Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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
diddl · 28/09/2023 20:00

Leaving aside the vegan aspect, if the menu didn't say that the dish was served with a fried egg, why wouldn't be acceptable to send it back for that reason alone?

Alwayswonderedwhy · 28/09/2023 20:03

Manager is wrong.

hotcandle · 28/09/2023 20:04

Vegan is YABU. I would presume I'm eating fresh pasta in a restaurant.

bakewellbride · 28/09/2023 20:05

Manager in the wrong

DawnInAutumn · 28/09/2023 20:05

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!?

yeah this! God we reply on ingredients lists ! (vegetarian and anaphylactic peanut allergies in my household).

TrashedSofa · 28/09/2023 20:06

hotcandle · 28/09/2023 20:04

Vegan is YABU. I would presume I'm eating fresh pasta in a restaurant.

I would in a restaurant. Pub could go either way, depending on whether we're at the gastro or microwave end of the market.

Purpleblob · 28/09/2023 20:07

I had something similar where I ordered cheesecake and turned out the base was solely made of nuts but on the menu it was described as chocolate and honeycomb. I did complain as have very mild allergy to nuts and expected it to be listed. I was told all cheesecakes have a base of nuts. Have to say I thought it was normally biscuit!

NalafromtheLionKing · 28/09/2023 20:07

5foot5 · 28/09/2023 18:08

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

Substitute ‘dog meat’ and you may see how the vegan would feel about that.

Yokaiwatch · 28/09/2023 20:08

The manager is wrong - the menu should state all ingredients. I would have sent that back too because I hate egg and I would not expect egg on top of pasta. However, due to the absence of the v or ve labels on meals as a customer I would probably have clarified that the meal was definitely vegan prior to ordering.

PortalooSunset · 28/09/2023 20:09

iloverobbrydon · 28/09/2023 18:50

Omg I googled it pasta is vegan and it says generally yes. But fresh pasta that you find in the chilled section isn't. So clearly I have been utterly crap so far at trying to do this.

I do accept that double checking with them would've been better and this is why I apologised to them. My thought process was that I thought as they listed the ingredients, they wouldn't miss something so significant off the list. And in todays world so many people are veggie and vegan that surely they would think it was important to list of there was any meat or egg in it?

I think I agree that we were both in the wrong. It's been playing on my mind since last night because I feel really embarrassed about it. Every time I think about it I cringe!

Yep. Granny would have said "Six of one, half a dozen of the other". Probably closely followed by "I'll bang your bleedin' heads together!" 😂

They should fully list not partially, and you should check. Hope your next meal out is more successful.

Anetra · 28/09/2023 20:10

5foot5 · 28/09/2023 18:08

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

Ah come on!

SkinnyMalinkyLankyLegs · 28/09/2023 20:11

The manager is clearly in the wrong. I'm sick of restaurants adding shitty additions to dishes that they don't list on the menu. Pomegranate seeds is one that gets added to salads when it isn't listed in the description of the dish. Awful little things!

Ididivfama · 28/09/2023 20:12

Yuck. Manager is weird.

Ididivfama · 28/09/2023 20:12

@5foot5 and if you hate egg you just need to accept it might be added to some random meal?

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 28/09/2023 20:14

Manager is wrong IMO

I agree they should either list all the ingredients or none, and an egg is a pretty big thing to leave out. It sounds like a really weird thing to have on a plate of pasta with tomato and basil sauce too!

Aren’t places supposed to ask you re any allergies/ requirements these days, not the other way around?

Cowlover89 · 28/09/2023 20:14

Both sides to blame

RandomButtons · 28/09/2023 20:16

Not on the main menus - they have to have full allergen menu available.

burnoutbabe · 28/09/2023 20:16

i had similar - ordered eggs florentina at a brunch place and it came smothered with grilled mushrooms. I hate mushrooms. I have never had EF with mushrooms as standard.

manager just shrugged and said they inclde mushrooms in theirs!

(well fine - but on the menu say "EF with mushrooms!)

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 28/09/2023 20:16

In fact the manager was lucky the customer was a vegan and not an Italian!

Very weird thing to put on pasta napolitana

Quartz2208 · 28/09/2023 20:19

Whereas there no legal requirement to mark as vegan they do legally have put down that it contained egg in the menu

Mirabai · 28/09/2023 20:19

I’m not veggie let alone vegan but I hate eggs.

Are you supposed to ask if there’s an egg on every meal? Or anchovies? Or cheese?

Mountaineer0009 · 28/09/2023 20:20

@iloverobbrydon why did they add an egg to begin with ?

Toottooot · 28/09/2023 20:23

A vegan not shouting from the rooftops that are vegan? Na dinna believe at min.

Mariposista · 28/09/2023 20:23

5foot5 · 28/09/2023 18:08

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

Most people could, but some have egg allergies.

TheDogFosterer · 28/09/2023 20:23

This sounds like a very weird pub. They list some of the ingredients but not all of them? Wtaf? 😅 Either don't label so people enquire, or label everything so people know what they're getting.

Don't be embarrassed, you won't be the first person this has happened to in this pub due to their lack of labelling. I definitely wouldn't eat their again.