Veggie served meat - what if anything would you do? do?

[TortellinimorelikeTorteLIEni]

Went out for a meal tonight. A nice chain. Ordered aubergine tortellini. When it came and I ate the first couple of mouthfuls I thought it tasted odd. Had a bit more and thought it tasted and looked like beef. Asked a couple of the people with me and they agreed. I called the waiter over and asked if I could have been given meat by mistake. He said there was no meat version of the tortellini but he'd check with the kitchen. Came back and said it was definitely aubergine.

I checked the menu and there was no meat version on it so I told myself I must be mistaken. Took another bite but nope, definitely tasted like beef.

I Google and see that on New year's there was indeed a beef version of the tortellini on their menu. I am now 100% sure that's what they have given me. I check with a third member of my table, they also agree it's meat. The portion was small - literally like 6 big tortellini so by now it's almost all gone.

When the waiter comes to clear the table I mention it again, I tell him I'm now sure it was meat and ask him to inform the kitchen.

He comes back after some time saying they have now checked thoroughly and it is definitely aubergine. They have checked the meat tortellini from New Year's and it looks completely different.

I don't want to get into a big back and forth at this point as most of the meal has gone and the rest of the table have had nice food and are enjoying themselves.

However. I am wondering whether to email their manager or head office to ask them to check their tortellini and labelling? I'm not after money off but I am concerned about them dishing up meat to veggies and the potential for someone with allergies to eat something they shouldn't.

Is there any point now? Or should I leave it at this point?

Definitely complain!

When you’re a lifelong vegetarian and you eat meat products, it can make you very ill because you don’t have the right gut bacteria to digest it.

My DH got a bad case of D&V after a meal out that I’m certain contained meat (I eat meat and it tasted meaty to me). Unfortunately, he doesn’t like to make a fuss so didn’t say anything at the time but was violently sick within a few hours. That lasted a couple of days and ruined our holiday.

But that’s the point!!

Surely if no-one complains, it will likely happen again because they won’t have reviewed their processes to ensure the error isn’t repeated?

Next time, it could have far more serious consequences for the unsuspecting diner!

OP - I would be fuming too, as a lifelong vegetarian. If you'd had an allergy, it could potentially have been serious.

A tip (humorous!) - always say something like 'I'm glad it's not meat as I have a life-threatening allergy.' Then you'll see if they have realised their mistake!

That wouldn't work as you would surely declare something serious like that.

I think the long and short of it is if OP was convinced it was meat as were 3 of her friends she should have sent it back for another dish. She didn't and the time has now passed.

I think you have done all you can, you’re 100% sure it was beef the chef was 100% sure it was aubergine. They can taste very similar and aubergine is often used to bulk out beef recipes.

you can’t prove it but the restaurant can check the labels for future reference.

A tip (humorous!) - always say something like 'I'm glad it's not meat as I have a life-threatening allergy.' Then you'll see if they have realised their mistake!

Sadly:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0ryvk4jj7o

However, generally the UK doesn't do "what if ..." as a motivator for change. Much more economic to do "Oh dear...".

Why, many mushrooms are a lot meatier?

In what world does beef taste like aubergine 😕 They don't even have the same texture because aubergine has 1/5th more water content.

Mushrooms are the tuna of the soil

That could have just been a McPlant. They're really not nice, and very greasy.

OP said it was like 6 big tortellini and at the end so by now it's almost all gone

So she ate most of it. I used to be veggie and have been in this situation. As soon as I realised something was wrong, I stopped eating the dish.

No, she ate some and 3 other people ate some. She said it was a small portion so there wouldn’t be much left after that.

If you’re told that it can’t be beef as there’s no beef version, you may just think its similar to meat which aubergine can be.

OP has done the right thing by responding to their email and informing them of what happened and she’s satisfied thats all she can do.

Definitely email to let them know you think there could be a mistake

I must say, aubergine is meant to be like beefy meaty like substitute for vegetarians. It really could be possible they were telling the truth x