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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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:
Thread gallery
6
Blondeshavemorefun · 30/09/2023 19:20

@iloverobbrydon was it cheese or egg on the pasta

eastegg · 30/09/2023 19:21

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 30/09/2023 18:14

As a lot of pasta contains egg it’s reasonable for the restaurant manager to assume that they are ok eating egg if the vegan didn’t ask whether the pasta contained egg.

I do suspect thought, as stated above, that it was actually cheese that was on top of the pasta. If it was really an egg (doubtful) then it should have been stated in the ingredients as frankly it’s a bit weird to put a fried gag on top of pasta and most people wouldn’t be too impressed with an unexpected fried egg.

I think I’ve heard it all on AIBU now. ‘The other party is being so unreasonable that it must mean the OP is lying’.

julesplusvodka · 30/09/2023 20:31

Unless stated Vegan the pasta itself would no doubt contain Egg !!!

BIossomtoes · 30/09/2023 20:43

julesplusvodka · 30/09/2023 20:31

Unless stated Vegan the pasta itself would no doubt contain Egg !!!

Cancel the cheque.

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 30/09/2023 20:52

eastegg · 30/09/2023 19:21

I think I’ve heard it all on AIBU now. ‘The other party is being so unreasonable that it must mean the OP is lying’.

Show quote history

But isn’t a fried egg a bit of a strange thing to be on top of pasta? Not the sort of thing you’d be given unexpectedly with it being stated in the description. Far more likely to be cheese and the OP changed it to egg for dramatic effect.

if it really was an egg then both the manager and the vegan were being u reasonable and the both should have been clearer about their dietary preferences/what was actually in the food.

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 30/09/2023 20:52
  • without it being stated.
LT1982 · 30/09/2023 21:02

Calc123 · 30/09/2023 17:00

Vegan is in the wrong...you've said nothing on the menu stated V or VE so you shouldn't have assumed it was, or should have asked when ordering. It wasn't a vegan dish, didn't have a VE symbol but you've just assumed it was vegan.

She assumed that the ingrédients list included all ingrédients which is à reasonable assumption to make

dawngreen · 30/09/2023 21:03

I never got a answer to whether this poster was vegetarian/vegan or just a vegan hating troll 💤

LT1982 · 30/09/2023 21:05

KnickerlessParsons · 28/09/2023 18:43

Missing the point, but isn't pasta made with egg? 🤔

Usually fresh pasta has egg but dried pasta doesn't

dawngreen · 30/09/2023 21:09

Why would pasta have a fried egg chucked on top??? regardless of who eats it!!!!!!!!!!!!

plantsandwich · 30/09/2023 21:22

I brought up Cancel the Cheque about 5 pages back and It's STILL going Grin

Twighlight55 · 30/09/2023 22:34

I think the manager could have been, a bit more empathetic in her approach, however that isn't to say that there isn't room for improvement on the part of the establishment, they could have acknowledged their mistake., and agreed to amend the menu accordingly. Having worked in the food industry I can see both sides and how upsetting 😡, it must have been to you.

It sounds like a genuine mistake on the part of the order chefs, who may or may not have the necessary experience of veganism as a whole.

StillGotBabyBrain · 30/09/2023 22:43

Oh my days, I think it's a far cry to say anyone is confused about whether it's cheese or a fried egg on top of pasta. Give over will you.

Most pasta is vegan friendly. It is mostly made from flour. It's only the fresh stuff or the very odd dried one that has egg in it. Most places do not use fresh pasta. Fresh pasta can also be made without egg. Again, give over.

It really is weird that most people do not know what their food is made of. Or, don't see a major difference between cheese and eggs!!!!

eastegg · 30/09/2023 23:18

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 30/09/2023 20:52

But isn’t a fried egg a bit of a strange thing to be on top of pasta? Not the sort of thing you’d be given unexpectedly with it being stated in the description. Far more likely to be cheese and the OP changed it to egg for dramatic effect.

if it really was an egg then both the manager and the vegan were being u reasonable and the both should have been clearer about their dietary preferences/what was actually in the food.

Show quote history

Yes I understood what you were saying the first time. And I’m saying just because a fried egg is a strange thing to put on top of pasta doesn’t mean the Op has changed it from cheese. It doesn’t mean the OP must have based her whole post on a lie.

If you read the thread, the vast majority think that a fried egg is a strange thing to put on top of pasta. Very few seem to think that that means it must have actually been cheese. You are the outlier here.

JuliusWho · 01/10/2023 00:01

Yeah seems a bit far fetched for me too. I reckon the OP isn’t vegan, ordered a meal, enjoyed it, the manager came over to say a friendly hello and everyone had a lovely evening.

Rudderneck · 01/10/2023 00:21

Lots of people are putting eggs on things now, and sometimes it is a weird choice, so I can easily believe a place might have served that.

I would say that I would expect that it would be on the description of the dish, even if it didn't list all the ingredients. It's a pretty major element. It is like serving a pasta dis with shrimp without mentioning the shrimp.

That being said, unless I new that an ingredient list was meant to be exhaustive, I would be mentioning my dietary restriction to the waiters, as there could easily be something not obvious in the meal. In my experience, they often list major ingredients, but there are often some that are omitted too. Like, as some have said, the pasta might have had egg, and I'd not expect that to be in the description of the dish.

Mickyjk · 01/10/2023 11:15

The vegan is in the wrong simply for refusing the biological reality that humans are (by design) omnivorous. If you put a herbivore on a carnivore diet, they die. If you put a carnivore on a herbivore diet, they die. If you denied an omnivore of either meat or vegetables you put their health at risk.

Mouse82 · 01/10/2023 11:27

Fried egg on pasta isn't a new thing and quite common :D

Whataretheodds · 01/10/2023 12:01

LT1982 · 30/09/2023 21:02

She assumed that the ingrédients list included all ingrédients which is à reasonable assumption to make

Show quote history

It's a ridiculous assumption to make! It's not a regulated label like you would get on a pre-packed sandwich or ready meal.

LT1982 · 01/10/2023 12:04

Whataretheodds · 01/10/2023 12:01

It's a ridiculous assumption to make! It's not a regulated label like you would get on a pre-packed sandwich or ready meal.

Show quote history

It's not ridiculous to expect an ingredients list to contain all of the ingredients. It wasn't à pinch of seasoning it was a main component of the meal 🙄

ChChChCherryBomb · 01/10/2023 12:06

The manager was in the wrong!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fried egg on top of a pasta dish, certainly wouldn’t expect it and doubly do if it wasn’t listed on the ingredients!

MartyMcFlysPurpleUnderwear · 01/10/2023 12:06

@Br1256 vast majority of pasta is vegan. It is only the fresh expensive pasta that is made of eggs.

MartyMcFlysPurpleUnderwear · 01/10/2023 12:07

OT here but where has my quote button gone?

liveforsummer · 01/10/2023 12:37

As a vegan it should have probably been mentioned at ordering. It could well have been fresh pasta with egg or had some Parmesan (so also not suitable for veggie) but even outside of the allergen issue a whole egg is a huge thing to just leave off. I love eggs but I'd be seriously unimpressed if a fried one turned up on my tomato pasta and I imagine I'm not alone!

Atina321 · 01/10/2023 12:48

I call BS. Any vegan would check as pasta isn’t always vegan (it can contain egg). The customer was unreasonable and where it isn’t explicit you either take the risk or ask.