Is this meat?

Yesterday I was having lunch at a north indian restaurant. Scanning through the menu, I did not know what to order as all the food names were all not familiar and my friends and I did not recognize any at all. This then led to us asking the waiter what each column of food in the menu was. He then explained that there were starters and vegetable dishes. I went on to ask if a certain column meant meat dishes. The waiter looked down at me with a frown and did not say anything. A split second later, I realized my error that northern indian cuisine is strictly vegetarian. And I felt so embarrassed and apologized.

However, I wondered if the situation could be avoided. It is true that we need a certain amount of information to navigate through the different cultures and be culturally sensitive especially in a place like Singapore, where we are a multicultural society. But I am sure there are times where there would be laspe of judgement, as in this case, or ignorance. How then are we to know about every different culture in the world? Does this mean that we should be more widely read?