Aegean Airlines serves up potentially worst vegetarian plane meal ever

Passenger was offered a box of raw vegetables as the ‘vegetarian option’ on a flight

(musterknabe)

It’s not always easy travelling as a vegetarian, as one passenger discovered while aboard an Aegean Airlines flight.

The Greek carrier brought over the requested vegetarian option come mealtime, dubbed “Vegetarian Oriental”.

Reddit user musterknabe posted a photo of his specialist dish on the social news aggregation site, showing what appears to be a polystyrene box filled with raw strips of carrot, red pepper and celery.

“I booked my flight online and chose the ‘Vegetarian Oriental’ meal,” musterknabe wrote on Reddit. “This is what I got.”

Musterknabe said they’re not a vegetarian but prefer good meat. “I have to know where it comes from,” they commented. “How the animals were treated. What they got to eat. That's it. When I don't know it, I order a vegetarian dish.”

The thread became something of a group therapy opportunity, with many users offering their condolences and sharing their own horror stories of sub-standard vegetarian meals.

One user commiserated: “On Virgin, I once got pasta. That's it. No sauce. No spices. Literally just plain pasta.”

Another said: “I once ordered a vegetarian burger at a restaurant and got a bun with lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard. Basically a regular burger where they just took out the meat.”

Aegean Airlines apologised and said it looked like the passenger in question had been given the Vegetarian Raw option rather than the Vegetarian Oriental.

“We are really sorry when reading this less than favourable comment on our meal service on board,” a spokesperson told The Independent.

“Our customers may choose among a wide list of special meals, which they can enjoy for free during their flight. On this occasion, it seems that our customer was offered the vegetarian raw option which includes raw vegetables and fruits, instead of the vegetarian oriental. Moreover the packaging of the meal leads us to believe that this was a meal served on a short haul flight.

“Special meals may be ordered up until 24 hours before the flight, and must be confirmed by our reservations team.

“Our customers' feedback is of utmost importance. Should the customer’s booking details be available, we’re happy to review the issue and answer in more detail what exactly happened on this occasion.”