Non meat eater served meat again!

[Hellon]

i stopped eating meat 2 years ago and have been served meat now twice whilst eating out, and both times I have accidentally eaten some meat as I ordered vegetarian food. On both occasions the staff just don’t seem that’s it’s a big deal and just apologised. On the first occasion I had ordered a vegetarian burger and took a big bite only to realise it was a beef burger, I complained to the waitress and they said sorry and brought me a veggie burger which then couldn’t eat as I felt sick. They refunded me the money but it seemed like an inconvenience to them.
the second occasion I was at a wedding and got served a meat and mushroom pie when I had asked for the vegetarian option and the waitress serving the pie said yes it’s vegetarian. Again the staff just say oh sorry I’ll change it for you. Again I had eaten a small piece of meat so felt sick and couldn’t eat the new soggy tart they brought me. I didn’t make a fuss on the day as it’s someone’s wedding and I didn’t want to cause a scene, but they staff just brush it off.
i worked in hospitality for years and when we got something wrong we went above and beyond to make sure the customer left happy. I hate to think what happens when people have allergies, how do they trust a venue will
not kill them.
It is a big deal serving meat to a non meat eater and hospitality staff should start being more sympathetic to their guests! It really does put me off eating out.
Im interested to hear other people’s experiences as I don’t know many vegetarians /vegans

I'm honestly astounded that people here are saying so what? It's just a mistake. A bit of meat. I would LOVE to know if they would be okay being accidentally given a bit of witchetty grub (that you see in I'm a celebrity get me out of here) and then the wait staff shrugging saying "hmm. Yeah. Sorry bout that. Here's your chicken pie instead"

I AM allergic to meat and they never believe me! They think I'm lying to get them to take it seriously, so they don't!

So I never get veggie alternatives in restaurants to reduce the risk of a mix up. Quite sad and a huge shame for me but that's society today.

So you're saying it only matters if the restaurant has the potential to get sued?

I'm not vegetarian but I do know people who are genuinely distressed and yes, feel sick, when they are inadvertently given meat. One could argue religious beliefs are a 'preference' so where is the line drawn? Just do your fucking job and serve the damn vegetarian meal to the vegetarian.

You can’t liken this to an allergy mix up. If I eat something I do not wish to eat or don’t like, I will be unhappy. If I eat somethings I’m allergic to, it has medical implications, potentially very serious ones. They are not in the same ball park.

Yeh it's definitely not ok. What if it were an allergy. I'd be inclined to say that it is!

I HATE butter. And I always used to say 'WITHOUT butter' and it was 50/50 to whether this was listened to. Now when they say 'do you have any allergies' I say 'I can't eat butter'. Very rare I get served it now!

No, she saying it matters if someone could die. Which any reasonable person would think is more serious.

I don't dispute that. That doesn't justify the dismissive attitude of the staff, and posters, just because an allergy is 'worse'. Serve the vegetarian meal and don't be lax about vegetarianism, and blase if you get it wrong. It should be a genuine mistake with a genuine apology, not 'whoops' as if it's no big deal just because the vegetarian won't die by eating meat.

Meat has a unique texture that some vegetarians rightly associated with chewing flesh, which makes them feel sick. I've written that and still eat meat with abandon, but I do get it. There seems to be a subculture of people who think it's funny to disregard someone's ethical and/or environmental beliefs, and it's not.

They would probably be the same about allergies. DH is coeliac and on a recent short break at a well regarded Welsh hotel he made it very clear when we ordered dinner, choosing gluten free options and confirming his diagnosis. The negligent kitchen sent out his first course with normal bread and his second with normal pastry. It was only because I thought it looked wrong that we twigged. He was extremely ill that evening and they didn’t seem very bothered. This was not the first time this has happened. I’m vegetarian and I would feel sick if I put meat in my mouth, it would be like tasting a corpse.

I've always been a vegetarian and I've only had two incidents ever. One was at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where the "Vegetarian Delight" lunch special clearly had pork in it (which I was able to tell without tasting). It turned out that it was a translation issue with the English language menu; the dish was actually called "Vegetable Delight" and had pork intentionally included "for flavour". They were very apologetic and actually did later change the menus so that the vegetarian and vegan dishes were starred. The other time a bartender served me a Bloody Mary made with Clamato instead of tomato juice. That was human error (I think he mixed my drink up with someone else's regular order) and he was almost embarrassingly horrified when I pointed it out - and in that case, I HAD tasted it without sniffing.

You're right, it should not happen and it shouldn't be brushed off as trivial if it does. I think you've probably had a run of bad luck, but it's always worth sniffing before you bite/sip - better safe than sorry!

If I eat somethings I’m allergic to, it has medical implications, potentially very serious ones. They are not in the same ball park. But if a venue includes meat in a dish advertised as vegetarian, how do you trust that they will not include a specific allergen in something alleged to be free of that ingredient? The consequences may not be the same, but the lack of control (and apparent lack of concern, in the cases OP describes) is equally a problem.

I'm a vegetarian and I have a food allergy. It's only been very recently that places have taken the food allergy seriously but people don't engage their brains at all half the time and I've been served the thing I'm allergic to. Sometimes the staff seem to think I can pick it out/off! No. I really can't. My food allergy is not one of the standard 14 ones that they have to take more seriously, which I think contributes to the lack of awareness.

So, if many places can't even be bothered to get serious allergies right then they are going to be totally rubbish at checking whether something's actually vegetarian or not. Never mind the places that still think that fish is vegetarian,

Been veggie 26 years and I've lost count of the number of times this has happened. I always thoroughly inspect everything before eating - I actually didn't even realise I did this until thinking about it just now. But I can tell when something has meat in almost immediately now and it's not a big deal. Send it back, get a free meal. I remember the first time I remember it happening I was about 15 and threw up in the toilet as a result and since then I've been so much more wary and check everything.

I don't know ow if it's worth getting angry about though. Sometimes it's just a mistake and you have to remember that unless you're going to a veggie restaurant, most other places consider meat dishes the "main event" and everything else is a bit meh. Just be vigilant and ask for money back. It's ultimately a lifestyle choice so 🤷‍♀️

I remember the time when you could only get chips and salad if you wanted to eat out 🤦‍♀️

That’s really bad @Astrabees

My vegetarian husband and children were served beef burgers instead of veggie in the Ivy. The staff were barely apologetic. To those saying lighten up, for vegetarians or vegans of any length of time, the thought of eating meat can be repellant. I've been veggie for years and would hate to eat meat by accident now, it certainly would make me feels sick. Dont really view any type of meat as much different to my cats food now.

@MagpiePi that's what I was thinking about the recently converted! As I said in my pp, I remember when there were no veggie options at all and all I could get was salad and chips at restaurants! Or some strange mix of side dishes and starters to try and make up a meal!

Trust me they are completely different

You're forgetting omelette, that staple of restaurants of yore.

It's happened to me twice-once in a restaurant (pasta with chicken in it) and once from a takeaway who sent meat pakoras instead of veg ones. The latter were especially dismissive and offered me a free bottle of coke (which I don't drink).
Some people don't eat meat or certain meats due to religious reasons too which I did remind them of, It's not on-their excuse was that they buy the pakoras in and never know if they're going to be sent meat or veg ones, they just use whatever!

1. I didn't believe them as that sounded like utter rubbish and 2) How could that possibly work when they have a menu? I am sure a meat eater would be disappointed to receive veg ones if they ordered the meat, and much worse the other way around!

In the 90s and early 2000s it was a regular occurrence to be ‘accidentally’ be served a meat dish whilst dining out and that’s if you’d ordered the one potential vegetarian dish on the menu. But always make sure you’re cutting into your food and checking it first. Like others said it’s not an allergy but understandably we don’t all want to eat meat. Check your food going forward, I would also advise not eating the meat alternatives which can easily be mistaken for meat. But I avoid those anyway so it’s a non-issue for me.

@username3678 and the ever-applicable risotto! Just mash up some rice with some veg in it!

Are you forgetting mushroom risotto - the meat of the vegetarian world?! Can’t stomach one now, even it was Michelin star 😂

@Hellon I think you are getting a bit of a hard time from some people , I’m vegetarian and only other non meat eaters can understand how it feels to inadvertently eat meat. I was recently served a pie that should have been meat free and as I cut into it there was a strong smell of lamb so luckily I didn’t eat any. It was a simple mistake and the staff were very apologetic. I would never say anything to someone with me eating meat but there are certain meats that even the smell of them I find very off putting mainly lamb and venison.

I’m vegan and this has happened to me once in the UK but it was my own fault. I didn’t realise that the items on the vegan menu had the same names as on the regular menu. It wasn’t meat though just something containing dairy.
I think when I’ve been abroad I’ve also been served things with sauces that weren’t actually vegan (despite requesting very clearly, even in English speaking countries!), but I’ve never been given meat.
Can’t believe it’s happened to you twice in such a short period it makes me feel sick just thinking about it.

Or….we could do you a cheese omelette

…which then invariably arrived 20 minutes after everyone else’s meal and was rubbery and tasteless.
😂

Interesting to read everyone’s comments. It just got me thinking since the second instance happened how blasé they were about it, and how unimportant it was to them. I am not the type of person to complain to a manager but i do expect a certain level of customer service and this is what was lacking. They knew they had made a mistake and did nothing to rectify the way I felt on the day. I’ll move on now and be more vigilant when eating out. Salad and chips sounds like a safe bet, what could possibly go wrong?