Vs on menus

Ouchette

Hi,

I was wondering, does anyone else have trouble at restaurants where they have the little v symbol beside something on the menu but it turns out not to be vegetarian? I'm not sure if I'm just unlucky, but it seems to be happening to me every time I eat out now
I was at an Italian in Dublin the other day and a good half of the things marked as vegetarian had parmesan in. Thinking back, I've had the same sort of stuff happen at a couple of pubs I've eaten in recently. Then there was the salad in a cafe that arrived with strips of meat in it, where the waitress shrugged said the V was a mistake (don't worry, at least that one wasn't in Ireland.) Then another restaurant where I asked the waitress if she'd tell me which of the desserts were strictly veggie and helped her out by saying that gelatine was the big problem. She said she wasn't sure about all of them but desert- I've-completely-forgotton-the name-of which always, always contains gelatine was definitely fine. Grrr. An outright lie. If she didn't know, she should have said. Oops, didn't mean to turn that into a rant.

I'm on the verge of going on a one-veggie crusade against lying menus, lol.

Nature Boy

The unfortunate thing is that when you go to a restaurant, the person who's prepared the menu and is cooking your food doesn't really know what a vegetarian is. I find that quite a lot of 'vegetarian' food in restarurants has parmesan (or even fish) in them. I remember being in Pizza express in Temple bar and they don't mark things veggie if it has parmesan, so at least some restaurants have a clue!

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

Yeah, most people's idea of vegetarian is "no lumps of meat or fish", gelatine and rennet and stuff doesn't even enter people's heads. It's not deliberate like, but it is annoying. My advice is, if in doubt, have chips (except if you're in a Chinese, where, if in doubt, leave :P)

Tar.Aldarion

It's annoying if a mistake is made, but it doesn't happen often to me. Just the occasional addition of fish to my meal so I bring it back. Recently a veggie friend ordered breakfast with me in town. They gave her the wrong one, it was mostly meat. She brought it back and the girl refused her saying, no, you ordered it. Even though she paid like 3-4e extra for extra veggie sausages. :S

raah!

One time, in my college cafeteria, the regular soup was put in the vegetarian soup thing. Set my vegetarianism back a time it did. "strangely textured mushrooms" I thought..... oooh.

Otherwise I haven't experienced troubles with maverick 'V's at all....(I've just realised it's because my friends stopped going to restaruants with me as much ) I guess your best bet is to just read the ingredients on everything.

Slaphead07

I wouldn't take that "V" too seriously at all. I've seen fish dises in "fine" Dublin restaurants followed by that V sign. V Sign indeed.

Ouchette

Nature Boy wrote: »

I remember being in Pizza express in Temple bar and they don't mark things veggie if it has parmesan, so at least some restaurants have a clue!

Yeah, the big chains are mostly pretty good. Pizza Hut must have done their research too because you can see on their menu that their veggie sharing platter starter isn't veggie. Obviously I'd prefer that it was, but at least they let us know

Thoushaltnot

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

. Recently a veggie friend ordered breakfast with me in town. They gave her the wrong one, it was mostly meat. She brought it back and the girl refused her saying, no, you ordered it. Even though she paid like 3-4e extra for extra veggie sausages. :S

That's really not on. Name and shame, please.

Aoifums

I've given up on most places. The amount of times I've seen dishes with parmesan marked as a vegetarian dish... And I've seen places mark fish dishes as vegetarian

The most annoying thing is when there's nothing on the menu that hasn't some form of meat in it. It has happened to me a couple of times.

Tar.Aldarion

Not a fan of kiss and telling.


As for there being no veggie thing on the menu. that sucks, I've had to order 3 starters before!

R.D. aka MR.D

At a wedding i was at recently the vegetarian option was Salmon! the only other option was beef.

The bride is a fish eating vegetarian, i think she forgot that some veggies don't eat any meat.

Tried to get something else but the server was insistant that salmon was infact vegetarian :rolleyes:

I was starvin!!!

Tar.Aldarion

R.D. aka MR.D wrote: »

At a wedding i was at recently the vegetarian option was Salmon! the only other option was beef.

The bride is a fish eating vegetarian, i think she forgot that some veggies don't eat any meat.

Tried to get something else but the server was insistant that salmon was infact vegetarian :rolleyes:

I was starvin!!!

Harsh, I've always been able to get them to make me a stirfry or something if there is nothing on the menu I like or can eat.

sweet-rasmus

what a wedding. damn caterers!

-lala-

Pizza Express (Milanos) are very good about this. They have no v on their gelatin-containing sorbet, they know parmesan isn´t vegetarian, etc.

Geletin in a sorbeto! Say it isnt so!

entropi

Moonbaby wrote: »

Geletin in a sorbeto! Say it isnt so!

Someone's about to flip a lid me thinks...the revelation hit me as hard as learning i cant eat jaffa cakes no more!!

Tar.Aldarion

Well I think you can eat some brands.

Michellenman

Wait... there's gelatin in Sorbet?

Aoifums

Master of Nothing wrote: »

Someone's about to flip a lid me thinks...the revelation hit me as hard as learning i cant eat jaffa cakes no more!!

Fear no more! Tesco jaffa cakes have the v on them But they have eggs in them...

Michellenman wrote: »

Wait... there's gelatin in Sorbet?

Not normally. How the hell do you put gelatine in sorbet? Wikipedia says sorbet and sorbeto are the same thing... It's meant to be ice and stuff that makes the ice taste nice! *is confused*

Michellenman

Aoifums wrote: »

Fear no more! Tesco jaffa cakes have the v on them But they have eggs in them...

Yeah the Dunnes ones have the V too. Made with Pectin as far as I know. Not nearly as nice but it's the best alternative.

Not normally. How the hell do you put gelatine in sorbet? Wikipedia says sorbet and sorbeto are the same thing... It's meant to be ice and stuff that makes the ice taste nice! *is confused*

Yeah I thought it'd just be flavouring or even made from fruit juices. Strange.

phic

Master of Nothing wrote: »

Someone's about to flip a lid me thinks...the revelation hit me as hard as learning i cant eat jaffa cakes no more!!

I've just learnt both jaffa cakes and sorbet are no no's in one go! this is terrible! I daren't ask this but...ice-creams still ok yeah? no gelatin?

Tar.Aldarion

phic wrote: »

I've just learnt both jaffa cakes and sorbet are no no's in one go! this is terrible! I daren't ask this but...ice-creams still ok yeah? no gelatin?

I think jaffa cakes or at least a lot of brands are veggie, have no fear. I miss poptarts though. Icecream is grand

Mellor

I think the problem alot of the time also comes down to the fact that some who call themsleves vegetarians are perfectly fine to eat dairy, and other animal products.
That's fine, their choice etc, but it helps blur the line for laypeople

Thoushaltnot

Mellor wrote: »

I think the problem alot of the time also comes down to the fact that some who call themsleves vegetarians are perfectly fine to eat dairy, and other animal products.
That's fine, their choice etc, but it helps blur the line for laypeople

Vegans vs. vegetarians
Vegans eat no animal products at all
Vegetarians eat nothing with a face (including weird fish faces)

I was in Maloti, behind the Stephens Green Centre, a year or 2 back and they had a V beside a fish dish. However, their menu was so daft (like reading snippits of a badly translated romance novel) that I forgave them.

They had a sweet naan bread (with ground almonds and sultanas) that was to die for.

Eviecus

I hate it when this happens. I'm the type of annoying customer that points it out to them. A lot of people don't understand that parmesan has animal rennet in it, I can kinda excuse that but fish...COME ON!!!! Since when did fish grow on trees?! I never saw a fish tree, maybe they're from MARS!:pac:

I'll be honest though...don't eat me...the problem is people calling themselves vegetarians when they eat fish. You are a pescetarian not a vegetarian...wow is it that hard to comprehend?!

Thoushaltnot

Eviecus wrote: »

Since when did fish grow on trees?! I never saw a fish tree, maybe they're from MARS!:pac:

I feel a Tar.A pic post coming on.

I'll be honest though...don't eat me...the problem is people calling themselves vegetarians when they eat fish. You are a pescetarian not a vegetarian...wow is it that hard to comprehend?!

Yeah, I've often wondered about that, as in - why fish, especially?

I mean, you don't see too many people claiming to be vegetarian 'cos they only eat vegetables 'and chicken' or 'and mincemeat'. I mean you do indeed come across the odd person who claims to be veggie 'cos they eat no red meat but the vast majority of non veggies claiming to be veggie eat fish. Even among veggies, it's the flesh most missed (it was the only one I missed or failed with and I'm not alone).

Just an observation.

Linguo

Yeah we were in Milano last week, was happy they realised cheese isn't veggie! Saba in town is great for veggie food, they'll substitute any dish on the menu with tofu or veg!So nice to have a full menu to choose from!

Linguo

Master of Nothing wrote: »

Someone's about to flip a lid me thinks...the revelation hit me as hard as learning i cant eat jaffa cakes no more!!

What???No!!:(

AssaultedPeanut

The most misleading "V" I ever encountered was in some crappy fast food place that's now gone from Templebar (thankfully) but it had the green V beside the Turkey melt!!! Coz, you see, Turkey's are made out of plants these days :rolleyes:

Thoushaltnot

dementedsoul wrote: »

The most misleading "V" I ever encountered was in some crappy fast food place that's now gone from Templebar (thankfully) but it had the green V beside the Turkey melt!!! Coz, you see, Turkey's are made out of plants these days :rolleyes:

*boggles*

We should really collect pictures of these menus and create a "Hall of (In)Fame(y)"

Master of Nothing

Master of Nothing wrote: »

learning i cant eat jaffa cakes no more!!

WHAT!!!???!!!?????!!!!!


I dont appreciate sick jokes Master!

Weyhey

Ouchette wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering, does anyone else have trouble at restaurants where they have the little v symbol beside something on the menu but it turns out not to be vegetarian? I'm not sure if I'm just unlucky, but it seems to be happening to me every time I eat out now
I was at an Italian in Dublin the other day and a good half of the things marked as vegetarian had parmesan in. Thinking back, I've had the same sort of stuff happen at a couple of pubs I've eaten in recently. Then there was the salad in a cafe that arrived with strips of meat in it, where the waitress shrugged said the V was a mistake (don't worry, at least that one wasn't in Ireland.) Then another restaurant where I asked the waitress if she'd tell me which of the desserts were strictly veggie and helped her out by saying that gelatine was the big problem. She said she wasn't sure about all of them but desert- I've-completely-forgotton-the name-of which always, always contains gelatine was definitely fine. Grrr. An outright lie. If she didn't know, she should have said. Oops, didn't mean to turn that into a rant.

I'm on the verge of going on a one-veggie crusade against lying menus, lol.

ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! It drives me mad. I seem to struggle to eat in just about every non veggie cafe and restaurant. Either most so called veggie dishes have cheese which may or may not be veggie or are deep fried possibly with non veggie food which for me rules out chips, falafel etc in most places.

This is my wish list for eating out -

• The Vegetarian Society of Ireland http://www.vegetarian.ie/ would supply clear definitions of what a vegetarian and a vegan are just like the UK Society http://www.vegsoc.org/info/definitions.html and that Irish food providers use this to decide if their food/dishes are veggie or not and are worthy of a 'V' sign.

• If they can't do that I wish they would:

• • Only use vegetable stock in all veggie named soups.
  • Do not deep fry chips, falafel, tempura etc in oil that is used for deep frying meat.
    
  • Do not use meat stock in veggie dishes (a favourite in Chinese and Thai dishes)
  • When using cheese in dishes try to use veggie cheese and if unknown state the brand of cheese on the menu (i.e. St Tola's goats cheese - makes it easier for veggie customer to check the rennet and shows all customers they are trying to promote buying Irish). Desmond and Gabriel are both very good vegetarian substitutes for parmesan cheese.

• Chefs would use a bit of effort and imagination and stop serving us yesterdays left over slop and charging us at least €15 for it.

• Stop stating 'Vegetarian Option also available' on a menu - this makes me think you can't be bothered to make an effort and you will serve me slop so I ain't going in.

• Realise that by not having a proper decent veggie option you may be turning away whole groups of prospective customers just because the one veggie in the group can't eat there.

Jeez now I've started ranting..... sorrry.....

sweet-rasmus

Get active. Write to the Irish Vegetarian Society. Change won't come unless we do something.

Tar.Aldarion

Thoushaltnot wrote: »

I feel a Tar.A pic post coming on.

Why did my pic look like a fish tree? I'm not that ugly!



I like the wishlist weyhey. heh

Ouchette

Decided to start leaving reviews on menupages.ie mentioning the problem. I'm hoping that the restaurant managers read them now and again. Nice, fair reviews, not rants unless they reeeeally deserve it :P

sweet-rasmus

You never know, it might have an effect.

Thoushaltnot

R.D. aka MR.D wrote: »

The bride is a fish eating vegetarian

The bride is NOT a vegetarian. A pescatarian - yes, a vegetarian - no!

i think she forgot that some veggies don't eat any meat.

er...definition of a vegetarian, anyone....anyone?

Tried to get something else but the server was insistant that salmon was infact vegetarian :rolleyes:

Well, when the person who ordered the meal (thus, paying him *and* supposed to know this stuff) told him that salmon was the veggie option...

This is exactly why there's all sorts of half-arsed 'vegetarian' options out there, on menus, up and down the country, with folks that don't know their arse from their elbow, veggie-wise, muddying the water for us.

flikflak

Most people have no clue what vegetarians eat and restaurants are no different. I think it is always helpful to point out their mistakes and offer to talk to the chef/owner on what is and isnt veggie.

Then again with some "vegetarians" not even knowing what veggies eat it does not fill me with much hope.

-lala-

Moonbaby wrote: »

Geletin in a sorbeto! Say it isnt so!

Most sorbets have no gelatin, in fact Milano's one is the only one I've encountered that does! A lot of sorbets do have egg white in them though. Haagen-dazs and Ben and Jerry's sorbets, however, are both vegan.

Thoushaltnot

Weyhey wrote: »

• The Vegetarian Society of Ireland http://www.vegetarian.ie/ would supply clear definitions of what a vegetarian and a vegan are just like the UK Society http://www.vegsoc.org/info/definitions.html and that Irish food providers use this to decide if their food/dishes are veggie or not and are worthy of a 'V' sign.

Like this?
http://www.vegetarian.ie/content/vegetarian-vegan-terms-explained

Weyhey

Thoushaltnot wrote: »

Like this?
http://www.vegetarian.ie/content/vegetarian-vegan-terms-explained

Great addition thanks! I also like all the other new stuff too including the links to boards topics and cafes. Vegan cafe in Seomra Spraoi on Wednesdays look like a place to try out.

CathyMoran

I fully understand people's fustrations about menus - have seen errors on several over my time, however I do have an issue with the name pescaterian (sp?), I only heard of it on this site and only wonder what most people think of it, most people think that it is a religion! I prefer to call myself a pesci-ovo-lacto-vegetarian (sp?), at least people can gather that I do not eat some food and can ask about the rest.

sweet-rasmus

I'd say you should omit the vegetarian part, for the sake of vegetarians. The world has to learn someday! I know it's tough, but we'll ge there