Devastated vegetarian

[SundaySimmons]

A vegetarian who had never eaten meat before in her life was left outraged after she ate most of a chicken sandwich served to her by mistake at a restaurant.

Roshni Barot, 28, was served the meal at Nando's in the Bullring, Birmingham, after she had ordered a grilled halloumi cheese pitta.
She covered her dinner with peri peri sauce and salad and had eaten most of the meal before realising it was chicken.

Ms Barot, of Tividale, West Midlands, said: 'I wasn’t paying attention as I was talking with my friend.

'I never would have thought that I would need to double-check my food. I trusted them and they have let me down. I was in shock and started crying in the restaurant. I cried all night and couldn’t sleep.'

Ms Barot grew up in a Hindu household where none of the family eats meat.

She was also still distressed the next day and was allowed to go home early from her job as placements officer at the University of Birmingham.
The manager at the restaurant apologised and offered her vouchers for another meal, which she refused.

She said: 'They can never say or do anything to make this up to me. Nothing can compensate me for those 28 years.

......................................

I am a vegetarian but always check what I am eating/served when I haven't prepared the dish myself.

Is it too much to ask that people take responsibility for themselves?

She is so dramatic and are the sort of person always looking to put the blame on someone else!

She was allowed to leave work early, says she was in shock and cried all night? We are talking about an adult here. Could not make it up. Grow up for goodness' sake.

So upset,that she still managed to call daily mail.what fortitude she showed

Does one get paid for stories?hows it work?would she get a fee

*Halloumi doesn't even have the texture of meat ime!'

if you've never eaten meat, how would you know? I've forgotten what it tastes and feels like, it's been almost 40 years after all*

You may not know what chicken tastes like but you would know that what you're eating is not haloumi.
You may scrape the peri peri off and look. And think a little bit.

I can't believe anyone could mistake halloumi for chicken, but that's a bit besides the point in this.

Yes, she was being quite dramatic, but I'd be mightily pissed off if it was me (and I am vegetarian, have been for years).

Of course I would be pissed off, but I would be pissed off at myself as well, not just the restaurant.

Right, ffs. If you were vegetarian and your friend wanted to go to Nando's, would you go 'Nooooooo, I simply can't, for the chicken-eaters have banned the scrofulous likes of me from their very doors!'.
Or would you go 'yes, let's. I like that portobello mushroom thing they do.'

Can't fucking win...

If your body's a temple you don't generally get a Nandos and shovel it down

Exactly.

Unless it's temple of sodium,hydrogenated fats,and colorants

But SilverApples if you have eaten Halloumi before, then you know the texture of Halloumi (quite distinct) and would know that what is in your sandwich was not Halloumi and check surely?!

Possibly, because I'm a suspicious vegetarian, given to dissecting unknown foodstuffs and having been ambushed a few times.
But gossiping to my friend, eating something smothered in sauce and feeling very hungry?
Possibly not.

I think she's reacting in a very understandable and reasonable way to an unpleasant real life experience, while you are being mean and judgemental because you have nothing better to do.

She ordered something safe. She will have been in Nandos because her friends wanted to go. It is exactly so as not to lose whole groups because of the vegetarian friend that places like Nandos serve a simple veggie option. If she's never eaten meat she'd have no ability to recognise it. It would seem a slightly odd-textured flavourless savoury thing. She will not have paused to process the 'odd texture' information immediately if chatting and could well have thought it was oddly prepared halloumi, especially having been told that's what it was.

I'm all for personal responsibility and would always check ingredients when ordering. I would then expect to be served what I ordered and would be very cross if that didn't happen, especially if I was misled when the dish was placed in front of me.

I had a similar experience in Zizzi's once. I ordered a tomatoey pasta dish. They brought another pasta dish with most of the same vegetables in it. This one also contained bacon. I was chatting and drinking wine, as is normal when eating out. It took me until about half way through the dish to think 'actually, what are those little savoury bits? Oh!'. I've been veggie since 14 so was able to identify bacon once I focused on it. I rushed off to the loo feeling sick. On return a very apologetic manager was at the table. Our meal, wine included, was free.

The psychological power of being told you are eating a certain thing is immense. Look at blind tastings where people's preferences vary wildly from their stated preference, or they cannot actually tell the difference between brands or vintages.

I get that she is upset.

I understand her being pissed off with Nandos .

But having to leave work......and contacting the DM ????

Professionally Offended much?

She didn't contact the DM.
I'm not repeating what's on the original thread though, you'll have to go and look.

Cheese makes me unwell but I eat chicken. If I eat out I just check the sandwich first. If she covered it in piri piri sauce, surely she opened the sandwich?

Gosh if she was coerced into interview,pressured to have photo taken,she must complain
Did the daily mail pull her hair til she told her story,name,and frank account

She is talking bullcrap

She had finished her whole meal before she realised it took my meat eating one bit to realise he was eating a veggie sausage dispite my best efforts to cover it up

She was a nados black card that's what she's after Chicken is nothing like haloumi.

She's an aspiring model,she rang the daily Mail pronto
She's been to nando before "I was a Nando's fan but I will never go there again."
fan and again suggest numerous visits
Given the limited veg menu I'd say it likely as fan she's eaten halloumi in nando