To expect pubs to serve a decent vegetarian meal?

[Allshallbewell2021]

Three pub meals over the past three months have been dire or inedible. One risotto (rice not cooked) one bean/taco meal (clearly from a tin really grim), one Xmas dinner butternut squash thing (clearly from the freezer, slimy and disgusting).
And not cheap either.
Tonight I had chips, peas and battered halloumi (too much straight cheese for anyone) but quite nice.

Is a good vegetarian pub option not economically viable?

I would have happily have eaten either.
I admit to eating my mils well boiled sprouts with loads of salt...they are a novelty.

It depends. Chain pubs.....probably going to be crap. Independent places tend to be better.

Also do your research. Certain cuisines lend themselves better to veggies food than others. Love a good veggie curry or chilli for example.

I managed a pub that's whole ESP was rotisserie chicken. Vast majority of the menu was centred around it. Didn't stop a table of 6 veggies moaning about how there was such a limited veggie menu. There were a lot of other places but they booked with us as they preferred the view......

Were the chips labelled vegetarian on the menu? My first thought when I read your post is that they could have been cooked in dripping.

I feel like I am the only person who doesn’t see the appeal of bean burgers. I suppose they are okay if there is nothing else available but if I want a burger I want it to be greasy and unhealthy. So yes give me all the beyond burgers please 😀

Yep the fries on the sides menu were marked with a V

In that case that’s weird. Maybe they were confused and thought all vegetarians/vegans are health nuts? I have definitely come across that attitude before.

You mean you don’t want to go to your work’s Christmas meal out and pay £35 for an overly salted mushroom risotto?!

I am veggie too and think veggie options have suffered with the rise of veganism (I am not having a go at anyone who chooses to be vegan) and also since more ‘fake meats’ became available. E.g. I love a veggie burger made with actual veggies/beans/quinoa etc but not one that resembles a slab of weird meat, grown in a lab, bought from the freezer section of a wholesaler or supermarket or whatever. I’m not fussy and don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect there to be just a couple of decent veggie options on a menu.

(Also, I do like Halloumi but there’s only so much a person can take.)

I have to disagree that catering for allergens is displacing vegetarian food. There are many places with quite a big vegetarian (in addition to vegan) menu that i can't eat because it all contains gluten. I spent years getting toddler sized bowls of tomato pasta or mushroom risotto as the only veggie options and then as soon as meat free became mainstream I got diagnosed with coeliac disease so now it's jacket potato or cheese omelette for christmas dinner out! There is literally nothing i can eat at most local pubs.

I'm vegan. Don't eat out so often now. I'm over the moon if I can order a fake-meat burger and chips, or some fake-chicken dish. Couldnt care less about it being unhealthy, its a meal out so throw as much unhealthy stuff at me as possible! :) I'm seriously not fussy, but if I ever see falafel or a roast veg wrap again I'll weep. Just gimme a simple version of what everyone else is having, I'm happy with one choice...but please no more fucking falafel....

Agreed. I honestly don’t get why so many people insist on throwing out ‘but it’s so unhealthy!’ on these threads as if it is some kind of gotcha.

When I am eating a burger I am not doing it because I want to be healthy. If anything I order a burger because I want something greasy, fattening and unhealthy. I honestly do not care how processed beyond burgers are. They taste good and they fulfill a junk food craving so I am going to continue to order them.

Why on earth would I want a falafel wrap or a bean burger when everyone else is eating something unhealthy and tasty in a burger place?

I live in Brighton, so have so much choice for veggie options. I'm always shocked when I go elsewhere and it's a bit limited.

I'm with others. We never, ever, go to pubs now, as all food is premade. My brother booked one the other day for a pre-xmas get together, it was awful. Over priced, half of the menu unavailable, and things like, the chicken main wasn't available, but you could have a chicken salad ie: all our food comes pre-prepared, and we can't actually cook. It has fantastic reviews, unbelievable

We only ever go to family owned Italians, who will even make you off menu, if they can.

I think this is a bit silly- Vegetarians can eat vegan meals, while obviously vegans can’t eat vegetarian - so it makes sense to just have a vegan option. Complaining that you can’t eat the crueller version of a meal is just wild imo!

I hate this too. I don’t like dairy substitutes or meat ones for that matter. Also being overcharged for what is often a plate of not very well cooked vegetables. Where is the protein? Half the time it is missing. I do eat fish so I am lucky in that respect but I’d like more vegetarian options when I go out.

Im a chef and worked in a decent pub chain.
We had so many vegan options including desserts and starters Aand veggie options too.
Depends where you live.
Also kitchens only have so many gas burners so the vegan dish being cooked in a pan not on the grill with the steaks has to be considered.

@CatMadam No, not all vegetarians can eat vegan food because it tastes like shite. Non-dairy cheese is tasteless and not at all like cheese. Similarly, jackfruit, which is ubiquitous in vegan food, is awful.
So no. You are wrong

Why should vegetarians eat vegan meals though? If they wanted to be vegan, they’d choose that diet. Given that they haven’t, they should be catered for just as vegans are.

By your logic, all eateries should serve only vegan meals since everyone ‘can’ eat those. Fortunately, there are still some places that recognise, unlike you seem to, that people go out to eat to be able to enjoy choosing to eat something they actually want.

My problem is that i have been vegetarian for so long that the texture of fake meat makes me heave.
I will happily eat vegan food... but not something with the texture of meat. So beans or lentils or mushrooms done well rather than fake meat.
We have a local hotel where half the staff are from Sri Lanka now...the food is really improved. Because the chef is a chef. Not a boil in the bag expert.

Could you have ordered a normal cheeseburger and substituted the patty?

@CatMadam sorry I completely disagree as well - so many vegan options are pre packaged, highly processed and contain poor tasting substitutions for dairy or cheese, or else have no protein - vegetarians also go out to enjoy their meals - I have also noticed that meat eaters who previously would opt for a good vegetarian option when out will rarely choose a vegan one, especially when it's so often an imitation meal now. If the there is a vegan only option of a beyond burger or similar I refuse to go there. They are frankly disgusting.

I was vegetarian for ten years. During that time, in general you got offered one option in restaurants, usually a risotto. Now that veganism is gaining popularity, I see multiple options available at the majority of restaurants, usually with at least one or two vegetarian choices. I live in a crappy wee town as well, so I doubt the options here are greater than elsewhere! I think it’s really silly when vegetarians, especially those who call themselves ‘ethical vegetarians’ like I embarrassingly used to do, complain about having to chose the option prepared with the least amount of animal suffering.

I don’t like fake meat either, as it reminds me
of actual meat and makes me feel ill. It’s good to remember that meat and cheese are also highly processed, though.

I don't live in a sophisticated big city. But I can go to two different Indian restaurants or a good Italian restaurant and have a choice of dishes. Bistro and pub...yucky burger. No thanks.

It isn't veganism that's causing the rise in fake meats, many of us are also sick of all this ultra processed food and want beans, vegetables, nuts and lentils instead. Also don't like vegan cheese particularly, not that dairy cheese is a great health food either (though yes, it is a better protein source).

Sounds like a lot of veggies as well as vegans want more whole foods? It's typical though for veggies to blame us instead of meat eaters, we're you thirty years ago and it probably feels nice to no longer be in that position.

My gripe is that a veggie main like a kebab with rice is only one pound cheaper than all the other mains using meat and fish. How can a few cubes of burnt veg cost nearly as much as a steak or fish?