Legal Seafood

[saileeney]

Hi everyone!

For the first time I encountered and example of why people think vegetarians and vegans eat sea animals.
This weekend we took the kids to Boston to visit the New England Aquarium and see the city. Well, right across the street from the aquarium is a Legal Seafood where we had lunch ( I was with 12 other people so this was not what I would have chosen but I had to go along with the crowd)
Anyway they had one "vegetarian" choice called (I think) Vegetarian Box. It was some kind of salad that sounded really great but at the end it said "topped with your choice of grilled scallops or shrimp" and then it said vegan in parenthesis at the end.
What? Since when are scallops and shrimp vegan food?
I ended up getting this great salad with apples, avacados and lots of other yummy stuff in it(minus the shrimp and scallops ), but I thought their attempt at offering a vegetarian option fell a little short.
I wanted to point the mistake out to the waiter but my husband begged me not to so I didn't.

~Aileen

[harper]

I've been to restaurants too whos "vegetarian" options all include some sort of fish product... :wall:

[Brandon]

Scallops and shrimp are not vegan food. I don't know why that would be on a menu. :confused:

[harper]

It's weird that they claimed that they were vegan. Those products aren't even vegetarian let alone vegan...

[saileeney]

Yah! I thought that was wierd too...

[evan_fabiani]

im assuming it is because they think vegetarians are that way for "health reasons" and in that case, most eat fish. damn pescetarians.

[animallover7249]

:no:

[Quinoa]

For the first time I encountered and example of why people think vegetarians and vegans eat sea animals.
Or maybe it’s the other way round? There are so many “I am a vegetarian but I do eat seafood of course” flexiwhatevers around, that maybe some caterers start including sea animals in their “vegetarian” options?!

I wanted to point the mistake out to the waiter but my husband begged me not to so I didn't.

Next time you see something like this on a menu, (cough) just ignore your husband’s begging and point the mistake out to the waitstaff, please. That is, if you want to help correct and prevent further mistakes like this one.

[peace]

Why not try emailing or writing the company? It sounds like they really need to be informed.

[harper]

Why not try emailing or writing the company? It sounds like they really need to be informed.

Thats a good idea. Then the people who can actually make changes will be informed. If you told the waiter there is no garuntee he would pass on the comment to whoever needs to know.

[Quinoa]

Ideally, always try to do both. It can't hurt to raise awareness with the waitstaff, but of course it's better to document the mistake by letting the responsible people know.

[animallover7249]

Or maybe it’s the other way round? There are so many “I am a vegetarian but I do eat seafood of course” flexiwhatevers around, that maybe some caterers start including sea animals in their “vegetarian” options?!

Um..exactly..
and then that makes nonveggies think it's vegetarian. (That was the point)

[animallover7249]

Thats a good idea. Then the people who can actually make changes will be informed. If you told the waiter there is no garuntee he would pass on the comment to whoever needs to know.

Agreed :)

[Eclipse]

I went there around my B- day. Next time go to the aquariums own eatery. They have REAL vegetarian options there.

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

im assuming it is because they think vegetarians are that way for "health reasons" and in that case, most eat fish. damn pescetarians.

Uh...no...do your research. Most "health vegetarians" stay FAR away from seafood and fish because of the levels of mercury and other toxins in it. (ESPECIALLY in Boston - ever seen Boston Harbour? gahhhh!).

I was a "health vegetarian" for 38+ years and never once thought fish was a healthy choice. (That said, I DID eat fish a couple times, but that's another issue entirely).

People who grab onto the vegetarian name as a new fad or trendy diet or way to annoy their parents and do little-to-no are often the ones guilty of being "fish-eating-vegetarians".

Still, I do agree, a lot of the general public thinks we eat fish and there isn't one specific reason to point to "why"..

Another train of thought, (not trying to pick on anyone or single people out) but the "Vegetarians-Who-Eat-Fish" phenomenon can be found more readily (and I know it's been debated on these boards before) in some areas with a high population of old-school Catholics who will say they're "eating vegetarian on Friday" and then fill up on fish that day.

Younger people from Catholic backgrounds often say they've never heard of this, and I am sure it's wasn't prevalent everywhere but it is a documented fact that *some* Catholic schools/cafeterias/hospitals/etc. called the menu choices (fish/seafood) they ate on Fridays "vegetarian".

[Sarah+13]

Did you ask if the shrimp/scallops were real? Any chance it was a vegan substitute?

[hoodedclawjen]

i just looked at the menu for one of their locations, and i think i saw the menu item you're talking about. from what i could see from looking at the online menu, it does appear to be a vegan item (if you don't order the add ons), and so is technically correctly labelled as such. Perhaps it was laid out differently on the menu that you saw in the restaurant itself.

on the online PDF menu its written as:

Vegetarian Box (vegan friendly) 16.50
Asian flavoured stir fried vegetables, thai red curry coconut sauce,
cashews, tofu, and brown rice (contains nuts)
with Shrimp or Scallops 20.95

like others of their menu items, (eg: the classic caesar salad, greek salad, and tortilla, apple and goats cheese salads) there are those optional fish add-ons that you can add to the standard dish for a fee- which i suppose could make it seem a bit confusing.

as written above, if you get it as a standard item, for 16.50- its vegan. add the optional shrimp or scallops: not vegan. i guess perhaps they could have added the words (not vegan friendly) after the fish add-ons, and before the 20.95, to clarify.

i'm pretty sure we see similar stuff on vegetarian/wholefood restaurant menus though, where the salad marked 'vegan friendly' has 'add optional grated cheese, or sliced boiled egg for $2' written at the end of it.

i'm actually quite impressed from their website that they made an effort to try and be allergy aware, to have some menu items that are vegetarian and/or vegan, and to label them as such. i've been in seafood places where there seemed to be nothing (apart from dairy laden desserts) that came without any fish or other meats in it, and where it was a real pain in the arse to try and get anyone to understand what vegan meant, and to get anything substituted.

at least these guys made an effort... and with something yummy sounding with tofu too- it was nice to see that their token vegan item wasn't 'iceberg lettuce with an insipid slice of dead tomato' or 'fries cooked in the same oil as the chicken' !

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Did you ask if the shrimp/scallops were real? Any chance it was a vegan substitute?
Not a chance. Legal Seafood is a Boston institution. They are famous world-wide for their seafood. Very real seafood.

That said, as HCJen mentioned above, they actually have several veg. options! My sister lives in Boston and is veg and it's her favorite place to take visiting omni friends who "have" to sample Boston's famous seafood - she can get something decent and they get their "tourist" seafood fix....

[peace]

16.50? :worried: That is a really expensive meal!

[Fromper]

Ok, this is becoming odd. This is the second time today I've found a discussion on VB about one of my former clients. First Tiger Direct, now Legal Sea Food.

I've never eaten at a Legal restaurant, but every omni I know who has eaten there loves it. I'm glad to hear they have a vegan option.

--Fromper
:juggle:

[Mojo]

A Catholic friend of mine insists that fish aren't meat. I think the confusion comes from the traditional Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on fridays during the season of lent... the weeks leading up to easter.

On 'meatless fridays', many churches host 'fish frys'. So at the same time they forbid you to eat meat, they serve you fish. Because of this, a lot of people draw the conclusion that fish isn't a meat. Then some make the next assumption that if it isn't a meat, it must be vegetarian.

[Fromper]

A Catholic friend of mine insists that fish aren't meat. I think the confusion comes from the traditional Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on fridays during the season of lent... the weeks leading up to easter.

On 'meatless fridays', many churches host 'fish frys'. So at the same time they forbid you to eat meat, they serve you fish. Because of this, a lot of people draw the conclusion that fish isn't a meat. Then some make the next assumption that if it isn't a meat, it must be vegetarian.
It's not just Catholics who think that way. Check out the first definition for the word "meat" in the American Heritage Dictionary:


The edible flesh of animals, especially that of mammals as opposed to that of fish or poultry.

In many people's minds, fish isn't meat, which is why they think vegetarians will eat it.

Even the definition for "vegetarian" on dictionary.com says:


a person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, fowl...

Why specify meat, fish, and fowl separately, when fish and fowl are both types of meat? Because they understand that this is how people think of the word "meat", so they made their definition as clear as possible.

--Fromper
:juggle:

[saileeney]

on the online PDF menu its written as:

Vegetarian Box (vegan friendly) 16.50
Asian flavoured stir fried vegetables, thai red curry coconut sauce,
cashews, tofu, and brown rice (contains nuts)
with Shrimp or Scallops 20.95

On the menu at this particular place it definatly said "vegan" and not "vegan friendly". Yes, you could get it with out the sea animals on top and it would be vegan. This is what I did with the tortilla,apple, avacado salad (no goat cheese also) and it was vegan and soooo good.

And about being allergy aware, before anyone ordered our waiter asked if anyone had any food allergies. My sister in law is allergic to seseme so they cooked her food seperatly from everyone elses and a manager had to bring it out seperatly. So they really cover their a$$es when it come to food allergies.:up:

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post!

[Flying Rabbit]

Have you ever seen/read Everything Is Illuminated? This reminds me of a scene in which the term vegetarian isn't quite grasped.

[uberkibbles]

Have you ever seen/read Everything Is Illuminated? This reminds me of a scene in which the term vegetarian isn't quite grasped.

What happened?