Should they describe this menu item better

[holidaybubble]

Went to a cafe for the first time it’s not for profit and does stuff for the community. I had been wanting to try it out for a while and finally went to day with my toddler I checked the menu to see if he would eat anything and saw baked beans. I ordered him baked beans on toast with a sausage turns out the beans where homemade and spiced Aibu to think they should state this on the menu as there is a big difference between tinned and home made. I said to the girl behind the counter it was my first time coming she could have said did I know the beans were spiced when ordering for my son. Obviously he refused to eat them.

not linked to my Aibu but my full English came with toast and I got toast for him too. The wait for food was long so they gave me my son’s toast early which I hadn’t asked for. I then didn’t revive my toast with my meal and he then had no toast for his beans. I would have said something but my son was screaming as he was hungry and pushing his pot of beans and spitting them out so I just inhaled mine and left. The person that also works there had gone upstairs and I didn’t want to wait.

I guess it might be reasonable, but I do feel a bit depressed by that, which is what I first said. The more "reasonable," the more depressing I find it. I do think we fall behind other countries in terms of our expectations around food.

Can't believe I have just spent way too long reading a debate about baked beans 😄

Sadly this is the problem when children are fed what is deemed to be ‘kids food’ rather than eating what adults eat. I would think that after a class when you know he will be hungry and probably tired as well maybe wasn’t the best time to try this place. And if it didn’t work out chalk it up to experience. There will be plenty more before he hits 18!

I think you're extrapolating a lot from beans! I think most people don't put beans in the same category as a lot of other foods. And that distinction is not, in and of itself, indicative of a lowering of culinary standards.

So many bonkers people on Mumsnet.😂 This thread is bringing out the crazy people!!

💁🏻‍♀️even if they didn't (and I kind of disagree as I think some home made style baked beans look similar enough to a 1 yo) they don't have a developed enough taste/knowledge to determine that 'it must be the spices making this taste hirrud' I'll just swallow thus, have a drink & nit gave any more.

if it tastes horrible to a 1 yo they're going to react as nature intended & spit it out. It's not naughty, it's self preservation.

You feel depressed by that?

Good God how do you get through life.

Then the VAST majority of the time you'd be disappointed UNLESS (which I doubt) you mean you'd scorch them to come out of a catering style container (generally a huge plastic lidded 'tub')

Mumsnet is another planet sometimes. Who’s seriously asking what type of beans are being served for “beans on toast”?! In real life everyone would just assume it was tinned beans like you did OP, it should have said if it was something different from the norm.

I think that is absolutely true actually.

There is an interesting document by the Food Foundation UK which addresses the status of beans - and legumes generally, in fact - in UK diets. You get them a lot more in other cuisines - Mexican obviously (!), but think also of French soupe au pistou, puy lentils, and plenty of Italian dishes, and things like hummus from chickpea, and chickpea tagines etc.

The Food foundation states that "Diets that are low in legumes are associated with up to 9,000 premature deaths in the UK each year (Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network, 2021)". I'm not sure how they worked that out with exactitude, but I do accept their general point which is that having only an emergency Heinz tin in the pantry is a bit of a blind-spot on what is a fabulous nutritional resource.

They are a superfood, and such a great comfort food too.

Agree. I need to get a good bean cookbook. I don't eat enough protein.

Especially in a charity cafe.

You summed it up beautifully 😆

You don't under taken beans on toast because you want a gourmet meal, you order because you want standard baked beans on toast. Especially if ordering for a 1 year old.

if I want handcrafted food I don't go to a basic cafe. When
i gi to a basic cafe, I want simple basic food where I know what I'm getting.

I would provide feedback that spicy beans should be labelled as such, and that you had to wait 20 minutes for toast. They can't improve if they don't know what customers are unhappy about.

I think she tried, but the staff all ran off!

That's why I would bring snacks for my child at that age....saves meltdowns from being over hungry and I know DC would like them. Just less hassle all round....

Have you ever tried to make a toddler eat something they don’t like?

🫣

This is a bit of a non problem op. Toddlers reject food in restaurants and cafes. Mine rejected things because of the colour of the plate sometimes. Some cafe's have crap service where they don't check everything is ok. Don't go there again, problem solved. Or be more assertive next time you go " Can I check what kind of bread / beans / eggs etc"

It was a community café, not a charity café or basic café as some said upthread.

My experience of community cafés is of good food cooked by enthusiastic people. Often fresh bread (pandemic or migrant baking skills finding a home).

I do go out to a lot of different places for work.

I wonder if the baked beans were ful medames https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/ful-medames

Or maybe beans from a tin meant for chili were used by mistake?

If this even happened.

I wouldn’t ask for clarification around baked beans either. I would also assume that on a children’s plate, they wouldn’t be particularly spicy.

It will be all those homemade beans: they probably all scarpered to the loo.

Describe baked beans?

I don’t think I’ve ever said this on MN before, but I’m really struggling to believe you.

Have you met toddlers? 😂

OP I actually think YANBU, mine is a good eater and can tolerate some spice but he'd prob still be iffy with these beans depending on the level of heat. I would expect homemade baked beans to be listed as such (also as a bit of a selling point for normal grown ups no?)

That said, I'm still at the stage where I won't go out without food of some kind for my DS, even if I think he's going to share some of my food. Cheaper, and you know they won't be hungry even if you order them something and it takes a while coming out

Have you met toddlers? 😂

OP I actually think YANBU, mine is a good eater and can tolerate some spice but he'd prob still be iffy with these beans depending on the level of heat. I would expect homemade baked beans to be listed as such (also as a bit of a selling point for normal grown ups no?)

That said, I'm still at the stage where I won't go out without food of some kind for my DS, even if I think he's going to share some of my food. Cheaper, and you know they won't be hungry even if you order them something and it takes a while coming out