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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Who is in the wrong - vegan or manager?

649 replies

iloverobbrydon · 28/09/2023 18:05

A group of friends go into a pub that do food. One of them is vegan. She looks at the menu and sees that there are no V or VE signs on the menu at all. Even for items that clearly veggie and vegan, the pub don't use the signs. However, they do list the ingredients and a description of the meal under the meal title.

There are 2 or 3 vegan options. One of them is a pasta where the ingredients are listed as pasta, tomato, basil etc. And have a little description of the taste. No animal products listed at all so the vegan orders this.

The meal comes out and it has a fried egg on top of it. The egg was not listed in the ingredients so she sent it back explaining why.

The manager who took the order is not happy because she never actually said she was vegan and they arent mind readers. They come out and say if you can't eat certain foods then you need to tell the staff to make sure that those things are actually 100% ok for you to eat.

It does escalate into a bit of an argument because the vegan is saying well if you list your ingredients then how am I to know that you only list some ingredients and not others? Where on your menu does it say how your menu works and that you won't list everything? That's just confusing. Either list everything or nothing. The manager is saying if you need a meal to not have an ingredient you need to tell us.

You can probably work out which one I am but I didn't want to write it one sided, just wanted to explain the situation and ask who you think is in the wrong here?

OP posts:
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6
Feelinglow27 · 28/09/2023 18:06

That's just plain weird to not state there's an egg on top of some pasta. I mean.... would most people even like that vegan or not!?

asosStalker · 28/09/2023 18:06

The manager. Why bother putting any ingredients on the menu if not all of them are on there?

ICanTuckMyBoobsInMyPockets · 28/09/2023 18:07

Manager is in the wrong.

They need to label as vegetarian or vegan.

AlanJohnsonsBeemer · 28/09/2023 18:07

Don’t they need to label all allergens on menus now?

FionnulaTheCooler · 28/09/2023 18:07

I think the pub was in the wrong for not making it clear it came with a fried egg. I would have sent it back too and I'm not even vegan, I wouldn't expect an egg if it wasn't in the description and I don't like them.

5foot5 · 28/09/2023 18:08

Could you not just push the egg to one side and eat the rest?

SisterMichaelsHabit · 28/09/2023 18:08

An egg is a bloody big omission from the menu. The manager is in the wrong and is clearly in the wrong job with that attitude. Especially as it's one of the major allergens and allergy information is supposed to be listed on the menu now.

Also staff are supposed to specifically ask about allergies now. Did that happen? That would have been a good moment for the vegan to mention that they were vegan.

If they weren't asked I don't see why they should have mentioned it if they were happy with the description of the food, it gets utterly tedious having to explain to food servers what you can/can't eat and the written information should have been complete enough to make a decision on.

Cyclingforcake · 28/09/2023 18:09

I’n not vegan and love eggs but would send that back. If I’ve ordered tomato pasta I wouldn’t expect an egg on it unless it was specified on the menu.

NynaeveSedaiOfTheYellowAjah · 28/09/2023 18:09

Obviously the manager is wrong!

Quartz2208 · 28/09/2023 18:09

Yes major omission given that eggs are an allergy and they should have it on the menu

Hummingbird89 · 28/09/2023 18:09

There’s blame on both sides here. The pub is barny for not putting a V next to veggie menu items. However, if I were veggie or vegan, I’d mention it to the waitress and as if a particular dish was suitable-surely it’s common sense to make sure?

SisterMichaelsHabit · 28/09/2023 18:09

5foot5 · 28/09/2023 18:08

Could you not just push the egg to one side and eat the rest?

Do you not know what a vegan is? In 2023??

FOJN · 28/09/2023 18:09

The manager.

mynameiscalypso · 28/09/2023 18:10

Who in their right mind puts an egg on top of a pasta dish like that?!

That said, my dad is a coeliac and always flags this at the start even when ordering things that are clearly GF. If I were vegan, I'd probably do the same but mainly to make sure, eg, there's no cheese or butter used.

Ginslings · 28/09/2023 18:10

Why on earth would you put a fried egg on pasta? That's just weird.

If I was the vegan though , then I would have confirmed it was actually vegan incase it had any cheese on it.

But the manager is wrong here, they should label their menus properly.

Tlolljs · 28/09/2023 18:11

I’ve never heard of a fried egg on top of pasta. Not a common ingredient in a pasta dish I wouldn’t have thought no wonder you were a bit taken aback.
I thought allergens had to be listed now.

bowpi · 28/09/2023 18:11

But isn't pasta made from eggs? I'd question whether it's fresh pasta (which I would assume in certain restaurants/ cafes/ pubs) and therefore think it would have an egg inside the pasta ...

But yeah agree they should make it clear what is and isn't vegan.

gotomomo · 28/09/2023 18:12

I can't stand fried eggs, that would annoy me too. So unexpected

PuddlesPityParty · 28/09/2023 18:12

I’m vegan and agree that it should’ve been on the menu… but wtf? Since when is egg on pasta. I’m almost thinking they don’t like vegans and heard her say it or something it’s that odd.

LittleBoPeepHasLostHerShit · 28/09/2023 18:12

That sounds disgusting apart from crazy. YANBU.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 28/09/2023 18:12

Do you mean that they literally list all the ingredients (herbs, spices, type of oil, absolutely everything)? If it is clear that they are listing all the ingredients, rather than just mentioning main ones, then the pub is at fault for adding an egg they didn't mention.

PuddlesPityParty · 28/09/2023 18:13

doesnt egg need to be declared as well??

ChildrenOfTheQuorn · 28/09/2023 18:13

5foot5 · 28/09/2023 18:08

Could you not just push the egg to one side and eat the rest?

No 🙄

Lookingforasilverlining · 28/09/2023 18:13

AlanJohnsonsBeemer · 28/09/2023 18:07

Don’t they need to label all allergens on menus now?

No, they just need to be able to tell you if a dish contains any of the main 12 allergens. It doesn't need to be written down.

The pub is clearly being unreasonable by putting a fried egg on top of pasta.

DogInATent · 28/09/2023 18:14

AlanJohnsonsBeemer · 28/09/2023 18:07

Don’t they need to label all allergens on menus now?

No. The allergen information has to be available.
It's very rare for it to be on the actual menu.