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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
Whataretheodds · 01/10/2023 14:18

LT1982 · 01/10/2023 12:04

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 🙄

Show quote history

If you have a dietary requirement you'd ask the server. I'm surprised that the server didn't check, but even if they didn't, you'd check.

NynaeveSedaiOfTheYellowAjah · 01/10/2023 14:31

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.

Nope! Unless it says fresh pasta it doesn't contain egg and fresh pasta is always labelled as such and is more expensive than a basic pasta dish. I would never bother asking if the pasta contains egg because unless it specified then it doesn't

eastegg · 01/10/2023 14:54

Mouse82 · 01/10/2023 11:27

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

Ah this is useful. Someone who has come across fried egg served on pasta as a common thing. So you can tell us: was it in the description on the menu?

Original poster
iloverobbrydon · 01/10/2023 15:28

This really got more replies than I expected!

Why are people asking me if it was cheese?? If it was cheese I would've said cheese. It was a bloody fried egg!

I've been vegetarian for 8 years and I'm trying to transition into veganism. If I ordered pasta and later found out it was made with egg or it had animal fat in or something like that, then yes I'd think ah shit, I really need to ask next time to make sure. But I wouldn't be mad with the restaurant or anything, because it's my own fault for not asking.

My only concern here was specifically with the egg. Because in my eyes that is a BIG main ingredient to leave off the list. They had listed that it was tube pasta shapes with a garlic tomato sauce and then listen things it had in it like basil, mushrooms etc. But it didn't mention the egg anywhere. So my reason for sending it back was because there was an egg on it and I didn't want the egg. Whether vegan or not, I would still expect a restaurant who lists the ingredients in a dish to include a giant fried egg on top.

I didn't kick off. I wasn't moody about it. I was just shocked and said oh I'm sorry I won't be able to eat that as I didn't realise it had an egg on it, because your menu didn't mention that it comes with this.

If you go to a restaurant and want to order steak and chips and you view the menu and it says "steak and chips with a side salad" would you then think it was your own fault if it also came covered in a type of sauce you don't like? Or beans or something? Yeah you might just move the beans to the side, but it's still odd for them to list ingredients and miss something like that off

OP posts:
Vriddle · 01/10/2023 15:50

eastegg · 01/10/2023 14:54

Ah this is useful. Someone who has come across fried egg served on pasta as a common thing. So you can tell us: was it in the description on the menu?

Show quote history

Where are you eating that serving a fried egg on top of pasta marinara is quite common ? Stop eating there. You're making Italy cry.

guild · 01/10/2023 15:53

Not a vegan but I hate egg and would have sent that back of egg was not listed. Would I have got told off too, for receiving something I wasn't expecting and which wasn't advertised?

eastegg · 01/10/2023 16:43

Vriddle · 01/10/2023 15:50

Where are you eating that serving a fried egg on top of pasta marinara is quite common ? Stop eating there. You're making Italy cry.

Show quote history

Think you meant to quote Mouse82? I haven’t eaten anywhere like that.

pollymere · 01/10/2023 16:43

I've been thinking further about this and I'm on a very low fat diet. I'd be extremely angry if my tomato pasta had anything fried on top, and potentially had been covered in egg yolk too. I do eat eggs but I wouldn't one extraneously plonked on my meal.

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 01/10/2023 16:55

eastegg · 30/09/2023 23:18

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.

Show quote history

Ah give over, this is AIBU and people embellish stuff all the time. It’s not such a leap to think it was done for dramatic effect. I find it harder to believe such a controversial ingredient was entirely missed off the ingredients list tbh 🤷‍♀️.

anyway they were both being unreasonable whether it was actually an egg or not. If I was vegan I’d make it known and check the pasta didn’t contain egg as I thought most people would.

Ourshoddyhouse · 01/10/2023 17:04

Craving fried eggs now 🤤

plantsandwich · 01/10/2023 18:28

Someone really needs to mention that pasta contains egg sometimes.

OP should post the name of this pub so we can all have a look!

eastegg · 01/10/2023 18:44

Ohhelpicantthinkofaname · 01/10/2023 16:55

Ah give over, this is AIBU and people embellish stuff all the time. It’s not such a leap to think it was done for dramatic effect. I find it harder to believe such a controversial ingredient was entirely missed off the ingredients list tbh 🤷‍♀️.

anyway they were both being unreasonable whether it was actually an egg or not. If I was vegan I’d make it known and check the pasta didn’t contain egg as I thought most people would.

Show quote history

The OP has responded to the nonsense about it being cheese. Believe what you like though.

angsanana · 01/10/2023 18:48

If you have a dietary requirement you need to mention this when ordering. The people saying "what if people are allergic to egg" - if you're allergic to egg and there's no clear allergen matrix... YOU CHECK

Anothagoatthis · 01/10/2023 18:59

angsanana · 01/10/2023 18:48

If you have a dietary requirement you need to mention this when ordering. The people saying "what if people are allergic to egg" - if you're allergic to egg and there's no clear allergen matrix... YOU CHECK

It is good to mention allergies or dietary requirements but the thing is many people just would be put off or even sickened by fried egg on pasta. It’s not something most would expect on a pasta dish.

I love eggs but I wouldn’t want that at all and some friends I know would absolutely hate that touching their food.

It should definitely have been listed in the menu as it’s a major part of the dish.

Thementalloadisreal · 01/10/2023 19:06

iloverobbrydon · 01/10/2023 15:28

This really got more replies than I expected!

Why are people asking me if it was cheese?? If it was cheese I would've said cheese. It was a bloody fried egg!

I've been vegetarian for 8 years and I'm trying to transition into veganism. If I ordered pasta and later found out it was made with egg or it had animal fat in or something like that, then yes I'd think ah shit, I really need to ask next time to make sure. But I wouldn't be mad with the restaurant or anything, because it's my own fault for not asking.

My only concern here was specifically with the egg. Because in my eyes that is a BIG main ingredient to leave off the list. They had listed that it was tube pasta shapes with a garlic tomato sauce and then listen things it had in it like basil, mushrooms etc. But it didn't mention the egg anywhere. So my reason for sending it back was because there was an egg on it and I didn't want the egg. Whether vegan or not, I would still expect a restaurant who lists the ingredients in a dish to include a giant fried egg on top.

I didn't kick off. I wasn't moody about it. I was just shocked and said oh I'm sorry I won't be able to eat that as I didn't realise it had an egg on it, because your menu didn't mention that it comes with this.

If you go to a restaurant and want to order steak and chips and you view the menu and it says "steak and chips with a side salad" would you then think it was your own fault if it also came covered in a type of sauce you don't like? Or beans or something? Yeah you might just move the beans to the side, but it's still odd for them to list ingredients and miss something like that off

Edited

YANBU. Veganism, allergies, etc aside it is plain weird to put a fried egg on top of a pasta dish and not mention it.

Good luck transitioning to veganism, it gets easier but sometimes you’ll still get a “surprise egg” or milk powder in something unexpected. We just do our best 👍🏻💚

VinterBjorn · 01/10/2023 19:32

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?

Pasta isn't vegan though?

I think it sucks that there's no indication of what's vegetarian or vegan and I'm neither.

BabyStopCryin · 01/10/2023 19:43

Can be if it’s not got egg- but I’d assume pasta in a restaurant would be fresh (with egg) unless they say otherwise.

plantsandwich · 01/10/2023 19:47

They usually declare if it is fresh pasta as it's a selling point. I'd like to know which pub this is so I can avoid

Alstroemeria123 · 01/10/2023 19:49

plantsandwich · 01/10/2023 19:47

They usually declare if it is fresh pasta as it's a selling point. I'd like to know which pub this is so I can avoid

I think most of us on the thread would like to know that, for similar reasons!

Thementalloadisreal · 01/10/2023 20:41

Pasta is usually vegan.
We know this because more often than not it’s the only flipping vegan option.

plantsandwich · 01/10/2023 20:54

@Thementalloadisreal that's true. Or mushroom fucking risotto!

I want to go thru this thread and count how many 'bUT PaSTa has EGgGGSZZZZZ' 's there are.

Thementalloadisreal · 01/10/2023 20:56

plantsandwich · 01/10/2023 20:54

@Thementalloadisreal that's true. Or mushroom fucking risotto!

I want to go thru this thread and count how many 'bUT PaSTa has EGgGGSZZZZZ' 's there are.

I didn’t count but I expect it’s only slightly more than “you should just take the egg off then” 🙄

plantsandwich · 01/10/2023 21:00

The scent off eggs (especially fried ones) makes me feel sick and did long before I was vegan, I just simply couldn't eat anything that an egg had contaminated like that. I'd probably be able to taste nothing else.

ReadingSoManyThreads · 02/10/2023 00:04

plantsandwich · 01/10/2023 18:28

Someone really needs to mention that pasta contains egg sometimes.

OP should post the name of this pub so we can all have a look!

Oh don't worry, we covered that the same day of the post!

plantsandwich · 02/10/2023 00:09

@ReadingSoManyThreads and then that was that, it got said and it got corrected.

Or maybe it got carried on and the point got laboured to 'Cancel the Cheque' status. Grin