Vegans and non-vegans go out to eat in Geneva

A vegan and a non-vegan go out to eat in Geneva. That’s the starting point. Read for yourself what we have experienced!

Geneva is the headquarters of several large international organizations. Best known are the United Nations (UN) and the Red Cross. This gives the city an international flair and makes it look like a big city. In fact, Geneva has only about 200,000 inhabitants.

The French influence is unmistakable and audible. After all Geneva is surrounded by France on three sides which is also reflected in the culinary offer of the city.

Before it comes to food, I would like to introduce you to two sights that I liked particularly well. Besides these, there is of course much more to discover in Geneva.

Cathedral Saint-Pierre

This church is one of the tallest buildings in Geneva. The church itself is rather simple, which is typical for a Protestant church. Interesting are the beautiful windows and the carved benches, the Calvin chair and the pulpit. In an annex you will find a magnificent chapel which is richly decorated.

The highlight is the ascent to the two towers, which is granted to you for a small fee. From the top you have a wonderful view over Geneva, the surrounding mountains and Lake Geneva.

Musée d’art et d’histoire (Museum for Art and History)

Entry to this museum is free. Yes, that’s right and all the more amazing is the huge offer. The exhibition space covers several floors and offers everything from archeology (regional finds, ancient Egyptian and classical antiquity), an armaments and weapons exhibition, furniture and musical instruments to applied and visual arts. Personally, I particularly liked the gallery on the second floor. Here you will find works by Giacometti, Corot, Vallotton and the Geneva artist Holder and thus a cross section of the art of the 15th – 20th century.

If you want to know more about it, here you will find the visitor guide in several languages.

But now to the real topic – vegans and non-vegans go out to eat in Geneva

Sounds easy, but it is not. I can tell you that much. Now you maybe think: “Well, if you know French cuisine and the influence in Geneva is very big …”

I’m sure you’re right. Meat in any form, seafood and of course cheese, as well as other dairy products, are featured in almost all dishes on the menus. Vegetarians have it a bit easier. The best cards vegans are having in the young and modern district west of Plainpalais. Here you can also find the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Let’s see what we have got here.

Beforehand, two important notes. Many restaurants in Geneva do not have their kitchen open throughout the day. You can often only lunch until 2:30 or 3 pm. The time for dinner generally starts at 5 pm and after 10 pm the kitchen is usually closed. As you have probably heard before, Switzerland is an expensive place. You will quickly realize this with every restaurant visit. Therefore expect prices to be about twice of what you usually pay in Berlin.

OuBienEncore

We’ll start with breakfast and will end up immediately in one of the few places in Geneva that are purely vegan and/or vegetarian. In OuBienEncore on top of that a lot of the food is gluten free.

There are hearty and sweet tartines (sandwiches) and focaccia, homemade granola with fruits and soy or coconut yoghurt, acai bowl, smoothie bowls and chia pudding. In addition, the OuBienEncore offers a wide range of cakes and all sorts of other baked goods. At the counter and in the showcases you can see the daily offer!

The beverage selection is also very diverse. I highly recommend the freshly squeezed organic juices. For example, we had the antioxidant, the tonique and the alcaline booster. Of course, there is also classical coffee or tea.

The OuBienEncore is stylish and cozy. We also saw a few people with laptops. All in all, a rather young, urban crowd. The good quality of food and drinks is also reflected in the price. A Foccacia costs 9 francs (8 €), the freshly squeezed organic juices are available in 0.2l for 7 francs (6,30 €) and 0.3l for 9,50 francs (8,50 €). Alltogether we very much enjoyed our stay and I can definitely recommend the OuBienEncore.

If you want a translation of the mission to be read on one of the following pictures, then click [fusion_modal_text_link name=”oubienencoremission” class=”” id=””]here[/fusion_modal_text_link].

Info – OuBienEncore

Address: Rue des Bains 61, 1205 Genève, Switzerland

Opening hours: Mon – Wed, 8am – 7pm // Thu + Fri, 8am – 10pm // Sat + Sun, 10am – 6pm

Phone: +41 22 556 76 77

E-mail: info@oubienencore.ch

Website

[fusion_modal name=”oubienencoremission” title=”OuBienEncore Mission” size=”large” background=”#e0e0e0″ border_color=”” show_footer=”yes” class=”” id=””]

Our mission is to strengthen the collective awareness for food and to promote a healthy lifestyle to improve our health and that of the planet.

Our approach is in favor of seasonal products and partnerships with local producers in organic farming.

Our drinks are carefully selected in respect of taste and nutritional value.

They are mostly homemade and created with care and conscience…

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Street Beirut

In the same district as the OuBienEncore you also find Street Beirut. As the name suggests, you get Lebanese cuisine here. The menu is conveniently sized and fits on the paper table set, which you get almost in all restaurants in Geneva. Probably also the influence of France. The menu is divided into the categories sandwiches, salads, platters and desserts. In addition, there is a mezze card, which is available on request and where you can choose something out of 16 mezze (oriental appetizers, similar to tapas). For two ore more people they also serve the so-called Yalla Nazzel menu.

A labeling of the dishes is available for gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan. Beside the standard menu in French, an English one is also available. The selection of vegan dishes is very limited. If you like falafel, you will definitely be satisfied. I had the falafel plate, my friend chose the Lebanese plate. All plates are served with Tabouleh, Hummus and Moutabal (similar to Baba Ganoush) by default.

Also a modern and stylish restaurant. Very popular with young people. At the weekend, a reservation is highly recommended. The prices are moderate for Geneva standards. For the Falafel plate we paid 17 francs (15.20 €) and the Lebanese plate came for 20 francs (17.90 €).

Info – Street Beirut

Address: Avenue du Mail 2, 1205 Genève, Switzerland

Opening hours: Mon – Sat, 11:45 am – 11 pm // Sun, 11:30 am – 6 pm

E-mail: info@streetbeirut.ch

Phone: +41 (0)22 320 76 74

Website

Globus Grand Magasin Food Court

Globus is a large department store in Geneva’s old town and has a food court on the ground floor with at least 6 different restaurants. Nevertheless on very little vegan food can be found here. As usual, it was easiest at the Asian restaurant to get something vegan. In the pictures it is the dish with the darker sauce which was a vegetable-tofu pan, the other dish was udon with vegetables and chicken.

The food was ok. It was like the usual stuff you find in a food court. Most dishes are precooked and kept in large warming bowls. No culinary highlight, but quite okay.

Inside, one sits at high tables, which are located along the windows and in long rows in the middle of the room. Price wise, we are probably in midfield or rather cheaper range. The tofu dish cost 19 francs (17 €), the pasta dish 25.50 francs (22.90 €). By the way, rice is included in all meals.

Info – Globus Grand Magasin Food Court

Address: Rue du Rhône 48, 1204 Genf, Schwitzerland

Opening hours: Mon – Sat, 7:30 am – 10 pm

Phone: +41 58 578 50 50

E-Mail: info.geneve@globus.ch

La Muse Gueule

I have seen this restaurant when passing by and read the menu. There were two dishes that sounded promising. So we decided to have dinner there.

As you can see in the photos, the restaurant is located in a beautiful old building. The interior, however, is quite modern with lots of wood and metal. In one corner is a lounge with Chesterfield furniture.

When we got there, it turned out that there is only one main course, which is actually vegan. This was the vegetarian poke bowl with quinoa, cucumber, avocado, edamame, cherry tomatoes, radish, nori, parsley, chives and spring onions. The vegetarian burger probably had egg in the patty. By the way, the waiter was very helpful and took great care of us.

As you can see from this example, we had to ask very often. When vegans and non-vegans go out to eat in Geneva it is actually quite challenging. We went into several restaurants and first asked someone from the service, if there are vegan dishes available. In many cases the answer was negative. This also shows that even in a big city like Geneva, finding a place that offers vegan food can be tricky. But never give up and always ask!

Info – La Muse Gueule

Address: Rue de la Muse 2, 1205 Genève, Schwitzerland

Opening hours: Mon, 8 am – 10 pm // Tue, 8 am – 11 pm // Wed, 8 am – 12 am // Thu + Fri, 8 am – 2 am // Sat, 10 am – 2 am

Phone: +41 22 436 83 45

E-mail: info@lamusegueule.ch

Website

Mango Deck

I can not remember exactly how we found Mango Deck. We were first in the store at Place du Bourg-de-Four. There were no vegan dishes available anymore on that day. After a quick call from a staff member at the store in Cours de Rive, we knew there was something available there. Hence we walked to the other Mango Deck restaurant, which fortunately is within walking distance.

The decor of the restaurant I did not like personally. As you can see in the photos, the food is special too. All dishes are served in wooden bowls lined with baking paper and stored in a long refrigerated display case. If necessary the dishes are heated-up before serving.

There are mainly relatively healthy foods, whether vegan or not, with lots of vegetables and fruits. The taste did not convince me. Because it fits the theme of “Vegans and non-vegans go out to eat in Geneva”, I mentioned Mango Deck anyway. And maybe you feel like trying it out. The main courses here all cost about 15 francs (13.50 €).

Info – Mango Deck restaurants

Bourg-de-four

Address: Place du Bourg-de-Four 19, 1204 Genève, Switzerland

Opening hours: Mon + Tue, 10 am – 4:30 pm // Wed – Fri, 10 am – 8:30 pm // Sat, 11 am – 3:30 pm

Phone: +41 22 310 25 32

Rive

Address: Cours de Rive 20, 1207 Genève, Switzerland

Opening hours: Mon – Sat, 8 am – 5 pm

Phone: +41 22 840 20 06

Website

Confiserie Sprüngli

A visit to Switzerland would not be complete without chocolate. That’s why I don’t want to deprive you of our experience with the sweet side of Geneva. We made a detour to a branch of one of the most famous Swiss chocolate manufactories. The Confiserie Sprüngli, which emerged from the same company as the internationally renowned brand Lindt & Sprüngli, is certainly one of the biggest in Switzerland. At Paradeplatz in Zurich you still find the main building and headquarters of Sprüngli. This is exactly where the well-known Zurich shopping mile – Bahnhofstraße – passes.

The selection of chocolates was enormous. However, it turned out that only two varieties were vegan. On the following pictures you can see the Noisette cubes (Gianduia Rustica) and the so-called Haselnüssli, a dark praline with roasted and caramelized hazelnuts. The latter has clearly been our favorite. So not easy, but in the end we found something and enjoyed some fantastic chocolate. As I happened to discover while writing this article, there are a few more vegan chocolates in the assortment, according to Confiserie Sprüngli. Maybe the shop assistant didn’t know all of them or simply only had those two varieties to choose from on that day. Anyways, the chocolates she recommended where at least both the right ones.

Info – Confiserie Sprüngli Geneva

The store is housed as a shop in the shop at Bongénie Grieder.

Address: Rue du Marché 34, 1204 Genève, Switzerland

Opening hours: Mon – Wed + Fri, 9:30 am – 7 pm // Thu, 9:30 am – 8:30 pm // Sat, 9:30 am – 6 pm

Phone: +41 22 818 10 83

Website

More about vegans and non-vegans go out to eat in Geneva

In most coffeehouses it is not so easy to get something vegan. In bakeries it usually looks a bit better. At least most of the breads and rolls are vegan. When it comes to toppings, things look very different again.

In the bakery Wolfisberg in Carouge there was at least one vegan sandwich with tomato pesto, grilled vegetables and rocket. There are further branches in Geneva districts Florissant and Favon.

Info – Wolfisberg Boulangerie-Pâtisserie

Store Carouge

Address: Place du Temple 5, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland

Opening hours: Mon – Sun, 6:30 am – 7 pm

Phone: +41 22 342 32 19

Website

What experiences have you had in Geneva? Leave us a comment! And if you know places where vegans and non-vegans can eat together in Geneva, share it with us!

Would you like to travel to Geneva? Do as I did, travel comfortably and environmentally friendly by train! And in fact that can be very cheap, because with Deutsche Bahn you can travel from as little as € 18.90 – with Saver fare Europe to Switzerland*.

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