J D Wetherspoon Pubs

[KayJay]

Ta Frosty - rubbish aren't they! I love my Sunday roasts, but looks like I'll have to stay home and make my own :(

[Rebbecca]

Hi guys. I was in Wetherspoons earlier today and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a main meal dish LABELLED as vegan!

It's the sweet potato, chickpea & spinach curry and it specifically says on the menu in the pub that you can have it with extra poppodums instead of the nann in order to make it vegan (and gluten free).

I had it today, it was quite nice and I would recommend it.

I think this is a fantastic step in the right direction, let's hope other pubs follow suit!

http://www.rfbrookes.co.uk/Web/FoodFacts/FoodFacts.nsf/OptionDisplay?OpenForm&Seq=2

[Risker]

That is fantastic :) Was it on the main menu or the curry club menu? I can't find it on either of them, maybe they haven't updated them yet. How much was it?

I'll definately return to being a customer of theirs if it's any good.

[flying plum]

blimey...go wether's!

[BlackCats]

That's good news, :) I always wondered if some of the curries were okay for vegans when I have been in there.

[Risker]

We did have them make us up a curry from the list of vegan ingredients on their website once but it was all a bit of a kerfuffle and you could only get it on Thursdays, this is much better :)

[emzy1985]

Emily...my ex...works in Wetherspoons so I'll ask her! :)

[Cumin]

Rebecca, I've just looked through the latest menu on their website:

http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/resource/documents/food-and-drink/jdw-food-menu%20(prices%20vary%20depending%20on%20pub%20vis ited).pdf

And I can see no mention of vegan on it anywhere. Did I miss it?
Or were you just saying that the item listed on their nutritional info thing were vegan?
I'm suspicious of that data as they have previously been VERY wrong.
PLUS - who on earth makes a consumer-focused website these days that only works properly with Internet explorer !! GRARRRRRR!

For those who also have trouble getting it to work: here's the vegan list:
Breakfast Side Orders----Baked Beans
Breakfast Side Orders----Hash Brown
Breakfast Side Orders----Tomato
Children's Desserts----Banana
Children's Desserts----Orange
Children's Side Orders----Baked beans
Curry Club----2 Poppadums
Curry Club----Bombay Potato
Curry Club----Mango Chutney
Curry Club----Onion Bhaji (x1)
Curry Club----Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Curry without Naan Bread
Curry Club----Vegetable Samosas
Curry Club----Yellow Basmati Rice
Extras----Roast Potatoes
Extras----Sage & Onion Stuffing Balls (x2)
Jacket Potatoes With Dressed Side Salad----Baked Beans
Main Meals----Sweet Potato, Chickpea & Spinach Curry with Yellow Basmati Rice, Mango Chutney and Extra Poppadums (no naan bread)
Salads----Side Salad without Dressing - No Croutons
Sides----Bowl of Chips
Sides----Side Salad without Dressing
Starters & Sharers----Organic Tomato & Basil Soup without Bread
Sunday Club----Organic Tomato & Basil Soup without Bread

[Cumin]

Call me suspicious but I notice that these two listings seem to conflict.
Sides----Side Salad without Dressing
Jacket Potatoes With Dressed Side Salad----Baked Beans

So is the salad dressing OK or not? Hmm..
I wish they would get their act together as I would go there regularly if they did.

[Rebbecca]

Cumin - The curry is on that list and Wetherspoons said that it is vegan. But only without the nann bread.

The curry was on the regular menu last night, so you can order it anytime! It was £6.70 I think.

[ms.vegan]

Hiya! very interesting thread. At the moment I am making a big fuss about all the eating places we've got here, and the fact that there's only one that regularly and reliably serves good vegan food, both to eat in, and take away. We have a wetherspoons, nice place, always friendly, and it's on my list to visit, and take a "vegan catering for all" leaflet and shove it in their faces! lol! I will ask about the curry, and give you feedback. Even if the curry is vegan, curry doesn't suit everyone, wouldn't it be betterr for these places to vary the vegan option available? we all know how easily some, if not all, recipes can be adapted? PEACE! Love Jennie. xx

[Risker]

Call me suspicious but I notice that these two listings seem to conflict.
Sides----Side Salad without Dressing
Jacket Potatoes With Dressed Side Salad----Baked Beans

So is the salad dressing OK or not? Hmm..
I wish they would get their act together as I would go there regularly if they did.

If you look at the downloadable menu (http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/resource/documents/food-and-drink/jdw-food-menu%20(prices%20vary%20depending%20on%20pub%20vis ited).pdf) (copy of the one used in the pub) it's a bit more descriptive about the salads, the Jacket Potato is just 'with a dressed side salad' where as the actual side salad is 'with a creamy dressing on the side.' so they are two different dressings it seems.

The downloadable menu is the one I mentioned doesn't have the curry listed on it, I hope that doesn't mean it's only on trial in a few pubs or something.

[ms.vegan]

Blimey, they don't half make this complicated don't they? Is this our punishment for being vegan? And all because we don't wat any animal/dairy products in our food . . . we hafta research everything, everywhere, sometimes more than once! How did they manage in the old days, before the internet? I mean, look at Donald Watson and co, in the 40's, makes me cringe to think how they'd have coped! Jennie. xx

[Corum]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread... the more of us that write to Tim Martin, the chairman of Wetherspoons (who is actually quite a nice bloke) you can get the address via http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/feedback/ asking for a proper choice of food in his pubs, then the sooner he'll take vegans seriously. Easy! :D

[jonnie falafel]

I don't know why anyone would put so much energy into trying to influence these corporate palaces of doom that cause our towns and cities to be bland copies of each other. Why not get really radical and cultivate a relationship with a local independent pub... if you spend your money there you'll have a direct influence over the landlord and be able to supply recipes, hints and tips on ingredients etc... A cafe near me now caters well for vegans, simply because vegans started going there...

[Corum]

You don't obviously know wetherspoons then do you? :rolleyes:

There are towns such as Lewes where I work, that have plenty of independent pubs that sadly can't tell one end of a veggie burger from another and I find it quite a bind that I can't get a decent meal.

There is at least one, where I've managed to do that, but they keep changing licensee as it's a managed pub not a tenancy.

Give me a 'corporate palace of doom' where I can be satisfied that a) the beer is in good nick (and yes, there are vegan real ales) and b) I can get the same food wherever I am in the country if I'm stuck.

On the other hand, me and Hemlock enjoy eating at certain out of the way pubs where we do get what we ask for veganised so we have the best of both worlds.

[Noogle]

I logged on specifically to post about this. It's delicious and it makes me feel good to see 'big business' giving vegans the nod. :D

[threeheadedpuppy]

Its good news about the curry - i only discovered the soup the other day, and have had it twice, just because it was quite exciting to see something other than nuked-spud'n'beans on the menu, but an actual curry!!! I hope they have it in my local 'spoons!

[puca]

Wetherspoons sell the Westons cider.

Top notch.

As much as I hate them in principle.

[Corum]

Its good news about the curry - i only discovered the soup the other day, and have had it twice, just because it was quite exciting to see something other than nuked-spud'n'beans on the menu, but an actual curry!!! I hope they have it in my local 'spoons!

it will be there if you ask for it.

However, there is one problem...

Can people on here say, instead of 'my local wetherspoons', what the name of the pub is and where it is geographically because most people on here are rather vague about saying where they're from in their signature and I for one am not that good at guessing. :) Also, there are quite a few towns that have more than one JDW pub.

The best ammunition in any campaign is actual details.

For example, if you were to speak to a wetherspoons manager and say where another pub had vegan food, they are more likely to go back to their regional manager and ask for vegan food to be made available. That regional manager will then check with the one whose pub had vegan food.

Better that than a vague... 'some wetherspoons pub somewhere in England had vegan food on the menu so why can't we?'

another method would be buying a single share in the company - then you would be allowed to go to the Annual General Meeting (as it is listed on the stock exchange) and put your point across there.

[Rakey]

The Sweet Potatoe curry is vegan, it says so on their website.
Odviously Naan bread isn't (shame as I LOVE naan, made without the milk or yogurt odv)

[Buddha Belly]

I don't know why anyone would put so much energy into trying to influence these corporate palaces of doom that cause our towns and cities to be bland copies of each other. Why not get really radical and cultivate a relationship with a local independent pub... if you spend your money there you'll have a direct influence over the landlord and be able to supply recipes, hints and tips on ingredients etc... A cafe near me now caters well for vegans, simply because vegans started going there...

Most pubs in the UK are owned by 3 big pub companies. The fact they don't have the company name above the door does not mean they are an independant pub. It means they are generally hiding behind the facade of independance and fooling people into giving money to evil national pub chains. The fact weatherspoons openly state who they are makes them more open to criticism. In letchworth we have 4 pubs in the town centre and the best isThe three magnets (weatherspoons), which makes you feel welcolme and has staff who remember you and always say hi.
Most independant pubs are in or near large cities and are not accessable to many

[jonnie falafel]

Have a look at Paul Kingsnorths Real England .... very interesting stuff on corporate chains... or any of the series by Joanna Blythman, Shopped springs to mind.

[jonnie falafel]

www.paulkingsnorth.net (http://www.paulkingsnorth.net)

[Buddha Belly]

Reading this back it does sound a tad..... rantish! oh well. I am a fan of all those books, i also enjoy Engels, Marx, Palast, Klein and many other anti corporate books. Read below the breadline by Fran Abrams and see how major supermarkets have destroyed our towns and cities. It is not just the ability to have local shops and pubs.To be able to shop locally is the best option but when the majority of our society can not afford to shop in a mindfull way, it is impossible.
This means those who care what is happening have no choice.
I try to shop as independantly as possible, generally this means having to drive out from my local town and visit shops that are geographically out of the reach for those without cars or not on bus routes. This arguement is beyond veganisn but affects all those that eat food. Until people have the financial abilities to change their shopping habits people will not. i work with people who have so little money that the thought of a single £1.59 pint at a Weatherspoons is attainable, whilst a £2.80 independant pub's pint is a differance not to be comtemplated. Read Orwell and Tressell both are just as real today, simply change factories to call centres. Reality sucks, change can only come through popular revolution, non-violent of course!?!?