To eat or not to eat?

[Rihanna]

I am sure many of us had faced such awkward situation, one way or another. My suggestion would be - somehow remind the host that of your dietary preference in a polite way, I am sure they will increase the portion of salad or think of something vegetable base for you.  If there is no extra vegetarian dishes, just join in but eat anything that is not meat.
My point - I would not like to impose upon my friends and neither do I want to compromise on my vegetarian diet, hence find the middle way ! In the worse scenario, what till you get home and make your own supper!

[Benny]

Simple , just eat the salad minus the meat ,if any in the salad . By that time your friend would have noticed , that they forgot you are vegetarian and would as any good host would, offer you vegetarian food. In future , may i suggest that reminders to our good hosts are required, as its not easy hosting a food based party. Even for the professionals , ie those in the Food and Beverage industry such as Hotel Restaurants , they need to be reminded , seen one too many instances where the vegetarians needs are sidelined .   

[brian]

Go for the salad bambi, salad is goood and even if it was mixed along with the chicken you can still pick the salad and leave the chicken out. Perhaps you can just consume anything else on the table that is meatless without letting the host know what you have eaten. We as vegetarian can be comfortable and should make others comfortable as well by not making him/her feel sorry because they didn't know we are vegetarian.

[Aurore]

I would have just eaten the salad and make them feel really bad for not remembering. LOL.

The same thing happened to me as well. I was invited to an appreciation dinner by a friend. She wanted to cook dinner to thank a few of us for helping her with her project. When we arrived, the dinner was roast chicken with roasted potatoes, carrots and onions. The rest realised as soon as they saw the dinner. She felt really bad but I didn't kick a big fuss and I ate the sides which are roasted vegies. So everything was ok. She knew I was a vegetarian since we had numerous dinners together but yet friends do forget (unintentionally).

Personally, not out of expectations or anything, I think friends/people in general should try to remember what others' needs, preferences and sometimes even choice of anything. In this case it's food. What if someone have allergies? Or can't eat certain types of food because of a certain diet due to sickness? Or is a muslim and don't eat pork? I know people who don't like certain food such as soft boiled eggs or fish or spicy food for example.

Anyways, the lesson for everyone and myself is to be considerate and think about others always even when it comes to tiny details such as this. Observe the people around us and take mental notes of their needs and preferences always.

[Ensapa]

I have experienced this once, where I went to a christmas party which was hosted by a friend and he cooked lagsana as the main dish, totally forgetting that I was vegetarian. I ate it anyway because i did not want him to feel bad, but at the same time i totally have no desire for the meat and neither do i find it tasty. In cases like these, it is very important to remember over motivation for being a vegetarian: do we hold on to our ideals at the cost of making someone else unhappy? Is it worth it?

[metta girl]

I will still insist on eating the veggies and not touch the meat .I will apologise to the host just in case he/she is offended. And also will explain and share some knowledge on why not to eat meat . I think it will also make the conversation more interesting. If they are not able to accept the fact that we are doing an act of killing either directly or indirectly then just explain and encourage them  to eat more vegatables for healthy living .   

[Aurore]

You could also tell them you took a vow, hence you couldn't eat those meaty stuff. I used that excuse before although the excuse was definitely the truth.

[OMB]

You might politely inform your host of your food preferences beforehand to avoid an awkward situation.

[maricisun]

In this type of situation where a friend forget you are a vegetarian even though you have told them before, I will politely remind them and go for the salad instead. If they have side vege with the chicken dish, then just eat the side dishes minus the chicken. If your friend truly understand they will not be offended even though they have spend time cooking the dishes specially for you.

[xyz_generation]

Yes , I will take the food as we didnt want to offend our friends as he or she did it without any ill intention.
We may take the salad without the meat. As a vegetarian, I think we should not create much trouble for those who serve us food with a good intention.