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?

For feta
Things just get better and better.
For halloumi
The outlook is far more gloomy.

This thread is making me feel like I want veganism to die out.
Which I really don't. I just want choice for everybody 😅

It's the equivalent of restaurants only offering fish for carnivores.

i do consider it and try to avoid it, however as a human it is impossible to not contribute to things like this unless you literally live 'off grid' and sustain yourself.
Palm oil is in close to 50% of products in supermarkets, faux meat makes up a very small fraction of that, it isn't a 'vegan problem'.

Making GF baked goods (for a friend who is GF) has been the bane of my life on several occasions! I managed to make some very good coconut tarts (obviously not to everyone's taste) and wraps and potato cakes. Oh and brownies-they were easy enough, main ingredient was dates and then chocolate!

There's a decent gastropub near me that does a vegan and GF lasange. I've avoided it because of the GF aspect but my friend says GF pasta is actually very good, so I might sample tit one day.

I have had this happen several times at work buffets and at least once (from memory) at social events. One of those times, I went home as the alcohol was flowing and I'd have been sloshed if I'd have had only leaves and a dry bread roll to eat. It's so selfish.

I haven't ever ever seen this and I eat out a lot! Mostly the 'faux meat' burgers are branded and the brand has to be referenced on the menu (Moving Mountains, Beyond Meat etc). Must be a regional thing.

Well yes, because they're only here becuase we literally created the species for our own gains. They don't exist naturally. If we stopped using and abusing them they wouldn't be here.

As a vegan, I don’t like fake processed meat products, so I don’t buy them. If the only vegan option is a meaty burger, then I will eat somewhere else.

Why are people assuming on this thread that vegans are demanding fake meat? It’s not our fault that the restaurants are using it as a default option.

Give me a proper bean burger any day.

I haven't eaten a mammal or a bird for 50 years, I'd prefer to eat minimal fish however now I nearly always end up eating the fish option when eating out because the vegetarian choice is nearly always vegan and fake meat which I can't stand.

Recently had a delicious cauliflower steak however it was £15, the same price as the chicken dish my partner ate. It's definitely starting to put me off eating out.

There are prediction food trends for the year. I believe vegan cheese was 2022 or 2023. More plant based alter has been on few years. Small places follow bigger restaurants who make things popular. Big chains interpol "plant based alter" as fake version of meat.

Bidfood releases every year notes on food trends for the year. I like they call Greek etc "flavours less travelled" 😂
www.bidfood.co.uk/food-and-drink-trends-2025/#:~:text=In%202025%2C%20our%20research%20has,and%20Irish%20cuisines%20on%20the

Yes! 100%

I love cheese but not meat

I think the blank look is pretty standard if you ask a question in a lot of places. DH and I went out for a meal and I asked if a particular dish had mushrooms in it. I explained I'm not allergic but need to know as they'll make me ill. The waitress looked at me blankly before grudgingly going to the kitchen. She came back and said the chef didn't know and they couldn't find the ingredients but if it did contain mushrooms it wouldn't be many so it would be OK!

It's very worrying that the chef didn't know

Exactly. I presume it must come in ready made which I didn't realise when I booked. If it hadn't been a meal for DH's birthday I would have made more of it and asked if they thought a little bit of peanut was ok for an allergy sufferer. Because I didn't want to spoil his birthday I kept quiet and had something else!

If that's the case they had a bloody cheek calling whoever they spoke to the "chef"
There's no chef that doesn't know what's in the food they cook!

Insult to chefs!! 😅

I think it's just a personal perception thing TBH.
As a vegan I get annoyed that things are always labelled vegetarian these days even if they are vegan (I think the word vegan is more off-putting to people then veggie so they try not to use it!).
It feels like there are always a ton more veggie options than vegan when eating out.
Also the amount of random shit that has milk powder or eggs in, often for no real discernable reason, really pisses me off.
And as the 'trendy to be vegan' bubble has burst more and more products have disappeared from the shelves.😥

In other words it's not just vegetarians who get annoyed with the choices out there!

I agree..I cook predominantly vegan at home..it can be so tasty, with all the seasonal veg, sweet potatoes, tofu marinated and glazed, thai dishes, curries, noodles. The fake meats and cheeses are gross, they give vegan food a bad rap 😂

I am a lover of cheese. But vegan/vegetarian menus in general have gone down hill.
Wherever you go it is always the same. The fake meat burger, halloumi, mushroom Risotto/stroganoff or mac n cheese (and yes a few places I've been its with vegan cheese) it's more of a treat for me to cook (and cheaper)

I agree.. I'm vegetarian and live a hallumi salad for example. People get so confused!

It's not surprising that the bubble has burst. It was a fad for many people, the hardcore have always been a tiny minority and I think people are waking up to the fact that vegan=healthy is a lie.

Most vegans aren't vegan for health reasons.

Gluten free here, definitely not by choice, and up until a few years ago it was generally well accommodated when eating out.

Nowadays, I regularly find I get handed the vegan menu when I enquire about gluten free food, as if they are interchangeable, and I too find that restaurants try to serve dishes that suit all niche food choices ie GF, veggie and vegan. Which just pleases no one.

But I do recommend GF lasagne as the pasta is much lighter and the whole dish is easier to digest than traditional lasagne which I recall as being a bit stodgy

Free from bread? Free from what?. As nearly all bread is naturally vegan, and doesn't have milk or eggs in.
"Might be ok, might be yuk"
Just showing that you've never actually really had vegan afternoon teas and don't know what you're talking about, sorry.
I've had some amazing ones and I'm not even vegan.
Finger sandwiches, mini mushroom and spinach rolls instead of sausage rolls, scones, chocolate brownies, mini cheesecakes....

I am, or rather I want to be, an omnivore.
It means I really don't need meat at every meal and I'd enjoy having more veggie options.

I'm a bit suspicious of vegan food, because it is rarely clear whether it is a normal food which was put together to consist only of vegan-friendly parts, or whether it has some fakes and replacements in it.

In my eyes v&v food should broaden my options, not duplicate and downgrade the existing ones.

Those for whom veganism is a core value aren't, no. But I have known a lot of people who went vegan because they thought it was healthier, and because it was trendy, and the trend has now peaked.