'I feel like it is not my body anymore': Devastated vegetarian ate meat for the first time in her life - after Nando's served her chicken by mistake

Roshni Barot ordered grilled halloumi cheese pitta at Nando's restaurant

She ate most of her chicken pitta without realising what it was

She was so distraught she tried to make herself sick when she got home



Lifelong vegetarian Roshni Barot (pictured) was served a chicken pitta at Nando's after she ordered a grilled halloumi cheese pitta

Although she is a strict vegetarian, Roshni Barot had no qualms about going to Nando’s for a meal.

The 28-year-old was on a shopping trip with a friend when they popped into a branch of the restaurant chain, which specialises in flame-grilled chicken.

Miss Barot, who shuns meat for religious reasons, had eaten there before and had always enjoyed the vegetarian options.

She chose a grilled halloumi pitta and, when her meal arrived, she covered it in peri-peri sauce, added salad, and tucked in.

She had almost finished the meal before she noticed the halloumi looked strange and had an unusual taste.



To her horror, she discovered she had been eating chicken rather than cheese.

It had been served to her by mistake after staff misread her order.

Miss Barot, who has never eaten meat, said she wept into her plate.

‘I was in shock and started crying in the restaurant. I cried all night and couldn’t sleep,’ she said.

‘I can feel it sitting there in my stomach. I feel like it’s not my body any more.’



She was still distressed the following day and was allowed to go home early from her job as placements officer at the University of Birmingham.

The manager at the Nando’s in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, apologised and offered her vouchers for another meal, which she refused.

Miss Barot grew up in a Hindu household in Tividale, near Dudley, West Midlands, where none of the family eats meat.

Ms Barot was served the meal at Nando's in the Bullring, Birmingham, (pictured) after she had ordered a grilled halloumi cheese pitta

Ms Barot said she had never eaten meat before she was served a chicken pitta at the restaurant (file picture of a Nando's chicken fillet pitta)

Ms Barot was served a chicken pitta despite ordering the grilled halloumi cheese pitta (file picture)

Being vegetarian is a large part of her identity and she was so distraught that she tried unsuccessfully to make herself sick when she got home from Nando’s.

She said she felt that something she had worked hard to maintain had been thrown away without her consent or control.

'I trusted them and they have let me down. I was in shock and started crying in the restaurant. I cried all night and couldn’t sleep. I can feel it sitting there in my stomach. I feel like it’s not my body any more' Roshni Barot



‘I never would have thought that I would need to double-check my food. I trusted them and they have let me down,’ she said.

‘They can never say or do anything to make this up to me.



Nothing can compensate me for those 28 years. They took away my choice about what to put in my body and now I can’t ever say that I have never eaten meat. I was a Nando’s fan but I will never go there again.’



Nando’s said yesterday: ‘We deeply regret that a customer was mistakenly served a chicken pitta instead of the halloumi pitta ordered.

'Nando’s has the utmost respect for all our customers’ eating choices and this was an honest – and extremely rare – mistake which the restaurant are extremely sorry about.