To be annoyed that vegan options have replaced vegetarian?

[Sacredhandbag]

It's only a silly gripe in the grand scheme of things but it's bloody annoying.

I've been a vegetarian my whole life but since veganism has become more popular and more and more people are becoming part of the movement (and good on them!) it's like restaurants, cafes and hotels have skipped adding vegetarian options and thought "well vegan options covers both so we'll just add a few of those"

No! I am not vegan. I am vegetarian. I still want my eggs, my cream, my cheese, my butter. I want a stilton and broccoli bake, not a grilled bit of cauliflower!

Afternoon tea (I'm a fan and have one as often as I can) is the worst for it. There's an ordinary menu and then there's a vegan menu and that's it. You order one or the other. I don't want chicken or fish sandwiches but I sure as hell want my scones with proper clotted cream! So I have to be specific about the sandwiches and say I want some from one menu and some from the other. Bloody annoying.

Any other veggies feel the same?

There are vegan restaurants, but the couple near me had to close as there wasn't enough demand. Despite the vegan agenda being pushed quite heavily, and a lot of people (not all!) who are vegan being quite noisy about it, actually only a tiny proportion of the population is vegan. One vegan cafe near me turned into a sushi bar, and the other into a (beef) burger bar lol.

It’s very lazy and a cost cutting exercise
I’m gluten free too and completely fed up of GF foods also being vegan as with my IBS have to avoid so many pulses beans nuts and vegetables
95% of the time I cook from scratch but sometimes if I’m out and about have no choice

Free from bread? Most bread is vegan?

You might think the rest of it is 'yuk', but you're not a vegan? Vegans think cream etc is 'yuk'.

In fairness, I don't know a single vegan who appreciates a 'cauliflower steak'. All I've seen about those is vegans and vegetarians complaining about them. Whichever chef came up with that has a lot to answer for. Not seen one on a menu for a long while, thankfully.

I don't like cream either @AnnWalkersLeftSlipper .
I eat a lot of non-dairy food, but not deliberately.

Gluten-free bread and cakes aren't tasty, an often the vegan option is also gluten-free and vice versa.

I own a restaurant. It is down to margins. The hospitality industry has been absolutely battered by covid lock downs, increased energy costs and food prices, NMW increase, employers NI increases, and the cost of living crisis in general. It's a tough place to be. We cannot carry menu items with low sales and potential high wastage. I would love to carry more vegetarian menu items however the wastage is too high as we buy everything fresh and make all our food from scratch. No fake meats etc. However because we cook from scratch and don't buy in prepared frozen items chef will happily flex a dish and add cheese, egg or other non-vegan products for our vegetarian customers.

If you are vegetarian try restaurants that specialise in cuisines from largely vegetarian cultures as the vegetarian and vegan dishes will be amazing. Or go higher end where you can guarantee everything is made fresh on site. I'd also recommend calling ahead and asking if they can accommodate specific requirements. We will flex our menu if given notice.

Sadly a lot of restaurants simply reheat packaged meals. Everything is portioned and costed so something simple like adding cheese isn't done because it completely messes up their stock control and pricing. Depressing isn't it.

I'd have sent it back, it's ridiculous. However this is all down to the idiot militant vegans who seem to think what other people eat is any of their business. Obviously I'm not including all vegans in that before I'm accused of vegan bashing, only ones like whoever made the FB post.

I was for years!

We're going to end up with only those chain restaurants surviving, at this rate, except in wealthier cities/areas. All the independent restaurants in my home town are closing down, one after another. It's such a shame.

https://weetwood.co.uk/app/uploads/2022/03/Vegan-Afternoon-Tea-JAN-2025.pdf

This is the nearest vegan afternoon tea to me. Afternoon tea isn't my thing because I don't have a sweet tooth at all, but as far as cakes go, they were lovely last time I had them (I was given a voucher as a present). The sandwiches were just the sort of thing I love, no complaints here.

I understand that but my point was about people who don't eat meat or fish. People who eat fish are handling flesh and dead animals, so I don't see too much difference.

So the argument that vegetarians can eat vegan food falls down, doesn’t it? Because in that basis everyone can eat vegan food falls- but most people don’t want to. So basically restaurants cater for meat and fish eaters and vegans but not vegetarians, despite there being far more vegetarians than vegans.

Quite. So basically there is very little demand for vegan food but many restaurants have decide the vegan dollar is more important that the vegetarian one.

I wonder if the trend will reverse, in time. The trend for veganism has peaked, I actually know quite a few ex-vegans.

@Rainbow1901 people don’t eat meat for ethical reasons, not because of the taste

A single, vegan menu also captures everyone. Bet you wouldn't like that though.

Restaurants are falling like flies where I am regardless of what they sell. I haven’t seen much evidence that vegan restaurants are especially prone to it.

I am amused by the poster who said that vegans think they’re special. I’m not even vegan or vegetarian but it looks to me on a lot of the anti vegan threads started by vegetarians that it’s the vegetarians who are put out because they aren’t regarded as special anymore.

Not if the restaurant wants to make money. It is a restaurant, a business, not an exercise in philosophy.

I don't regard myself as special. I really and truly never even think or talk about it. I've never eaten meat, I've been veggie since birth and not through choice, it is what it is, I don't think about it enough to ever start a discussion about it and people I know very well forget or are unaware that I even am vegetarian.
I'm only moaning now because stuff I have eaten all my life is disappearing from food outlets and because for the first time in 38 years I have to check menus before I go out.
I just want my food back 😄

Interesting. I know one vegetarian who went vegan and her iron levels plummeted to such an extent that she now eats red meat once a week, having not eaten meat for over 30 years.

I agree that ideally they should cater for vegetarians separately but considering the tiny profit margins and that most are struggling to keep their head above water I can see why they try to combine them.

I do still think though that a lot of vegetarians are rather miffed that they aren’t seen as anything special now. Perhaps you don’t but I see that attitude on most threads on this topic.

Rubbish. Meat eaters are the ones who think they’re special - can you imagine if it was pointed out that as meat eaters CAN eat vegan food the meat options should be removed - all the toys would come out of the pram!

It pushed me back to pescatarianism.

Going back to what I said about being veggie and not liking meat, I've had so many conversations when ordering food whether there's fake meat in the meal, and people don't get what I mean. I get told, it's OK it's vegetarian, but I'm trying to explan that yes it might be veggie but I might not like it. Sometimes they've brought it out for me to see before they cook it. All good fun 😁

I’m more than happy to eat vegan and vegetarian food when out and often do so no toy throwing here though as I said earlier, I do think that they should cater separately for vegetarians if possible.