Vegan in Switzerland: Bakery Bakery

Posted on November 3, 2025 by Jenny
A coffee cup with Bakery Bakery written on it

And saving the best for last, here’s an all vegan bakery! We visited branches in Zürich, Bern, and Basel – I believe there are branches in other cities as well, though regrettably not Geneva.

Bakery Bakery was possibly my favourite thing about my visit to Switzerland. The baked goods were excellent. The first branch we tried was in the train station at Zürich. It has no seating, so it’s takeaway only. As well as pastries, they also serve hot drinks and have a small selection of chocolate,  chilled meats, and cheeses for purchase. We only had eyes for the pastries though. Here’s what we tried.

Inside a sausage roll, with a sausage on a bed of mustard
A sausage roll topped with seeds

Sausage roll: great pastry with nice seeds on top for texture, but the sausage was like a hot dog (not my preferred style, and quite different from a British sausage roll). There was loads of mustard in the pastry case alongside the sausage. It was an unpleasant surprise for mustard haters like Mother HH and me, but presumably fine if you like mustard.

A cheese tart

Cheese tart: this is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. The pastry was rich, crisp, and crumbly. The filling was delicious, really creamy and cheesy. It felt like a really high quality vegan cheese. Absolutely divine. We are a lot of these in our week long trip!

A cinnamon snail

Cinnamon snail: the cinnamon flavour and filling were really nice. It was a bit nutty, and very sticky. The pastry was nice, but note that this is a snail that is more like a pastry than a bread, so it may or may not be home you like your snails.

A croissant with a small cookie baked in at each end

Crookie: this is a croissant with two cookies baked on top. It was not very visually appealing to me, but it tasted really great. The cookies on top looked pale, but were baked and had a bit of nice crisp. The croissant was filled as well with lots of chocolatey, cookie spread. It was extremely decadent and delicious, it certainly filled us up!

A cookie with lots of chocolate chips

Cookie: it was quite hefty, a really good size and thickness. It was absolutely packed with chocolate chips. It was quite a soft cookie, which is just how I like them.

I highly recommend this place to anyone passing through the city centre!

We also paid a visit to a branch in Bern, which was a nice cafe with seating available. Of course, we got more cheese tarts, but we also tried a few other items.

A thin rectangular pastry topped with seeds

Lauch speck strudel: it had too much leek and not enough meat for my liking, which was a bit of a shame and prevented it from being truly great. The pastry was really nice though.

A ring doughnut topped with chocolate

Donut choco nut: this was nice but not mind blowing, as the texture was a little bit chewy. The chocolate coating was the highlight.

A bready looking croissant with some chocolate drizzles

Chocoggigipfel: this croissant filled with chocolate was more bready than pastry. The chocolate cream inside was absolutely delicious, really rich and thick. It was very tasty.

The last branch we visited was in Basel train station. We ordered from the takeaway window, but there was an additional counter and seating for dining in. It had the same baked goods as the other branches, and we didn’t try anything different here.

Overall I wasn’t overwhelmed by the number and range of vegan options in Switzerland, so it’s quite surprising to me that they have this thriving chain of fully vegan bakeries. I wish this would catch on in other countries – especially if they had those cheese tarts!

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Vegan in Switzerland: Nooch

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Jenny
Four crispy sushi rolls topped with tuna

I’m rounding out my Switzerland posts with a couple of reviews from places that we visited in multiple cities, starting with Nooch. We visited branches in both Zürich and Basel. The menu was at least very similar in both branches, if not identical. It is an east Asian chain with quite a few clearly labelled vegan dishes. It was a very popular spot in both locations – you can easily book a table online if you wish.

A big bowl of carbonara topped with tofu cubes and mushroom

All three of us at one point ordered the mushroom miso carbonara – in fact, it was so nice that Mother HH and I ordered it twice. It didn’t really taste of miso, but it was nicely spiced (warm, not hot), creamy, and quite light, with plenty of sauce to keep everything coated. There were loads of tasty mushrooms and some fairly bland tofu, but everything else had flavour.

A bowl of rice and sticky chicken pieces

Dr HH also tried Beijing nights, which was a sweet and sour chicken dish. The chicken pieces had nice texture inside, but the sauce reduced the crispiness of the coating, which is always a risk.

Four crispy sushi rolls topped with tuna

He also got the tuna sushi, for the novelty factor – Prague is sorely lacking in exciting vegan sushi. There was plenty of tuna, which was flavoursome and seemed quite authentic (to someone with very little tuna experience). The crispiness of the roll was a little lacking, but it was still a tasty bite.

This chain was a solid option for us – the meals were tasty, service was pretty fast, and there were decent vegan options. If you’re traveling with meat eaters it might be a crowd-pleasing option too.

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Vegan in Zürich: Roots

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Jenny
Three waffles topped with salad, served with cheesy dressing and avocado

We spent quite a bit of time in Zürich, and were looking for nice central locations for vegan meals. A few different branches of Roots popped up on Happy Cow, and we went to Linthergehasse. It was extremely busy at lunchtime, we had a short wait for a table. There were a few breakfasty items on the menu and even though it was lunchtime, those were the dishes we fancied.

A large bowl of joghurt topped with granola, pomegranate seeds, and compote

Mother HH ordered the yogurt and granola, which came in a surprisingly large bowl. There was a lot of plain yogurt, along with a rhubarb raspberry compote that managed to be very well balanced, neither too sharp nor too sweet. The granola had lots of nuts and seeds and plenty of coconut. There was a good pop of pomegranate seeds too. Mother HH is a huge fan of yogurt and granola, and this exceeded her expectations.

Three waffles topped with salad, served with cheesy dressing and avocado

Dr HH and I both got the savoury waffles. Again the portion sizes were generous: we got three waffles each. They had a nice texture and came with various garnishes. The pickled cucumbers were pleasant, and I also loved the generous wedge of avocado. There was loads of salmon (which is difficult to spot in the photo) and it was very flavoursome, probably the best vegan salmon I’ve had in a restaurant. The five seed crunch added some lovely texture. The creamy cheese dressing was not to my personal taste (a bit too sweet), but Dr HH liked it. 

Because it was so popular, it wasn’t a totally restful atmosphere in which we wanted to linger. But for a quick and tasty lunch, it’s definitely recommended.

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Vegan in Geneva: Gives a Fork

Posted on October 13, 2025 by Jenny
Six pani puri with four pots of fillings

Finally, some really creative and exciting vegan options in Geneva! Gives a Fork was our top pick in the city. It’s all vegetarian, but the vegan options are plenty and are clearly labelled. There are small plates, tacos, and main dishes. We followed our server’s advice and got three small dishes and two taco dishes to share (one of the small dishes was a vegetarian one for non-vegan Mother HH, so I’m not reviewing it here). That made for a slightly light meal for us – if we’d come in hungry, we definitely would have needed one more plate.

A bowl of battered fried mushrooms topped with creamy sauce and garnishes

We loved the chan clan, which was crispy mushrooms with satay sauce. The coating was very crispy and thin, and the satay was really flavoursome. The mushrooms weren’t swimming in sauce, so they kept their crispiness and had a nice texture.

Six pani puri with four pots of fillings

The pop it like it’s hot was also really good. It is basically pani puri. All the components were nice and tasty, especially the potato and spicy chutney. It was a bit lacking in texture though, we thought that some potato chunks would have been better than a smooth puree.

Two tacos topped with mock meat, guacamole, and garnishes

We also got the rendang and harmony tacos. I’m not sure why there were two layers of taco! The rendang was really well seasoned and I loved the texture of the meat.

Two tacos topped with black beans, beer battered tofu, vegan labenh, and garnishes

And perhaps my favourite was the happy tacos. The beer battered tofu was excellent, the batter was so well seasoned. The other components were tasty too, it was a well balanced bite.

There is indoor and outdoor seating. Service was welcoming and fast. It was a popular spot, so you might want to book a table. I assume every vegan in Geneva is in here!

The meal perfectly fuelled us for another amazing/traumatic football match that night as we watched England take it down to the wire, about one minute from losing the semi-final, before a last minute goal and a cool Chloe Kelly penalty (is there any other kind?!) sent us sailing through to the final. Top food memories, top football memories!

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Vegan in Geneva: Takeaway Food at the Train Station

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Jenny
The view of the lake at Montreux

With all our travelling in Switzerland, we spent quite a bit of time at Geneva train station picking up snacks for our journeys. Happily, there are some decent options.

There is a Dunkin counter in the station (I believe there was no seating, but I could be misremembering) which was very convenient for picking up a quick breakfast or snack for the train. Vegan options are clearly labelled. 

A box of six doughnuts

We tried the Lotus biscoff bomb, which was unsurprisingly very sweet. The filling seemed like Lotus spread straight from the jar, so it was a little firm, but it was tasty and definitely delivered on the Lotus flavour.

The chocolate sprinkles was also a bit too sweet, but I have a sweet tooth so I enjoyed the chocolatey flavour.

The original glazed was nice and simple, and the vanilla sprinkles was also quite sweet.

I think there was just one other vegan option on our visit, strawberry sprinkles. All of the doughnuts were fluffy and soft. Every day we visited, they had the same options.

We also picked up some sandwiches at Brezelkonig to take away for a packed lunch on a day trip. This is a bakery we saw pretty much everywhere we went in Switzerland, including probably every train station. The vegan options are labelled, though quite limited – there were no pretzels available when we were there, and just 1 or 2 sandwiches.

A long pretzel bun filled with salad leaves, mock meat, and a bright yellow curry sauce

We tried the planted curry sandwich, and really enjoyed it. The bread was pretzel-like, as we hoped: it had a nice crust and texture and was fluffy inside. The curry sauce was nice, it had quite a curry powder taste to it, but it was pleasant. The chicken pieces had a nice texture and were ok cold. They were not the most flavoursome I’ve ever had, but the curry sauce made up for that.

For a sandwich shop at a train station, I thought this was pretty good.

A castle on the lake at Montreux, with mountains in the background

One of the train journeys which we acquired snacks for was a day trip to Montreux, which I recommend as a pleasant little town on the lake. There were not many options on Happy Cow, so we relied on our train station picnic. It was really lovely to walk along the lake from the station to this castle. As always in Switzerland, the scenery was just so special!

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Vegan in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc: Sesame

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Jenny
Snowy mountain peaks shrouded in cloud below a bright blue sky

Even though Switzerland is famous for its mountains, the only mountain we visited on our trip was actually across the border in France. We took a bus to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and spent a day there enjoying some spectacular scenery.

There are a few options listed on Happy Cow and we settled on Sesame, which I believe was the only vegetarian place in the town. We understood that all but one dish (halloumi fries) on the menu was vegan, so we stopped by for a late lunch. It was a very small menu, and for us personally it was a bit unexciting, but it served us well enough.

A bowl with salad, two shards of pita, falafel, couscous and salad

I had the falafel bowl, which was ok. There were three falafel, which were quite dry but well seasoned. It was a slightly scant portion of hummus, and under seasoned for me. The tabbouleh was fine, quite fresh and flavoursome. There were only two small triangles of pita, that was disappointing. For the advertised roasted veg, I only got three bits of butternut squash that were slightly underdone, they still had a little too much bite. There was some good seasoning on the salad dressing and spicy sauce. For me there was far too much salad!

A bowl of hummus with shards of pita

Mother HH got the hummus and focaccia from the smaller plates section. She received pita, but we saw them baking focaccia later, which made me wonder if the restaurant is more geared towards evening service, when everyone staying in the town has returned from a day in the mountains. The hummus was served with oil and seeds, and it was very smooth. She enjoyed it.

A burger with cheese

And Doctor HH got the burger. It was a meaty, juicy patty. There was a good chunk of cheese but it tasted just like Violife, which is not too exciting to long term vegans like us. There was very little sun-dried tomato, and he would have enjoyed more. The sauces were well seasoned, and it was all in a good robust bun. If you want fries, you need to order them separately (we did not get any, but we were asked if we wanted them).

A slice of pale cheesecake topped with raspberries

We really wanted chocolate marquise for dessert, but they were sold out of all but one dessert: cheesecake. I’ve been underwhelmed by too many vegan cheesecakes so I resisted, but Mother HH tried it. The base was nutty and that was the main flavour she detected. The cheesy part was a bit bland or overwhelmed by the base, and it was semi frozen (again, making me think they’re focused on evening service). She liked it though.

Service was great, really welcoming and unrushed. There was lots of outdoor seating, but we sat indoors in our usual attempt to avoid smokers.

Cable cars going down towards the ice cave
The view from the train up the mountain to the glacier

As for the scenery, it was really incredible. We took a train ride up to a glacier and then took a cable car down to an ice cave, which was extremely cold.

A view down through the clouds at the town below
The viewing platform at the very top of the peak
A snowy peak shrouded in cloud

After the bad weather of the morning cleared, we also took two gondolas up to the mountain top. This was absolutely the most terrifying moment of my life. I’d never been up a proper mountain before, though I have read a lot of terrifying accounts of people climbing Everest and have a (very healthy, in my opinion) lot of fear about the perils of high places. The only thing more terrifying than the gondola ride was actually emerging at the top and looking down on the world below. Fortunately, the freezing temperatures gave me something to think about besides my absolute terror!

Anyway, there’s nothing like a thrill to make you feel alive! I’d still recommend it, even to cowards like me, because it was such a new experience to be up a real mountain surrounded by snow on a hot summer day. And there’s enough vegan food to make it a viable option too.

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Vegan in Geneva: American Dream Diner

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Jenny
A bowl of chips and a big flat burger in a seeded bun

As I mentioned in the previous post, Geneva is not exactly a vegan haven and it’s mostly places with vegan options that you find on Happy Cow. Burgers are always a safe bet, so we had dinner one evening at American Dream Diner, which sounded very vegan friendly.

Veganisable dishes are indicated in green on the menu. It states that all burgers and hotdogs can be made vegan, but they had no vegan sausages when we visited, and it’s not clear how many of the components can be veganised – just the patty and cheese? The bacon? We were not really any the wiser when we left, as we played it fairly safe with our orders.

The original burger

I played it safest of all with my original burger. The patty was very meaty, which is fine by me, but at the same time it was so soft and mushy that it had no bite to it at all. It was a bit of a shame. The sauces were tasty, and there was no mustard which is always a bonus for me! The raw onions weren’t a great addition for me, as an absolute hater of raw onion, and it’s not something I’ve ever really had on a burger before. At least it was some texture, I suppose!

A cheese burger

Mother HH got the cheeseburger, and shared my opinion on the consistency of the patty. The sauce provided the predominant flavour, and overwhelmed the cheese a little. Overall she thought it was nice, but there was too much lettuce, and the whole thing was too big. These burgers were indeed massive. At least they were wide rather than tall, which seems to be uncommon in my recent burger experience. Burgers are getting taller and taller, and therefore more difficult to eat without unhinging your jaw. At least a wide burger is easier to get through.

A barbeque burger

Dr HH was disappointed not to get a hotdog, and went for the BBQ burger instead. He likes that there was plenty of barbeque sauce, along with some cooked onions which were very pleasant. Like me, he enjoyed the flavour of the patty much more than the texture. He thought it was all a bit too salady and slippery to eat, unfortunately.

A bowl of chips

And of course, we all ordered American fries with our burgers. We were surprised when they were served, because they look much more like British chips to me, much thicker than I’d expect from a fry. Nevertheless, they were crispy and salty, and I prefer a thick chip anyway, so no complaints here!

Even if this spot didn’t get rave reviews from us, it was still a perfectly passable restaurant and a nice place to pass some time. In a city with few fully vegan spots, it’s worth a visit if you’re staying a while.

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Vegan in Geneva: Awash

Posted on September 15, 2025 by Jenny
Three large injera overlapping like a Venn diagram, topped with dollops of numerous different lentil and vegetable dishes, with a big pile of sauce in the middle

After starting our trip to Switzerland with three nights in three different cities, we were happy to settle in Geneva for a slightly longer stay, waiting for the next big game. I was a little worried as Geneva looked like the weakest of all our destinations on Happy Cow. Happily, we managed to find places with vegan options that served us well, starting with this Ethiopian restaurant, Awash.

It seemed like it was a popular spot for locals, but it was also tourist-friendly. We ordered the vegetarian plate for three (it’s available for one-four people, you specify when ordering) – it’s inherently vegan.

I always love the big reveal of a huge Ethiopian sharing plate when the staff whip off the lid at the table. This one was so colourful and inviting. The base of the plate was covered with three large injeras, and we had four smaller ones on the side as well. Then there were equal helpings of each little dish for all three people around the edge of the plate. I have no idea what each dish is called, but they were tasty!

Let’s get the boring old salad out of the way first- a simple lettuce and tomato concoction that was refreshing.

Next to that was some cabbage and carrot in a nice sauce with herbs and peppers. The vegetables were really tasty here.

The beetroot dish reminded me that I should eat more beetroot, but also that I find it a bit sweet. It was pleasant enough.

Three large injera overlapping like a Venn diagram, topped with dollops of numerous different lentil and vegetable dishes, with a big pile of sauce in the middle

Next were some flavoursome green lentils, followed by a heap of spinach, sauteed with onion, garlic, green peppers. Spinach can be a bit uninspired, but this was nicely seasoned.

The brown lentils were one of our favourites, they had quite a spicy kick to them.

The yellow lentils were beautifully flavoured with spices, onions, garlic, and ginger.

In the middle was a very tasty puddle of brown sauce, which tastes of paprika and other spices and had a lovely heat to it.

Everything was flavoursome and it was a very attractive plate. We were full, but pleasantly so, and all very happy to have tried so many little dishes. This was one of our highlights of Geneva!

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Vegan in Basel: Cinnamood

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Jenny
Cinnamon roll topped with a big dollop of pistachio cream and chopped pistachios

There are few things I love more than a special breakfast while I’m on holiday. So I was very excited to find somewhere specialising in cinnamon rolls listed on Happy Cow in Basel. We got there not long after opening one morning, which meant they didn’t have the full range of cinnamon snails out yet, but at least 50% of the options out were vegan, and there were plenty of tempting options.

Cinnamon roll topped with a big dollop of chocolate cream and crumbled Oreos

I had the Oreo roll, which was a nice bready roll, soft and pillowy. It was topped with a big dollop of Nutella type spread, rich and sweet, and Oreo crumbs. To be honest, I’d consider it more of a chocolate hazelnut roll than an Oreo one. It was tasty and decadent – I definitely didn’t need anything else after this!

Cinnamon roll topped with a big dollop of pistachio cream and chopped pistachios

Dr HH got the pistachio roll and thought it was good too. He enjoyed the soft texture of the roll, but would have preferred some crispier edges. There was a nice flavour throughout and it was topped with a generous dollop of thick, sweet pistachio cream.

On the drinks front, Dr HH’s iced latte was pleasant but my chai latte was far too sweet, really lacking the nice heat of any spices. A chai latte is my drink if choice, but it’s always a gamble to see where it will fall on the sweet to spicy scale.

Nevertheless, I’d be happy to go back again. It’s a nice straightforward spot as well, where you order at the counter and pay upfront. You can choose between indoor and outdoor seating – we enjoyed seeing some bold sparrows hopping around, hoping for crumbs.

It turns out that Cinnamood is a chain and while we were in Switzerland, a branch actually opened in Prague! I’m looking forward to more holiday style breakfasts soon!

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Vegan in Basel: La Sofra

Posted on September 1, 2025 by Jenny
Wrapped vegan doner durum

The next stop on our whirlwind tour of Switzerland was Basel, for the quarter final between Germany and France (an absolute thriller!). We were looking for a quick bite to eat in Basel city centre on arrival at lunchtime and found this place with labelled vegan options advertised proudly.

Inside the vegan doner durum

All three of us ordered the vegan doner durum. It had nice thin bread, plenty of salad and vegan dressings (though no hummus – you have to pay extra for that, which I would do next time), and a hearty serving of vegan kebab. The meat was well seasoned, really tasty. It would obviously have been better with hummus though, and I regret not having my wits about me enough to order some. We also ordered chips, which were salty and crisp, but we forgot to snap a picture.

It’s a casual fast food spot, and there’s some indoor seating, but it was very hot in there (at the height of summer), so we sat outside, where there were a few tables and quite a few smokers, more’s the pity. Service was fast and friendly, and it was easy to confirm that we wanted all of the salad and toppings that were vegan. So if you’re looking for a quick bite in the city centre, this is a solid option.

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