Eating out as a vegetarian. Aaaaggggghhhhhh!

[Neolara]

Once again I've come back from a meal out and my food has been terrible while everyone else has had great food. Every. Bloody. Time.

This time, we were at a nice pub. There actually weren't any vegetarian options. The only option was vegan. Could I swop the coconut feta for normal feta? No, unfortunately you can't which (according to the waitress) is a shame because they get asked that a lot...

When it arrives, my dish is a plate of lettuce with about 10 small diced pieces of aubergine (maybe a third of an aubergine?) and a scattering of coconut feta. It tastes ok, but it's really just a starter, bulked out with a lot of lettuce. The lettuce is covered in a very dressing that is so sweet, I didn't even manage to eat all the lettuce. It costs £15. Everyone else (meat eaters), talks about how full the are and how good the food is. I've come home after spending £50 on two drinks, a starter and a rubbish main meal, and made myself a piece of toast because I'm still hungry.

If it was a one off, I wouldn't mind that much. But it's every time. The rise of veganism has been an absolute disaster for vegetarian.food in restaurants. Eating out is very rarely a pleasure any more.
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I totally agree with you, I’ve had similar experiences over the past year.

I hear you and feel your pain. Vegan cheese can fuck off to the fiery pits of hell. If they can't be arsed to accommodate vegetarians and vegans with separate choices at least make interesting vegan food that doesn't include crappy vegan substitutes and don't get me started on bloody jackfruit.

Try the lamb next time

So agree. And don’t describe a dish as ‘meringue’ if it’s actually made with the gunk from the bottom of a tin of chickpeas.

If you go to Indian restaurants, you will usually find a huge choice of filling and delicious veggie curries, pakoras, samosas, naans, rotis etc. Ditto Middle Eastern, with all the lovely baba ganush, hummus, meze, falafels and pittas.
I always check the online menu for any other restaurants before booking to take my veggie DD there, in case there is just one meh veg option.

Chefs on the whole have always been incredibly lazy about vegetarian food (top tip, chefs: one dish on the menu isn't what most of us consider having an option). The latest manifestation of this laziness is combining all dietary requirements into one vegan, gluten-free "option." They need to raise their game.

Your choice though to be veggie … the restaurants choice what food they serve and what’s popular , surely there must be restaurants you can pick which cater for vegetarians ? Rather than imposing your wants on a place pick somewhere that is dedicating to your cuisine … I wouldn’t go to a Greek restaurant and moan oh they aren’t serving anything I like cause I don’t eat Greek

Not naming names but a couple of posters in this thread appear to have the IQ of some coconut feta.

one vegan, gluten-free "option."

As a GF veggie I rarely eat out now because that one option is always a chickpea curry.

Yeah, totally sympathise. So easy to recreate those chickpea curries at home, I resent paying for it when I'm out.

Totally agree that the catering for vegans has made vegetarian food when out a disappointing affair as it's all fake cheese, fake meat gloop now. It never was great. I second going to a decent Indian restaurant as the best bet.

I think you're being very unfair to coconut feta there.

As a fellow non-meat-eater I agree. I do NOT want some stinky faux cheddar in/on/near my meal please, I want the real stuff.

Totally agree with you OP; so bored with restaurants effectively removing veggie options by replacing them with vegan.
And aubergine is food of the devil anyway 🤢

I completely agree, I’ve been vegetarian for 55 years +
I waited all this time for vegetarian options and I totally understand that options now are frequently vegan, not a problem at all but I’m an old time veggie and I’m not accustomed to and don’t want mock meat or sodding jackfruit! Could you work with tofu, tempeh or beans? While you’re about it I’m vegetarian not vegan and I’m ok with cheese but please for the love of God learn what vegetarian cheese is and don’t mark articles on your menu as vegetarian if they include cheese (Parmesan big offender here) which are not vegetarian. 🙏🏻

As a fellow non-meat-eater I agree. I do NOT want some stinky faux cheddar in/on/near my meal please, I want the real stuff

as a fellow non vegetarian I do NOT want some stinky faux meat in/on/near my meal please. I want the real stuff

see how it goes

I don’t identify with this at all or the attitude that the only meat free options in restaurants are all fake meat and cheese. I eat out regularly and enjoy it. Recently I’ve had several curries, dosas, berenjenas fritas, avocado maki, miso glazed aubergine, samosa chaat, a variety of dumplings, black bean taquitos, breaded tofu bibimbap, a sweet potato and coriander burger, tofu bao bun, puy lentil tacos and many more I can’t think of right now. Food which just happens to be vegan which is fresh and delicious, and satisfying. I’ve just had an 8 course tasting menu from a vegan restaurant and had the most wonderful meal, which my meat eating sister was equally enthusiastic about.

I agree completely

and i do not blame vegans for this, the vast majority of vegans i know have no interest in mock meat

i blame those fucking dickheads who do veganary….or are ‘vegan’ one day a week

used to be you could get a nice beanburger but now its fake meat burger

I had what I’d anticipated to be a really lovely quinoa and roast butternut squash salad the other week in a restaurant. Which was the only veggie option.

in reality it was a bowl of tasteless brown mush. Everyone else thought their food was great. I was so disappointed.

Then have real meat…

very few veggie restaurants around, you should be safe

And why is it always butternut squash 😀

@ItsNotRocketSalad

that's an insult!!

what has coconut feta ever done to you???

well, good news is pubs & restaurants seem to be losing interest in offering vegan food, hopefully that'll mean a return to vegetarian food.

@RufustheFactualReindeer have you not got the analogy or are you pretending to be thick?

Its a crap analogy 🤷🏻

I don't think anyone is including fake meat on the meat offerings.

I'm not quite sure what you think your point is but you're it's not coming across as a particularly intelligent one.

I think you are being generous.

They are more like the previously mentioned gunk at the broom to the chickpea can.