Have you ever arrived somewhere on holiday and then had the sudden realisation you've made a terrible mistake? That this place wasn't what you thought and it definitely wasn't what you wanted? That happened to me in Caen.
I turned up on a rainy day, to a less than lovely part of town, and thought I really should have done more research before I arrived and gone somewhere else instead.
Turns out this story has a happy ending. First impressions were completely wrong. It's a great town. The people are cool. There's lots to do. The old town has great bars. And best of all, there's shedloads of great vegan food to be had.
Greedy Guts
Greedy Guts is an oddly named but otherwise great vegan restaurant, tucked away down a fairy-light-clad side alley in the centre of Caen. The owner treats you like a long lost cousin. The music is mainly disco bangers. The food is hearty, French-inflected vegan fare.
I chose the vegan cake, because I've never tried savoury cake and it only seems to exist in France, so I thought I should take the opportunity when it presented itself.
Savoury cake is normally like a sponge cake. Greedy Guts' version was more like a thick farinata, crammed full of olives, vegan mozzarella, and other treats. There's some guacamole on the side, a bit of salad, and some of the best chips I've had for a long time.
My recommendation: come hungry. The portion sizes are not for the faint of stomach.
Having polished off my substantial cake, I picked a financier for dessert, on the grounds that financiers are normally small, dainty things and I could happily accommodate one after a humungous main course. The financier that came out was a massive doorstop of a cake. So, come hungry.
There's a really appealing warmth and heartiness to Greedy Guts food and its welcome, and I would happily go back.
Greedy Guts
greedyguts.fr
Au fond de l’impasse, 15 Rue de Bras, 14000 Caen, France
+33 2 31 93 38 52
Moon and Sons
Have you ever wanted to go to a wizard-themed junk food pub? If so, Caen is clearly the place for you.
I'm not even joking: Moon and Sons is a pub decked out in wizard themed decor (think racks of potions, bubbling cauldrons and the like), and its menu is entirely junk food - think burgers, hot dogs and all that good stuff.
Mr Flickingthevs got a burger. I had a yearning for hachis parmentier, which is pretty much like French cottage pie. It wasn't on that day, so I settled for a no-fish-and-chips combo, with the role of 'fish' being played by battered sheets of nori.
Arbuste
If you're one of those people that likes coffee - really, really likes coffee - then you need to go to Arbuste. If you're one of those people that just likes coffee or likes it a little bit, you still need to go to Arbuste.
Arbuste is one of those cafes that really takes its coffee seriously. The staff can tell you the bean's provenance and its tasting notes and all the other good stuff that coffee connoisseurs like. If you just fancy a cup of coffee without all the learning, they'll do you one of those and it'll be delicious.
And did I mention that Arbuste is all vegan? So you can get plant milks and great vegan baked goods. We went there a couple of times just after they opened and were able to get warm cakes just out of the oven and they were delightful.
Falafel & Veg
If you read my recent trip report from Rouen, you'll have read me waxing lyrical about how much I love Lebanese food and found a great Lebanese restaurant there.
Caen also has a great Lebanese restaurant, and has the added advantage of being all-veggie with a lot of vegan options.
The Falafel & Veg menu is stuffed with lots of treat individual dishes - falafel, moutabel, fatayer, vine leaves, and foules medames to name but a few. But it's also equipped with lots of combos - a chance to try lots of things from the menu in tiny format. The Falafel & Veg combo is all vegan - there's falafel, houmous, vine leaves, fried veggies, salad, and makdouss, as well as flatbread and tea on the side. We ordered fatayer, because we thought we might need more food. We were very, very wrong.
We finished it all, because it was that good.
Falafel & Veg
instagram.com/falafelandveg
19 Pass. d'Escoville, 14000 Caen, France
+33 9 73 36 80 61
Triple V
Triple V was the last stop on our food tour of Caen. It's a dinky, bright cafe in the town centre, serving a couple of choices for starter and main course, as well as cakes and desserts.
I got the quiche, which was actually pretty nice (I love a quiche with a tofu base):
Mr Flickingthevs got something that was described as a sweet potato burger, which I thought would be a sweet potato patty in a bun. Instead, the bun was two slices of sweet potato with... I don't really know what in the middle. I didn't think it was entirely a success, but Mr Flickingthevs seemed happy enough.
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