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.
.

This doesn't make sense. Surely if your only qualm is ethical then meat substitutes should be fine? Unless it's not an ethical decision at all, and you don't actually like meat, which is a totally different issue.

Meat substitutes are highly processed and worse for you in various ways including nutritionally and for your microbiome than high quality meat and fish.

I'm vegan and I would rather have the fake meat tbh as atleast there is some substance to it, sick of paying £18 for a glorified side dish with a total of around 150 calories. I refuse to go to places that have aubergine as their 1 token veggie option as they can never even cook it properly.

I got piled on for saying the same thing a little while ago, OP.

It’s dreadful.

Speaks someone who never has to attend events with friends/family/work where you are just told where to turn up. Or someone who's never been out and about to find only one pub in the village serving food.

My friend can’t get her head around this (Not the fake meat stuff as I can take or leave that) But the fact that yes, I do like cheese, and certain cakes etc. I choose not to eat them because I can survive without them and it makes a tiny dent in the suffering caused to animals if I don’t eat them.

There’s an image I’ve seen a couple of times online (clearly advertising something), where it says something along the lines of why do vegetarians eat fake meat? It’s like a vibrator, looks and feels the same, fills a hole and no hearts were broken in the process.

It used to be that the only veggie options were omelette or the dreaded broccoli & cheese bake. It does seem generally better now. There’s a pub near me that does amazing vegetarian food & in fact I will often choose it rather than a meat or fish dish. Their nutloaf is to die for.

I recently was in cornwall. I asked for the veggie pasty. Oh they said, we have cheese and onion, it’s not vegan though because it’s got lard in it.

ok, so not veggie either then…..

😂😂 you think? Maybe I just get on with it and accept that sometimes you have to compromise when eating out with others and the company makes up for it.

Burger King has done away with the spicy bean burger and it is now all fake meat and pretend cheese. So that’s that then.

I think a lot of this might depend where in the country you are from. Recently visited a rural spot in the Midlands and the veggie choices were poor to say the least! Yet at home, in a large city, the choices are genuinely decent whatever cuisine you go for.

Also, my DD is lactose intolerant and fake cheese is just awful. The replica cream and custard are ok, but despite trying many cheeses they're all disgusting!

Oh I hear you. I am not fully vegetarian but am not a big meat eater and generally prefer the veggie options (or at least I did!)

But all my favourites have gone. Where is the spinach and ricotta cannelloni (spinach and sweet potato is just dry), or a proper sweet potato curry.

I ordered vegetarian lasagna the other day without thinking and then realised it was vegan. It was the sweetest thing I've ever tasted and just odd.

I am now tending to order meat dishes when out which is having the opposite effect to encouraging more plant based but I can't take the strange sugary slop.

Totally agree that the rise in veganism has destroyed the veggie options.

If I never see a vegan burger again it will be too soon.

It’s been around a fortnight since the last one so we’re about due I think.

Ha, you’re right.

Has that Emmamoo person turned up yet? It won’t be long I’m sure. Same old.

Did you give feedback to the restaurant, not just to the waitress? Maybe via a (fair) Facebook review or similar?

I've been vegan for about 5 years and vegetarian for 20 prior to that, so fairly familiar with limited, sub par or just plain non existent menu options. Pretty much every venue now has their menus online now so you can plan in advance and suggest an alternative if necessary. I recently went away for a weekend celebration and there wasn't a single vegan meal on the menu, but figured at worst I'd have some chips and salad. I asked for one of the pizzas without the meat and cheese, and before I knew it the chef was out giving me alternate options, vegan cheese etc. Turned out to be the best vegan pizza I've ever had (and I have sampled a lot 🐷)

I actually think that vegan / vegetarian options in most places has improved. I haven’t had any negative experiences when eating out.
don’t give up and keep trying new places.

I agree with you op and I’m not even a vegetarian. I often enjoy a vegetarian meal when out just as a change but the rise of the vegan meals to cover everyone has put paid to that.

My friends had fish and chips, they were raving about it. The chips are cooked in dripping so I cannot eat them either.

I agree, try to have more of a voice in where you eat and you'll be fine.

This!
you’ll not regret it!

I'm a carnivore who often likes a good veggie option and I agree, the vegan stuff is usually really off-putting of it's pretend cheese, and I won't eat fake meat. You can do great things with eggs, tofu, cheese, beans and pulses so would love to see more of that, with a separate vegan option.

So agree with all this. Too many places now (pubs especially) have reduced the non-meat choices to either a salad or a vegan burger.

I found eating out as a vegetarian quite easy (and enjoyable!) until I had to stop eating gluten.
Now I don’t often eat out at all.

Send it back. If you are served overpriced lettuce with with fake cheese and a tiny sprinkling if aubergine - send it back to the kitchen. If the food arrives and looks bloody awful, don't eat it. Politely explain your objection. Do not pay for it.

Restaurants would quickly up their game if the terrible 'option' was going to waste and costing them money, rather than being politely tolerated. So complain.

In this situation, you were going to have a bad meal (and still be hungry) or no meal (and still be hungry). At least no meal costs you nothing.

It's easy for people to say choose another restaurant - and you should! - but in many places choices are very limited.

Depends where you live. Where I am in the East Midlands just about all the restaurants I have been to have very little choice for vegetarians and the meals they do serve are awful. I can cook a million times better.

Only restaurants near me that do decent veggie food are the Indian ones but even they are not a patch on the ones in London and Essex.

If you have friends who don't like Indian food then you have little choice but to go to one of the terrible restaurants if you all want to eat out together

The lamb would regret it. And so would I.