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?

Agree - I’ve always hated the texture of meat (with real meat the smell and taste too) so I don’t want to eat fake meat. I also don’t like mushrooms, eggs, or halloumi. I don’t mind not eating out but there’s so little choice for sandwiches/wraps.

You can't change the scientific classification of mammals. All humans are onmivores, you could never touch meat your whole life, and you'd still be an omnivore.

I do 🤣

I completely agree OP. I now miss the often very limited veggie options of the 1980s/1990s because at least they contained a vegetable. It used to be a bit rubbish back in the days but I'd take it over the processed not-meat and shitty vegan not-cheese that seem to be the only options these days. And no, a slice of cauliflower is not a main course - particularly if you're charging £15 for it.

Bring back old-fashioned vegetable lasagne (made with tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, aubergine etc), mushroom stroganoff, vegetable quiche, stuffed peppers, broccoli and cheese bake, nut roast.

I agree. I admire vegans' commitment to being vegans, given how difficult it is to eat a varied, interesting and healthy diet. I've had some amazing vegan food in really good restaurants and cooked by vegan friends who are talented chefs - but unless a big effort is made, vegan food is boring and samey and not that tasty, or really over-processed (and horrible), particularly in restaurants. This is why I'm not a vegan tbh - everyone would be if it tasted as nice as dairy, fish and meat. I'm pescatarian so often go for the veggie option, and I don't want a vegan option instead, especially if it's those most loathsome of foods, vegan sausages. Or anything made from soy 'meat'. Or seitan. Urgh.

Yes! I don't want a fake meat burger. I want pulses and cheese and eggs. I just end up ordering chicken, when I try to avoid too much that I know will be badly kept. At home I buy free range but you can't when out.

That does sound odd, but maybe they have strictly separate parts of the kitchen for general food prep and for vegan food prep - also different fridges.

Most vegans will expect things to be kept completely separate in the kitchen, so that's probably exactly what they do.

I know they could just get the burger from the vegan side and then take it to the omni side, but it could get confusing in a busy kitchen - especially if they have trainees who are still learning.

Whilst it seems common sense to fulfil your request, some vegans would be horrified and complain if they saw/heard of a dish labelled as vegan being 'contaminated' with non-vegan food. They may not have overheard your conversation about knowing and accepting that the cheese isn't vegan.

There are elements of the vegan lobby that are militant and will make a huge fuss if they think there's a risk of vegan food not being compliant. One FB post with a long-range photo from somebody saying "I was in Marco's in the high street and this guy ordered the vegan burger - but it came with standard cheese in it! I'll never eat there again and I recommend that all vegans avoid it like the plague!" - the damage that could do to their business; especially when other people with allergies and different preferences hear the word and think the place don't care and obviously can't be trusted at all.

Every time I read a sanctimonious vegan trying to grow beat me or others into becoming vegan I hate eat a steak.

I used to be vegetarian for many many years, I still like vegetarian food, but vegan food is often miserable and the cheese is awful. I also miss decent vegetarian options in restaurants etc. all the white sauce and cheese is now vegan or gone, a lot of pasta is like egg free and tastes like slime.

Seems fair enough to be honest, 2 options for vegans (that everybody else could eat) + 2 options for vegetarians.
You seem to resent that some options are vegetarian but not vegan, but that is exactly the point of this thread: vegan options either contain fake meat/cheese/etc or as not as nice.

I wouldn't have thought vegetarian pizza was difficult to order at all - any Italian restaurant or takeaway will do a margarita or vegetable pizza as standard (ask them not to put mushrooms on). I've only ever seen pizzas with vegan cheese in chain restaurants and takeaways like Dominos, but even then they are served alongside veggie friendly options.

It was ALWAYS either vegetarian lasagne or cauliflower cheese as the vegetarian option in restaurants in the 80s/90s. Served with chips. At the time, I got fed up with it, but I'd take that over anything involving tofu, soy or seitan any day of the week.

Agree with all of this, but goes back to the original point that many restaurants no longer cater for vegetarians, only meat eaters and vegan, and the ‘contamination’ of vegan dishes with dairy wouldn’t be an issue if they had any veggie options on the menu.

I'm not veggie, but half our household is. My husband has been veggie for 40 years, and really hates eating out now due to this exact issue!

YANBU OP in terms of restaurants options - I think its purely them trying to save money in terms of less menu options, but it shortsighted as I suspect it puts off many vegetarians. Personally as an occasional meat eater, I often choose the vegetarian or pescatarian options but I only occasionally fancy the vegan ones.

And apologies as I haven’t read the whole thread, but for those talking about veganism for health reasons (as opposed to for animal welfare which is completely reasonable) - I understood that most doctors said that a vegetarian diet or even more so, a pescatarian diet was considered the healthiest option?

Because then there is no need for a synthetic vitamin B12 supplement or even an iron supplement (providing you eat enough dark greens as well as fish and dairy as there’s iron in all of them, just not as much as is easily available in red meat).

Not being goady, am genuinely interested if what I’ve read about the healthiest type of diet is wrong.

I don't think you are being unreasonable. I'm a vegan, and for many years I'd be confronted with a vegetarian option but no vegan option, so I understand the frustration. Reversing that situation isn't the right solution. It can't be that hard to cater to all tastes and diets.

Yes this is a big problem for me because I've never eaten meat. So I don't want stuff that tastes like meat!

I agree and have reduced how often I eat out. I don’t want to eat the processed crap that is called ‘vegan’.

A decent salad or well made dish made purely from vegetables is great. But fake burgers, fake cheese, processed crap I’m not prepared to eat.

I always thought I would go from vegetarian to vegan but haven’t. This push towards veganism is more likely to turn me back to meat as I am not happy eating processed food.

At HardRock Cafe I chose the vegan burger as the only veggies option, but it was designed to taste meaty, I couldn't eat it. However they did have a veggie (real cheese) and a vegan version.

I could not agree more. I WANT CHEESE! I don't want vegan food, some of it is lovely but I want vegetarian food offered too!

I was at my work Christmas do and there was so much meat and then the veggie AND vegan option was: a slice of fondant celeriac and a heaped tablespoon of spinach. That was IS. No cheese! No chips! No bread!

Totally ageee re the upf, all this vegan is healthy lark I don’t think the upf is healthier than meat/dairy (the animal cruelty is obviously a whole separate issue)

Mind if I ask why you are a vegetarian?

YABU.
Vegan is much more inclusive than vegetarian.
It's suitable for people with milk and egg allergies who can't usually have anything on the menu (as an allergy sufferer vegan afternoon teas are a brilliant creation!)
No clotted cream or lashings of butter on sandwiches. You get cake too. ❤️
Vegetarians can eat vegan too.
If they don't want to, that's just their fussiness.
Take a block of grated cheese in your handbag and whap it on your burger.
Even meat eaters can eat vegan!
Much rather there were vegan options than vegetarian ones available.

That's the first time I've ever heard that argument (genuinely) from a vegetarian - that being more inclusive to meat eaters and providing more choice for them is more likely to push you back to eating meat?! Usually ethics/morals would put a stop to someone wanting to do that.

100per cent agree, I am not vegetarian but love vegetarian food , ie vegetables! Whenever I go out now there’s no vegetarian option only vegan which is usually some kind of fake meat , fish or burger substitute full of chemicals and other nasties! I haven’t met many vegetarians who want fake bacon, ham, chicken or fish etc , I know all my vegetarian friends are totally fed up! I’m still struggling to work out what fake meat is actually made of, surely all that processed cheese / meat fish fakes are not good for you or the environment!!!

I think you have to accept that people make food choices for different reasons. I was very surprised at a recent thread where vegetarians said that they quite happily bought, handled and cooked meat for their family.