Meal for 6 vegan restaurant

[Upcyled]

Going out for an evening meal 6 people a week on Friday.
1 person is vegan so has suggested we go to a vegan restaurant.
I'm not against veganism and have family that are vegetarian and vegan which is great their choice.
I am struggling with a vegan restaurant as a choice to be honest. If it were vegetarian I'd be fine with it but vegan seems too much to expect. Obviously the drinks will also be vegan.
I've eaten at great vegan places for lunch not an issue just a whole 3 course meal has annoyed me a bit. Vegan butter, vegan cheese etc (they're not butter or cheese)
So I guess AIBU to suggest a vegetarian restaurant as a compromise?
I guess I don't want to come across as 'the awkward one'

I'm vegan and would never suggest a group of non-vegans went to a specifically vegan restaurant! However I will always check out the menu of anywhere a group is going to - if there is nothing on the menu specifically vegan then give them a ring and request something. I've never had an issue with this! Admittedly some chefs are better at producing something vegan than others and I've had some rather disappointing offerings, but most restaurants offer a vegan choice these days.

Have you looked at the menu and there’s not a single thing that you would want to eat? If it’s a 3 course meal situation I’m assuming it’s a proper restaurant and not a vegan burger bar or suchlike and presumably you can ask for things without the cheese, like in any restaurant…

Have you seen the menu?

Are they any restaurants you could go to with good vegetarian and vegan options? I'm vegetarian, DH is a meat-eater and we have friends who require vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free diets to be catered for. Best place for us to all eat has been one of the 'Lounge' franchise restaurants.

No, I'd try to meet them in the middle and find a really decent vegetarian restaurant. Or look for a traditional restaurant with excellent vegan options.

I'd look at the menu of the suggested restaurant first. It's unlikely that they will be using readymade vegan spreads or vegan cheese. It's unreasonable to object to it out of hand, without investigating what's actually on offer.

Providing there will be vegan options available I would suggest the vegetarian restaurant. I suspect the others attending are also thinking the same as you, but they're all hoping someone else will suggest an alternative.

I’d suggest somewhere else or not go. I think it’s a bit rum to expect everyone around the table to eat to your dietary preferences. I personally try to steer clear of a lot of hyper processed foods - which a lot of vegan dishes incorporate so for me this kind of restaurant would likely not be able to cater to my own requirements.

As an eat-anything non vegan, I would be up for trying something new if the menu looked decent. I can understand if others didn't but sometimes the veggie and vegan options are tediously samey in mainstream places so its definitely worth considering.

Is it that you object to going to a vegan restaurant in principle or you object to going to that vegan restaurant because you’ve looked at the menu and there’s nothing you like? If there’s nothing on the menu you like, then just say that - in the same way you’d say if someone suggested a restaurant that was any other type of cuisine you weren’t keen on. If you just don’t want to go to a vegan restaurant on principle - why?

Generally a decent vegan restaurant won’t use loads of ultra processed foods. None I’ve been to anyway. It’s usually the vegan option at a non-vegan restaurant which is junk/ultra processed as it’s usually something that they can store in the freezer and being out for the odd vegan order - eg a Moving Mountains burger.

I mean it does depend on the menu, but if I didn’t fancy anything then I’d push for vegetarian as a middle ground.

Saying that I went to a vegetarian place with a vegan friend, lots of vegan options for her. She spent the entire meal complaining my choice had cheese on it and how much better the other vegan choices looked (they didn’t).

I would have agreed with this a few years ago, but dining out is so expensive now- say you get away with £50 a head- I really don’t want to spend 50 quid on food I’m unlikely to enjoy. A lot of the vegan substitute ingredients are the kind of things I try to keep out of my diet, perhaps a restaurant might not use such things, but I go out to enjoy my food, and the idea of this for me is really off putting.

My local pub has 6 vegan dishes plus veggie options on the menu- why not go somewhere where everyone is happily catered for?

I've been to Tendril, Gauthier and Mallow in London as a non vegan and found them just as interesting as trying any other new cuisine. Each time we were a group of 6 or 8 adults with one vegan amongst the party, however we also often go to Indian restaurants as they have a good vegan / veggie selection.

As the vegan to recommend somewhere - sounds like they have a place in mind if they made that suggestion.

Otherwise most of the vegetarian restaurants I used to love have gone largely vegan (including fake cheese) and now have more vegan than veggie options on the menu so that could also work.

Having said that, what does annoy me is when a vegan restaurant serves pretend meat ... there's a local chain near me which is all "Meat-y" this and "Chicken-y" that, "fillet-no-fish" and so on.

Just serve meat
Or vegan
Not some crap processed pretend stuff.

Boils my piss.

I eat mostly anything but it's a bit of a piss take for one vegan to suggest you all go to a totally vegan restaurant. Suggest a vegetarian one.

Reminds me of the time I went for tapas with 3 friends. Looking at the menu and the vegetarian piped up "So are we agreed that we're all ordering vegetarian tonight" ... erm nope. Chorizo and meatballs for me.

I'd give it a go. I have been to a couple of vegan restaurants and both times been pleasantly surprised by what they served. It's one night. Give something different a go.

It won't kill you to try somewhere out of your comfort zone, OP. It's one meal out of your life.

I expect it's absolutely lovely for your friend to go somewhere and have a full rage of choices to eat, rather than the one begrudgingly provided vegan option on a menu, usually cooked by someone without much knowledge ro experience of vegan cuisine. I remember how delighted my coeliac friend was to go to a GF cafe and have her pick of options.

Given that you are presumably almost always able to choose from a broad range of options, it would be a nice thing to do to go along with your friend's suggestion. Look online at the menu - unless it's endless Beetroot 3 Ways etc, you're likely to find something decent.

(I' m not vegan and don't choose to have vegan meals 95% of the time, but branching out is good every now and again)

Depends on the vegan restaurant in question:

Gaulthier Soho, yes please
Anywhere serving fake meat - no thank-you

I'd expect a decent vegan place to avoid fake butter and cheese and have created a menu not based around pretend meat eating.

Why is it a piss take any more than one of the others suggesting veggie, Indian, Thai or a carvery? Its a suggestion for something the others my not have tried previously - they can say "no".

IME the starter and the dessert are the strongest options on a vegan menu and it's usually the main that can be hit or miss. Although if it's a vegan restaurant I would feel fairly confident that the mains will be good too.

If the vegan friend usually comes to regular restaurants where there is often just one or two options for them I think it's fair enough to give this a go at least once. My guess is most people will enjoy the food than they expect to.

Gauthier Soho does do a fake steak stew. And it's French so it's got loads of vegan butter. Probably in every dish.

I'd suggest a decent Indian or Thai restaurant instead.