A horrified mum has slammed a 'disrespectful' restaurant after a waitress served her vegan daughter butter and then laughed after the youngster ate it.
Sharing her upset in a post to Mumsnet, the parent explained the family were dining at a local restaurant they visit regularly.
As such, she believed the staff were well aware of the group's dietary requirements - most of them are vegetarian but one of her daughters is vegan. Meanwhile, her sister and her mum both have severe nut allergies.
Nonetheless, the group "always say vegan" and "always remind nut allergy", according to the mum's post.
But for some reason, there was a mix-up with the group's order during their latest visit. "We have this same dish often too as it's a go to for us because ticks all the boxes. (Veggie pasta dish). It's always vegan. Suddenly today it wasn't despite us saying vegan," the mum explained.
To her horror, a staff member only told the group after they started eating the meal - laughing all the while. "This evening we ordered a dish and were all eating it. The waitress came over laughing and told us it had butter in it!! Daughter was horrified and began to get upset," her post recounted.
She also alleged that the server admitted the chef hadn't wanted to tell the customers the truth. "The waitress took the dish away and went to the kitchen. She returned and said 'the kitchen are making another but they've got cross with me and asked why I told you it had butter in it!'" the mum wrote.
She continued: "This has infuriated me!! Firstly given butter when told vegan. But even worse..told by the waitress that the kitchen would've not told the customer it had butter in it!! Am I being unreasonable?? What if daughter had an allergy????"
"My second daughter has severe allergies (has had anaphylaxis a few times now!) so how am I ever going to trust them now??
"I don't know what to do! I don't want to make a fuss as it's our local in a very insular community."
In response, one person said: "Bad that they made the mistake. If they would have dealt with it professionally and apologised, I'd let it go.
"The fact that the waitress thought it was funny and they'd have let you eat it is disgusting." A second said: "I would make a proper complaint and never go again. It's disgusting to ignore people's food preferences."
But another thought: "It's not great obviously, but I'm not sure there's any need to 'make a fuss', just don't go there again. Being vegan is different to having an allergy, they're not comparable." And someone wrote: "Horrified LOL, get a grip!"
Defending her stance, the mum wrote: "I'm pretty shocked at some replies. Firstly I wouldn't make a fuss about nothing. Secondly, I know better than a lot of folk, the magnitude of food allergies. I have a severe nut allergy, as does second daughter."
She added: "I'm simply saying..the standard of thought process and empathy from a restaurant in terms of customer food presence is disgusting. Would it be treated the same if this was a religious preference?? I'm pretty shocked here tbh. Nobody should have their beliefs and choices belittled. Whatever that may be."
Someone replied: "Yeah, major veganphobia vibes going on here. You go to a restaurant for a paid service, they offer that service, you pay for that service and have every right to expect it at high standards - anything less is unacceptable."
A different commenter revealed: "As a family with dairy allergies I would be fuming. It's more the waitress who seemed to find it funny rather than being shocked. If she hadn't realised and ran over saying stop that has butter added to it I could almost let it go more but the laughing (albeit it could be nervous laughter) would tip me over the edge."
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