A famous chef has caused a stir online for deciding to ban vegans from his restaurant after a customer complained about their meat-free meal.
UK-born chef John Mountain – who has appeared on TV cooking shows like Great British Menu and Chef Race UK v US – has decided to take on the entire vegan community after receiving a relatively mild-mannered complaint.
Taking to Facebook, the celebrity chef said that he had made the decision ‘for mental health reasons’, writing: “Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre for mental health reasons. We thank you for your understanding.”
He explained: “A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant and asked if there were vegan options.
“It was my only shortfall. I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables… and that was that.”
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However, after offering to accommodate her it transpires he swiftly forgot about the customer’s needs – blaming his forgetfulness on being distracted by catering for a private party.
He explained how this, in turn, led to his sous chef fuming at him for “not telling them about the vegan customer.”
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Ultimately, because of this, the vegan customer was given just one option – a “vegetable dish” costing $32 which she later described in an online review as “okay but not that filling.”
Her feedback continued: “I think it’s incredibly important nowadays that restaurants can accommodate everyone and to not be able to have actual plant-based meals shows your shortcomings as a chef.
“I hope to see some improvements in your menu as I have lived in Connolly for quite some time and have seen many restaurants come and go from that building and none of them last.
“If you don’t get with the times, I don’t hold out faith that your restaurant will be the one that does.”
In response, Mr Mountain went in all guns blazing – having taken some offense at her polite feedback.
‘As for vegans/vegetarians being a very low minority, especially in the northern burbs’ I try to accommodate everyone else,’ he posted on the restaurant’s page.
‘Thanks for your negative review… please feel free to share your s**tty experience and I look forward to not seeing you again.
‘You and all your vegan mates can all go and enjoy your dishes in another venue. You are now banned.’
He then reiterated the ban with a further post on Google Review, which read: “But if you beautiful vegans want to join together and slag off my business then good luck, keep going, let’s see what my customers think.
“And from now on ALL Vegans are now banned from my restaurant. Thankyou for your disgusting review and please enjoy the Currambine. Xx”
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Johnnie Mountain runs the Fyre restaurant in Perth, Connolly.
Featured image – Johnnie Mountain/ Fyre Restaurant
Eats
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is returning to Manchester next month
Daisy Jackson
One of the world’s silliest and most-loved experiences is returning to Manchester this year, offering people the chance to step inside the world of Fawlty Towers.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience sees immersive theatre blend with a three-course dinner, bringing Britain’s most infamous hotel to life.
Fans of the hit 1970s comedy will enjoy two hours of mayhem led by Basil, Sybil and Manuel, all while tucking into a delicious era-appropriate meal.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience has become an immersive dining phenomenon, scooping awards and selling out venues across the globe since launching almost 30 years ago.
In the years since, it’s welcomed more than one million guests, celebrated 13 years of its West End residency in London, and hosted celebrations for 50 years of the original BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.
And now it’s Manchester’s turn, with the event returning to our city between 3 and 15 February.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience is returning to ManchesterThe event is hosted by actors playing Basil, Sybil and ManuelAround 70% of the action is improvisedGuests are served a three-course 70s-inspired meal during the Faulty Towers experienceCredit: Rosie Powell
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience will be taking over the Voco hotel on Portland Street for a limited run, starring Aaron Millard as ‘Basil’, Rebecca Norris as ‘Sybil’, and Simon Hourihan as ‘Manuel’.
You can definitely expect two hours of theatre, chaos, and a 70s-inspired three-course meal, but with around 70% of the performances completely improvised, we can’t tell you much more than that…
Producer Jared Harford said: “It’s such a joy to be bringing Basil and the team back to Manchester. After such an incredible 2025 celebrating 50 years of Fawlty Towers, we can’t wait to continue sharing the laughter, chaos and community spirit that make this show so special.”
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience in Manchester:
Tuesday 3 February to Sunday 15 February
Tuesday to Saturday – doors open 6.45pm, seating and show starts 7.30pm
Saturday and Sunday – doors open 12.45pm, seating and show starts 1.30pm
Ticket prices, all including three-course meal and two hour immersive experience:
Tuesday to Thursday dinner, and Saturday or Sunday lunch – £67.50 pp (including fees) Friday or Saturday dinner £71.50 pp (including fees). Bookings can be made via the box office on (+44) 020 3700 3138 or online at www.faultytowersdining.com
We’ve found some of the best Chinese food in town – being served out of a snooker hall
Danny Jones
Yes, you heard us right: we’ve stumbled across one of our favourite new places for Chinese food just on the outskirts of Manchester city centre – it just so happens to be served out of a best-in-class snooker hall.
And that really is just the tip of the iceberg here.
Some of you may have heard about and/or seen it already, but we’ll admit we were a little late to the party when it comes to Club 200, a.k.a. the pool, snooker, darts, mahjong club and more, which has so many different things rolled into that it’s really more a Russian doll than a Chinese restaurant or sports venue.
The hook speaks for itself: a place where people spend just as much time practising with chopsticks as they do their cues, as it really isn’t a gimmick, as some pessimistic folk would have you think – the food is banging and so are the vibes in general.
Not only is this quite literally the best snooker club in Manchester – complete with everything from classic American billiards and Chinese 8-ball to king-size snooker tables that the Ronnie O’Sullivan has played and won on, to a special AI system you won’t find anywhere else – it is SO much more than that.
Whilst the backroom was packed with everyone from casuals to those looking to get their pro certification via the official Q Tour, and lads in the front were practising their arrows, as co-owner Simon admitted they get almost just as many darts regulars these days, a storm was cooking up in the kitchen.
It would be unfair to say this place doubles as a bar and restaurant, because we really couldn’t get over how well put together this menu was.
‘Café 200’s food offerings involve classics like fried rice and chow mein dishes, to the kind of sides you could expect from your local Chinese chippy, but it’s even more authentic exports that really impress.
For instance, the beef ho fun seemed to be a big hit with everyone; we loved the salty seafood udon as well (a great chew on those noodles), and we know plenty of people still searching for proper Hong Kong-style French toast – they might just find it here.
Speaking of the special administrative region, which has a twisting and turning but nevertheless rich culinary culture all of its own, that last dish had us hopping with joy.
You’re looking at baked Portuguese rice: a Macau speciality rooted in the region’s colonial history.
We’ve never quite had anything like it before, even in all of our years eating this kind of cuisine around the 10 boroughs, but we haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
And then there’s everything else they do, from karaoke and bingo nights to catering for birthdays and other functions, or even just serving as a cool, somewhat tucked-away spot to watch the footy and other live sport come the weekend.
You can tell this place has built up a real community over the last 18 months or so, and while the food speaks for itself, it’s the sheer abundance and variety going on that makes it especially charming to so many.
Speaking of jack-of-all-trade venues, we stumbled across a similar multi-talented one over in Salford not so long ago, too…
Georgina Pellant -
20th June 2023 
