviously it's not about animal welfare or you would be vegan.

🙄

Why do you donate to charity? Obviously it's not about caring for those less fortunate or you would have given all your disposable income away.

I agree. I've noticed a trend in restaurants lately to have meat, fish or vegan options. No vegetarian. It's lazy in my opinion. My vegan sister is delighted she has so many options but I want proper dairy on my veggie meals.

My dd was annoyed too but she asked and they subbed the cheese for her

@Hwory

I would imagine you could get mcplant with real cheese but you couldn't get a big Mac with plant burgers as the plant Pattie are thicker and more expensive than the thin & measly big Mac patties.

Nope. No option

@edenhills

Why are you vegetarian? Obviously it's not about animal welfare or you would be vegan. If it's about health then why are you eating in McDonalds?

Because I don't like meat? Is it that hard to understand?

@streamee

You have to ask at the till. Dd did and they swopped it but it's a franchise branch

@Dguu6u

Is the regular cheese vegetarian though?

I don't care. I just don't like meat

@AuntyBumBum

Just come over to the dark side. The bacon is lovely

Cancer isn’t though.