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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
Turbo Lama felt like a bar that does a bit of food for sharing, rather than a restaurant with a focus on food. It seemed like it was targeted at the many office workers based nearby, catching the after-work-drinks crowd. For us, its main advantage was its short distance from the football stadium where we were heading to see the quarter-final between hosts Switzerland and favourites Spain. We didn’t actually see any sights in Bern, we were essentially in and out for the football. This is definitely the best vegan option we could find in walking distance of the stadium!
All three of us ordered pinsas, which are one of the few items on the menu. The bases were really delicious, though the middle slices lack structural integrity (a common problem with pinsas, in my experience). They were large and well topped – we weren’t super hungry, so we would actually have been ok ordering two to share instead of one each, though we were offered the leftovers to take away.
I ordered the ‘Guess who’s back’ pinsa, which was topped with tomato, cheese, basil pesto, and onion. It was a bit light on pesto for me, but the cheese was tasty and nicely melted and the tomato was really flavoursome.
Mother HH ordered the unwisely-named ‘Oriental Nightz’. The toppings were baba ganoush, tomato sauce, curried cauliflower, chickpeas, onion, and cheese, which sounded quite promising but was a bit underwhelming with too many competing flavours. The cauliflower was pickled and didn’t taste of curry spices, and there was not much detectable baba ganoush. The tomato was the overpowering flavour. But it was tasty and she said she would have it again.
And finally, Dr HH tried the ‘G(arden) walk’, topped with roasted tofu, red onion, feta, tomato, herbs, and spinach. The feta was really tasty and provided a nice burst of flavour. There were loads of peas, which he loved, and the spinach was pleasant too. As you can see in the photos, all three were topped with this bright pink drizzle which appeared to be the house sauce. We couldn’t detect what flavour it was, it was quite mild, but at least it brought a pop of colour.
This was overall a pleasant but not mind-blowing place to eat. Service was good and the food was tasty, so it served us well. There was plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, and despite its proximity to the stadium it was very civilised and quiet, even with a few fans there (but then, that’s the generally well-behaved fans of women’s football for you!). If you’re looking for a spot near the stadium or are focused on a bar as top priority and vegan food second, then you’re onto a winner.
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!
DAR was our top priority restaurant in Zürich, based on its tantalising dessert menu. The all-vegan restaurant leans towards Spanish, Portuguese, and Moroccan cuisine, which is different from anything we get in Prague, so we were keen to give it a try and booked a table for our first night in the city. We actually weren’t that hungry, so we ordered smaller savoury dishes (the waitress suggested we might want more) and left enough room for dessert – after that, we were definitely full and satisfied.
I ordered from the small bites menu, the KFM – Kentucky fried mushrooms. I was not expecting the portion to be anywhere near this size, there were loads of them! The mushrooms themselves were quite thin, with quite a high ratio of batter – this was fine for me, but Dr HH would have preferred a thinner coating to let the mushrooms shine. The sauce was a good combination of sweetness and spiciness, and they were very tasty and juicy without being too greasy.
Mother HH got the tomato salad, which was very fresh and light, and packed with flavour. There were some crisp shards that you had to eat quickly to avoid them getting soggy as they sat in the juices, but she managed it! It was very enjoyable.
Poor Dr HH got slightly hoodwinked into ordering what was billed as the “legendary” charred cabbage. It was fine, but not mind blowing. The flavours were good, with the creamy dressing and spiciness from the harissa. The smokiness and bitterness from the charring was good too. I’m not going to complain about Swiss prices being high in every post, but it felt like we paid a lot of money for a bit of cabbage. This is not listed as a small bite, which seems wild to me.
On to the desserts, which is what we were most excited about. Mother HH tried the Moroccan sundae, and it was really delicious. It was rose water ice cream with lemon cookie dough and a few toppings. The rose water flavour was perfect – it’s easy to make it too strong, but this was perfectly balanced. The ice cream on top was not too sweet and had a good texture. The cherries, nuts, and cookie dough were all good complements and it all worked very well together. What a dream of a dessert!
I got the bazbousa pastry, pistachio cremeux and strawberries, basically because almost every dessert on MasterChef in the last few years includes cremeux and I was delighted to finally have the opportunity to try it. The base was a sponge rather than pastry as expected (possibly a translation issue in the menu), and unfortunately it was a bit too dry. The texture of the cremeux was great, but it could have been sweeter for me (I find pistachio flavoured desserts are generally not quite sweet enough for me). The strawberries and sorbet were really flavoursome and refreshing. My hopes were so high that it would have been very difficult to realise them – it was a good dessert, but not the total hit I was hoping for.
And Dr HH tried the Moroccan mint tea flan, chocolate mousse, ginger syrup and berries. There was good flavour in the flan, which was like a delicious custard – he was expecting it to be a bit more set though, it was slightly runny (we can admit that we don’t know much about flans though). The chocolate mousse was rich and had a lovely smooth texture. The crunchy bits on top were great for texture too. He didn’t really pick much mint flavour, though there was a bit of warmth from the ginger syrup. Generally, we were all satisfied with our desserts and glad we left room for them – but we all felt that the Moroccan sundae was the real standout.
We were not very impressed to learn that tap water was not available, and a bottle of water cost 5 CHF per person (more than £4.50). This was especially frustrating given that there are many fountains around the city where you’re encouraged to fill your water bottles up – clearly tap water here is drinkable! On the plus side, we had some tasty chai sodas to drink which were very nicely spiced. I’ve never seen those flavours in a fizzy drink before, and I was impressed!
A common issue we had in Switzerland is that we always wanted to sit indoors to avoid smokers in the outdoor seating area, but several places were reluctant to allow that, with DAR simply saying no. Instead, they offered to seat us away from the smoking area (because smoke famously does not travel). Somebody did then start smoking right behind us though, and it took quite a while for them to be told it was forbidden. It’s always deeply frustrating to me to have the stink of smoke wafting in when I’m trying to enjoy a meal. Additionally, service was very slow in general, possibly because most diners were choosing one of the tasting menus (which we would have liked to try too, if only we were hungrier!). We were given a two hour seating and reminded of the time limit on arrival. While we definitely didn’t need that long, the the staff did, with quite lengthy waits between dishes.
Overall, this was a bit of a mixed bag. We had a few small complaints that were typical of our experience in Switzerland. We enjoyed the meal but also weren’t really wowed. We all agreed that we’d be willing to revisit again, particularly when we were hungry enough to try one of the tasting menus – but when we were back in Zürich a few days later, we did not make the effort to revisit. Ultimately I would still recommend it, especially if this is a cuisine that is new to you. It left us with happy, full stomachs that sustained us through a long night of extra time and penalties as England fought back against Sweden at the Euros – and for that, we will always be thankful!
Our summer holiday this year was a trip to Switzerland, zipping around the country to watch the knockout games of the UEFA European Women’s Championship. We were there for seven nights, and saw five football matches in four different cities. This meant that we were on the move a lot, so we didn’t get to spend a lot of time in the cities we visited, but we had a great time on our whirlwind tour, experiencing the highs and lows of tournament football and eating some good food!
Overall, we didn’t feel like Switzerland was a vegan haven. There were plenty of vegan options around, but few fully vegan places. I feel like some of the options were quite uninspired too, but on reflection this may be simply because (a) I’m very spoiled when it comes to good vegan food, and (b) the prices are so high that very few dishes could really live up to it. Whatever you have heard about prices in Switzerland, it’s all true! Despite this gentle complaining, we enjoyed our trip very much and definitely found plenty to enjoy in the vegan scene – starting with this spot.
We flew in and out of Zürich, and visited Swing Kitchen both times on arrival as we were looking for somewhere close to the main station. I’ve visited this chain before in Berlin and Vienna, and the Zürich branch is very consistent with those other locations. This is a well organised set up with solid vegan fast food. There were menus on each table, and you could choose to order either at the counter or at the machines in the doorway.
On our first visit, Mother HH ordered the classic cheese burger, which she deemed messy to eat, but nice.
Dr HH had the truffle melt burger, which had a good strong truffle flavour and nice mayo. For both of these burgers, the patty was not convincing meat like Beyond, but very tasty nevertheless.
I liked the avocado chick’n planty so much that I had it on both visits. The chicken patty was really tasty (planty is derived from the name of the brand, Planted, it popped up everywhere in Switzerland), the guacamole was nice but not particularly special, and the chipotle sauce added a nice bit of seasoning. It was a nice simple dish, executed well, and there are few things I love more than a good chicken burger.
My enthusiasm lured my loved ones over to the chicken page in the menu on our subsequent visit. This time, Dr HH tried the hot honny chick’n planty. The sauce was a bit sweet and a bit spicy, overall very pleasant.
And Mother HH tried the classic chick’n planty, which had just the right amount of mayo and salad, and it held together for easy eating.
We all got fries with our burgers, and they were salty, crispy, and hot. We also got the soft drinks that come with free refills at the machine, which is always a treat – Dr HH and I like to combine the cola and raspberry ade to get an extra special drink.
There is indoor and outdoor seating, and it’s in quite a pleasant location for sitting out and looking at the river – we don’t like to sit amongst smokers though, so we stayed indoors for fresher air.
Personally I’m always happy to spot a Swing Kitchen when I go on holiday, as I know I can count on getting some good quality burgers in a fully vegan establishment. Here’s hoping they spread to more locations!
Herbivores' Heaven 