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We were so looking forward to flying Qatar, but oh such disappointment . Why is it that airlines fail so miserably when it comes to people that are vegetarians . If your a meat or fish eater no problem you can prebook you meal via the A la Cart menu, and surprisingly you have multiple choice, but as for veggies thats a totally different story, your lucky to get more than 1 choice more often not is a generic Asian Vegetarian , or Lacto Ovo Veg meal. Its bad enough that your limited to this choice on the plane, god help you if you enter a Qatar lounge . For instance in the Singapore lounge the only choice was vegetarian spring rolls, Qatar home of the airline, breakfast choice for vegetarians a toasted cheese sandwich. Choices are so bad you end up in the main shopping area looking for something to eat. Yes the Q suite is nice , air crew are ok, but is this a world class airline that deserves my hard earned cash no . the whole experiences was not a great deal better than flying BA and that is saying something. Maybe my expectations were to high , maybe I fell for the glossy advertisements , or was I just victim of the hype that surrounds this airline who knows but what I do know that after travelling for nigh on 24hrs with this airline I will be alighting very hungry
@truckeruk – it would appear that your view of QR has been largely coloured by the limited vegetarian options, hardly something unique to that airline. I’m not sure where in the glossy advertising to which you refer it was suggested there would be lots of vegetarian food choices.
Airline economics require standardisation and the provision of special meals is both costly and logistically complex. It’s hardly surprising that there are more menu choices for mainstream eaters and it seems somewhat entitled to expect some great choice to be offered for the 5% or so of UK vegetarians.
Friends who are vegetarian aren’t too absolutist or precious about their diets, recognising that they are in a tiny minority so are happy to eat around (or have removed) anything they don’t want or work with what there is without making a fuss. They then get to enjoy more choice.
Anyway, it sounds as though you won’t be flying QR again but maybe there’s a more vegetarian friendly airline out there somewhere.
@ JDB yes you are right it is coloured by the lack of options on Qatar in fact other airlines do , do this better as do a large number of one world lounges. As for being entitled that is harsh when you think Qatar is a world airline and 22% of the world are vegetarian and in the Uk it depends on what source you use it is estimated at between 6% and 8% . As for say friends are not to absolutist about not eating meat etc then they are not vegetarians, the word is vegetarian not just eat veg meals some times. I work in logistics supplying extremely large catering operations and the economics and logistics of supplying such meals is no greater than any other.
The number for the UK (4.6%) came from the Vegetarian Society. The figure for China is similar.
The world statistic you quote is massively influenced by India and countries/regions of extreme poverty where meat isn’t available. It’s simply not representative of the global flying public and that’s the basis on which airlines operate.
Re airline catering logistics, it’s large scale overall but each individual flight is quite small and special meals complicate operational issues eg late aircraft swaps. Dealing with the many special meal options does add cost to airline catering.
PS the friends to which I referred are real vegetarians but aren’t absolutist if a piece of meat might have touched something etc. so they widen their choice by being flexible while still sticking to a vegetarian only diet.
Finnair is a definite option for you if using the Helsinki lounge as almost all the food was vegetarian. As the complete opposite of you (carnivore) I was struggling to find something to eat in the lounge. I did not eat on board so did not study the menus. But then I don’t really choose who I fly with based on food because I am a very fussy eater.
I sympathize and agree – vegetarians are not that unique or rare.
I can understand limited choice in a ‘low effort’ airline/hotel/restaurant, but those businesses that pitch a premium or luxury experience should be striving to accommodate individual preferences.
Qatar Airways targets the latter, so I would expert more. Otherwise, what’s the point of paying a premium?
I have not been to Doha for several years now, and never during a breakfast time, but when I did, there was a slightly better selection during afternoons than a cheese sandwich. Still not great though – I used to settle for a panini.
While I am on my soap box (vegetable friendly soap), I will also add that airlines / caterers should stop combining unrelated aspects of a meal. For instance, a vegetarian, does not require gluten-free bread (a gluten-intolerant person does). Cheese courses – they are suitable if the cheese is made without animal-derived rennet. How hard is it to make this clear on the printed menus, or reference material used by the staff?? It should be easy in this day and age.
Skytrax likes QR, are their assessors mainly non-vegetarians?
PS the friends to which I referred are real vegetarians but aren’t absolutist if a piece of meat might have touched something etc. so they widen their choice by being flexible while still sticking to a vegetarian only diet.
I hear comments like this often.
However, in my opinion a real vegetarian is someone who does not tolerate their food coming into contact with any meat or fish and derivatives thereof.
I have met people who claim to be vegetarian but aren’t bothered if there is animal gelatine in the ingredients or if their vegetarian Chinese meal was cooked in the same wok that was used for beef without having been cleaned out.
These are not true vegetarians in my opinion.In this day and age, there is absolutely no reason why major airlines should not offer a main menu vegetarian option. To their credit, BA do this (even if the quality of the meal and service is poor). Other major airlines need to get with the times.
Finnair is a definite option for you if using the Helsinki lounge as almost all the food was vegetarian. As the complete opposite of you (carnivore) I was struggling to find something to eat in the lounge.
Incredible.
We were in the Helsinki lounge in April this year. Almost no vegetarian options and cross contamination galore.
In fact, the pork dish was mislabelled as fish (not vegetarian, but an example of how little regard was given on that occasion).A very different experience from yours.
By the way, no vegetarian meal option on the onboard menu to Osaka.
@truckeruk – re the assertion that the only breakfast choice in Doha was a cheese sandwich, that doesn’t sound right.
In the business or first lounges, in addition to all manner of eggs including shakshuka, they offer cereal, fruit, yoghurt and a huge selection of breads. They also have the Arabian breakfast (which is three vegetarian dishes) all day in the lounge which is offered on board usually with every meal – and it’s very good. They also have lots of salads all day as well as vegetarian curry and rice stir fries. Lots of cheese as well as great cakes. Not buying the starving bit of the post!
While I am on my soap box (vegetable friendly soap), I will also add that airlines / caterers should stop combining unrelated aspects of a meal. For instance, a vegetarian, does not require gluten-free bread (a gluten-intolerant person does). Cheese courses – they are suitable if the cheese is made without animal-derived rennet. How hard is it to make this clear on the printed menus, or reference material used by the staff?? It should be easy in this day and age.
A recent phenomenon I have witnessed is many/most special meals om some airlines (looking at you Lufthy) are literally a vegan meal.
I suspect because it is the lowest common denominator and ticks the box for a number of special meals.
Mrs Aston is (currently) a vegetarian and likes her dairy stuff. Yet on a couple of Lufthansa flights when she pre-ordered a vegetarian special meal (think it was Asian vegetarian maybe? AVML?) she got the same vegan meal as a couple who ordered a Muslim MOML.@truckeruk – re the assertion that the only breakfast choice in Doha was a cheese sandwich, that doesn’t sound right.
In the business or first lounges, in addition to all manner of eggs including shakshuka, they offer cereal, fruit, yoghurt and a huge selection of breads. They also have the Arabian breakfast (which is three vegetarian dishes) all day in the lounge which is offered on board usually with every meal – and it’s very good. They also have lots of salads all day as well as vegetarian curry and rice stir fries. Lots of cheese as well as great cakes. Not buying the starving bit of the post!
Agree with you here.
The Mourjan and the Safwa lounges had vegetarian options. I remember getting annoyed when Mrs Aston chose cheesy pasta in Al Safwa after I went for the Wagyu option.@Aston100 – maybe you are right about pure vegetarianism but we don’t live in a perfect world and one needs to be practical and accept all sorts of compromises in ones daily life if one is to enjoy it without undue stress, a serious health consideration.
It’s admirable if people stick to a vegetarian diet for reasons of health, religion or principle but it should be about the spirit of it and, however hard you try, you will absolutely inevitably find that unintentionally or otherwise you will suffer some cross contamination. Nobody will suffer or be damned for that.
Finnair is a definite option for you if using the Helsinki lounge as almost all the food was vegetarian. As the complete opposite of you (carnivore) I was struggling to find something to eat in the lounge.
Incredible.
We were in the Helsinki lounge in April this year. Almost no vegetarian options and cross contamination galore.
In fact, the pork dish was mislabelled as fish (not vegetarian, but an example of how little regard was given on that occasion).A very different experience from yours.
By the way, no vegetarian meal option on the onboard menu to Osaka.
There are three AY lounges at HEL so you need to be specific as to which one you visited.
Things being mislabelled isn’t always down to the lounge staff . I’ve seen passengers and hotel buffet and airline lounge stayers just move the labels around or pick one up but put it down in the wrong place.
My 100% vegan brother (think no wool products in the household/not sitting on leather upholstery, etc.) spends much of the year flying business for work, but accepts his choices as his own and tends to eat before and after. To be fair, he’s totally uninterested in food as a concept!!
If your airline rating scale is predominantly influenced by the food (Not quite sure why; it’s all mass produced…): may I recommend KLM the next time? Almost all meat options have been axed due to cost savings. You’ll be lucky to find any beef in the Indonesian beef stews (you won’t even have to “eat around!”) and on some days the lounge will only have spongy chicken substitute mains. Have at it.
Vegetarianism still isn’t mainstream in some surprising places (i.e. which host a large number of international tourists). I stayed at a gorgeous boutique hotel in Portugal recently, where they served the chef’s “suggestion” menu each night.
We had this on two nights and as happily carnivorous eaters we were very impressed, however I kid you not, the main course without meat or fish both nights was potatoes and vegetables! It was especially odd as the vegetarian starter I had (I had one veggie and one pescatarian starter as I love cheese and mushrooms) was absolutely delicious and could easily have been sized up to make an excellent main course.
It’s admirable if people stick to a vegetarian diet for reasons of health, religion or principle but it should be about the spirit of it and, however hard you try, you will absolutely inevitably find that unintentionally or otherwise you will suffer some cross contamination. Nobody will suffer or be damned for that.
Be careful with that statement, it’s a doorway to yet another frivolous conversation. I’ve been subjected to elaborate treatise about highly sensitive allergies and whatnot (by people who decide they have peanut/dairy allergies and like to defend those who actually have severe peanut/dairy allergies).
My answer has always been: you won’t find people who actually have those allergies anywhere near a lounge and will bring their own food on board. Buffets are cross contamination galore. What about the armrest you are currently utilizing etc.
@titaniumostrich – allergies are of course an entirely different and much more serious issue and does make cross contamination a real problem when eating anything outside ones own control.
Realistically, for a vegetarian, you are also frequently going to get some cross contamination when eating out in a restaurant, sandwich shop, airport lounge or onboard an aircraft.
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