The Ordeal Of A Vegetarian's Appetizer Dilemma !!!
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:43 am
You are a vegetarian and you decide to go out for a group lunch say with your team, co-workers, friends, family or even the mob … Just kidding about the mob !!!
Let’s say half of your group are vegetarians. After the initial paranoia and later due diligence about the place you are heading to, like looking up the menu online and narrowing down the vegetarian choices, making sure they cook vegetarian dishes separately, not use the same oil for frying shrimp and chicken and what not, with a sigh of relief you head out with the group. Heck in excitement you may even volunteer to drive half the people to the restaurant to celebrate your sense of achievement in being able to find and finalize your vegetarian choices well ahead of time.
You reach the restaurant, after settling down at a large table with the group, the waitress stops by taking orders for appetizers first. You and your other vegetarian buddies huddle around and decide to order say some vegetarian spring rolls — just for the few of you hoping to evenly split the six tiny pieces in a single plate.
The waitress moves on to the other meat lovers to take their orders and they in turn order say chicken or pork spring rolls. Now you have two sets of people and two sets of appetizers at stake.
After ten minutes … The waitress brings the vegetarian spring rolls first as the veggies are usually kept sliced and diced ready whereas chicken and meat take some mincing and mixing.
What does the waitress do ? She puts the vegetarian spring rolls smack in the middle of the table (Arrrgggh!) and guess what ? Every one in the group, not just you cow(s) and bull(s), is reaching out to grab a piece. If lucky you may get a leftover piece for yourself. Poof ! they are gone in a jiffy. Understood. Everyone is just darn hungry and not thinking at the moment about courtesy towards the fellow vegetarians.
Now past five minutes the waitress comes back with the meat ridden spring rolls (Karma Karma !!!). Unfortunately you cannot eat them and you can only watch the meat lovers gobble every single piece to leave a clean shiny plate a second time over. They now have two strikes in a row and you just went to the gutters.
Now you end up not satiating yourself with enough appetizers and you may either order another plate of the vegetarian appetizer in which case you will be inundated with appetizers when others have already moved on to their entr?or you will just mumble to yourself and rant all about it to your vegetarian buddies after the party. Once, twice, thrice … it happens every time.
How do you get rid of this dilemma each time ? How do you politely, subtly and with no offense set the expectation to the meat lovers to leave you, your vegetarian buddies and your vegetarian appetizers alone or order their own ?
Post your humorous thoughts and suggestions.
PS: This has nothing to do with me abstaining from having dinner at last week's Bay Area meeting ... honestly. :)
Let’s say half of your group are vegetarians. After the initial paranoia and later due diligence about the place you are heading to, like looking up the menu online and narrowing down the vegetarian choices, making sure they cook vegetarian dishes separately, not use the same oil for frying shrimp and chicken and what not, with a sigh of relief you head out with the group. Heck in excitement you may even volunteer to drive half the people to the restaurant to celebrate your sense of achievement in being able to find and finalize your vegetarian choices well ahead of time.
You reach the restaurant, after settling down at a large table with the group, the waitress stops by taking orders for appetizers first. You and your other vegetarian buddies huddle around and decide to order say some vegetarian spring rolls — just for the few of you hoping to evenly split the six tiny pieces in a single plate.
The waitress moves on to the other meat lovers to take their orders and they in turn order say chicken or pork spring rolls. Now you have two sets of people and two sets of appetizers at stake.
After ten minutes … The waitress brings the vegetarian spring rolls first as the veggies are usually kept sliced and diced ready whereas chicken and meat take some mincing and mixing.
What does the waitress do ? She puts the vegetarian spring rolls smack in the middle of the table (Arrrgggh!) and guess what ? Every one in the group, not just you cow(s) and bull(s), is reaching out to grab a piece. If lucky you may get a leftover piece for yourself. Poof ! they are gone in a jiffy. Understood. Everyone is just darn hungry and not thinking at the moment about courtesy towards the fellow vegetarians.
Now past five minutes the waitress comes back with the meat ridden spring rolls (Karma Karma !!!). Unfortunately you cannot eat them and you can only watch the meat lovers gobble every single piece to leave a clean shiny plate a second time over. They now have two strikes in a row and you just went to the gutters.
Now you end up not satiating yourself with enough appetizers and you may either order another plate of the vegetarian appetizer in which case you will be inundated with appetizers when others have already moved on to their entr?or you will just mumble to yourself and rant all about it to your vegetarian buddies after the party. Once, twice, thrice … it happens every time.
How do you get rid of this dilemma each time ? How do you politely, subtly and with no offense set the expectation to the meat lovers to leave you, your vegetarian buddies and your vegetarian appetizers alone or order their own ?
Post your humorous thoughts and suggestions.
PS: This has nothing to do with me abstaining from having dinner at last week's Bay Area meeting ... honestly. :)