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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No, I actually prefer veggie meals when I'm out, but our area sounds similar to op where most menus are are meat or vegan....and as for vegan butter sheesh it's absolutely disgusting 🤮.

As a flexatarian who hates fake meat I don't recognise what you're describing at all. Maybe it's just not a London thing.

Well no, it's not a thing for you because you eat a completely standard diet.

I've been veggie for 30 years food was rubbish at the start, usually a cheese omelette, and in the last few years it's gone rubbish again I don't want fake meat or vegan cheese, I want real cheese ( but not goats cheese🤮)

Just looked at 2 of local restaurants, one cheaper, one more expensive. Both are roughly 70% meat, 20% vegetarian, 10% vegan.

Thats a lot more vegetarian than years ago. Where are you all eating?

It's also become way more acceptable to overcharge or charge higher for veggie options. Due to flexatarians it's become seen as a lifestyle choice rather than necessary for some.
Hence the 25 pound pasta and mushroom dish. Depressing.

How many meals are on the menu though?

Like I gave with my example where there were 6% vegan and 12% vegetarian but that only equated to 1 vegan and 2 (including the vegan) vegetarian options

Percentages don't meant that much without context

@Insommmmnia

So for one of them there are 29 meat/fish, 10 vegetarian, 6 vegan. That’s just their main courses on their main menu. There’s plenty of starters, sides and desserts as well. There are other menus but I’ve not gone through them.

We’re a family with a mix of vegans, vegetarian and meat eaters and an allergy and have never particularly struggled when eating out.

The 10 vegetarian options do not include the 6 vegan ones.

Have any of you asked for a dish not on the menu?

I've done it a few times, not because I am vegi but because I ddin't fancy the options.

I also have a friend who has quite a resticted diet and I wanted to go to a michelin stared restraunt (Adam's in birmingham) for my birthday, so I eailed them and between us we agreed a completely different set menu for my friend.

I'm not outragous with requests eg in an Italian I have been known to ask for mozzzerella in carozza, it's not often on the menu bet all Italian restraunts have mozzerella and bread.

I once explained what I wanted to the waiter, he came back from the kitchen telling me 'it has a name'.

Agree. Dd is a vegetarian and we went for a celebration meal . Nice restaurant but the main veggie option was halloumi. She likes halloumi, but they were out of it.
So she had the salad minus the halloumi which was very unfilling.

That's pretty bad. Hope they didn't charge full price.

Sunday lunch yesterday at a pub. 5 different meat options. When I asked about the veggie alternative it was a Thai veggie burger with all the roast trimmings (including Yorkshire pudding) but no gravy. 🤷🏻‍♀️

That sounds amazing I'm incredibly jealous with all that choice!!

I think you're mixing up two separate things here.
Restaurants CAN do vegan food. They're called vegan restaurants. There are even gasp VEGETARIAN restaurants! Yes, just for you! Usually Indian. Our cuisine uses plenty of dairy so you won't be disappointed.

But there are many dietary requirements. I'm a Hindu so I don't eat beef. It would be stupid of me to go to a steakhouse and complain that there was few options.

A restaurant is not a public service and they don't exist to ensure that everyone has something they can eat. They need to please their main client base and have enough people returning to make a profit.

So to answer your question... if they made vegan food then people probably wouldn't eat there. If they would, then surely this is a marvellous business idea and you're missing out on massive profit by not opening your own vegan restaurant???

I do think in more urban places there's a lot of variety. If your group insists on eating somewhere with little choice then they don't really care about you. A rundown town with only a couple of proper restaurants.... and where almost nobody is vegan, let alone vegetarian I can see why restaurants just offer one option.

FYI this is why I choose to live near Manchester!

I have done this as well. Or just asked them to substitute. It's 50/50 whether they do. Proper restaurants are great at it but not your average pub

Made ALL vegan that should say, or vegetarian

Definitely not, I go with what I fancy
I had shakshuka at a local place which came with or without goats cheese and chorizo and they had the option of swapping the eggs for halloumi or tofu. Came with a naan on the side and was delicious

It's a good test of whether the food is made in-house or bought in for reheating!

If it's made in house then almost everywhere will be OK with a bit of substituting. In fact I ordered the sole non meat dish (vegan) once and the waiter actually offered to have it made with real cheese for me!

And why is it always risotto.

Not eaten out recently so not experienced the not veggie but vegan options, but eating out as a veggie has always been more miss than hit.

Choice was usually from: beetroot, butternut squash, caramelised onion or mushroom. And always f**king goat's cheese.

A buffet usually has lots of choice so people add a bit of everything. That's not the same as going and choosing completely vegetarian courses.

@CrystalCascade I know... I was replying to another poster who said

"The thing I don't really understand is do meat eaters only eat meat based mains when they go out these days?"

Even the bean burgers are a waste of space now. Eugh.

I want cheeeese and cream etc!

Vegetarian Parmesan does exist though and tastes very similar

People always think vegetarian = doesn't eat much. I remember a Christmas dinner where the meat eaters could barely walk away from the table after eating and the vegetables option was a toddler sized plate of pasta. Now I'm coeliac and gluten free vegetarian is a nightmare as so many meat free choices are now vegan and stuffed with wheat 😫

Just back from a pub tea on holiday in Yorkshire.

The choices were:
nut roast - sold out
vegan cottage pie- sold out
omelette with a choice of fillings
veggie lasagne
goats cheese salad
vegan Thai curry

Unable to have the first two, I had the omelette which was delicious. I thought it was a good menu and would’ve been great if the top two had been available.