The tight schedule of the football tournament meant that we were hopping from city to city almost every day we were in Switzerland. This was not as bad as it sounds, because it’s a small country in which you can move around quickly and easily, and also because match day ticket holders were allowed free travel from anywhere in the country towards the stadium. That meant we added in a few hours in Luzern while we were heading from Zürich to Bern, and enjoyed some lovely scenery and a decent vegan meal too. There were not loads of options on Happy Cow, and as an all-vegan spot, Plant. immediately stood out to us. It was not in the tourist centre of town, but it was walkable.

The lunch menu was quite small, but the options were all quite interesting – mostly ramen and bao. We each ordered two bao buns – you can choose them with or without a side, we all said “without” because we weren’t super hungry. They came with a citrusy fresh salad which was very light and refreshing – this was one of the rare occasions when I actually ate all my salad! There were three bao fillings to choose from, and we covered them all across our group.

Mother HH and I both tried the smoked tofu bao. The tofu had quite a soft, scrambled texture. I like a tofu scramble, but in a bao like this I would honestly prefer a slice – it was a little messy to eat and too juicy. The flavours also didn’t really work for me, the smokiness of the tofu was covered up by something sweeter. Noted tofu-hater Mother HH, on the other hand, really enjoyed both the taste and texture.

All three of us ordered the teriyaki mushroom bun, and all ranked it as our favourite. It was very generously filled, with great textures from the mushrooms and the crunchy peanuts. The flavours were good, but not mind-blowing.

And Dr HH tried the duck, which was packed with Planted duck. It was a pleasant mock meat texture, but it could’ve done with a bit more bite. There was a sweet flavour that reminded him of hoi sin sauce. He said the wasabi mayo was pretty mild and not very hot, so he would have liked a bit more kick – this was intriguing news to me, as my hatred of wasabi prevented me from ordering this one, even though I love mock duck.

Overall, the food was solid and service was really good. It was a pleasant little place – it was a bit small, so I’d recommend booking if you’ve got your heart set on it.

It’s a shame the vegan scene was a bit flat, because Luzern itself was a delight! We were only there for a few hours, but we enjoyed crossing the Chapel Bridge, admiring this lion carving, and wandering around the lake. Such beautiful scenery!