Caen
Initial

Initial

24 r. St-Manvieu, 14000 Caen, France

Café • Pâtes • Viande • Français


"I had this restaurant on my list of places to try during a 2 week stay in Caen and this was my first stop. I had not realized it was upgraded to 1 Michelin star as my red guide was from 2015. After eating here I am not surprised. It is fully deserving of this level.I walked by the restaurant thinking I would look at the menu and book later in my stay but after meeting one of the owners I was convinced to come in for lunch on a Saturday. I had the 4 course prix fixe menu and it was stunningly good food, beautifully presented and with very pleasant and helpful staff. I can heartily recommend this restaurant.In addition to the 4 courses there were two amuse bouche and two extra desserts so to call it a 4 course meal is underselling what you will get. My first course was pleasant to the eye and also on the palate. Seared scallops in a sauce of spinach and with a sheet of spinach pasta on top. This was followed by a dish with flaky cod and a white sauce. The main course was a cochin (pig) and the chef served a centre cut piece that was juicy and tender along with an outside portion that had a crispy skin and a delicious layer of marbled meat underneath. Several different flavours of foam and garlic accompanied this dish. Finally a chocolate/hazelnut course was presented that was notable thanks to the beauty of the presentation-small daubs of each with a lemon sorbet and sprinkled with chocolate/sugar on the top.In addition to great food, the plates were diverse and really showed off the food. Everything was cooked to perfection.I sat upstairs and I could watch the team at work. Hardly a word was spoken but everything worked like a well oiled machine. I was eating alone so the spectacle in the kitchen only added to the pleasure of the meal.The co-owner/sommelier was super pleasant and helpful and gave me experiences with wine that were completely new (an unfiltered Sancerre that was affected with Botrytis but completely dry). In addition we discussed other restaurants worth visiting in Caen and he was remarkably candid and suggested one I did not know (L'Accolade) that is equally deserving to be in the same category as Initial.Overall this was a great meal and a very good price to quality ratio at 40 Euro for the 4 courses. Definitely worth experiencing this creative chef and outstanding team. I plan to do so again asap."

Le Sans Gene

Le Sans Gene

4 Rue Du Chemin Vert, 14000 Caen, France

Cafés • Français • Barbecue • Végétarien


"My husband and I wanted to try a barbecue place here and this place was close to us so we decided to try after the reviews and pictures. We arrived and the workers spoke limited English. They told us that they were a "different" restaurant where "customers cook" and they just "supervise"? I'm going to write exactly what you're suppose to do below, to help those who were like us who were very new to the place and had no clue what was going on lol. What you should expect:- Workers speak little to no English. - The restaurant is like a buffet. You walk in, ask for a table and the worker will show you around and try to tell you what their restaurant is all about. You pay after you eat (price is set). - There's a salad bar, if you want sautéed salad, pick a plate, fill it with whatever toppings you'd like, choose the sauce/etc and give it to the owner who'll sauté it for you. - On your table, there's barbecue holders, take these barbecue holders to the grilling area, you'll see varieties of meats and sausages, fill the barbecue holders with the selected meats you want and place it on the grill or if the cook is there, he'll take it and grill it. (The cook should be there to grill your meats. He'll give it to you when it's cool but you should stand and wait for it). - There's a beverage selection m including wine too. There's a small decanter available too. Fill it with whatever beverage you want. (We thought these were like glasses since there were no glasses there. We took sips on them while we waited for our barbecue and the chefs laughed at us don't make that same mistake). - There's also varieties of desserts available. This place offers a new experience for sure but the meats are good but it's nothing fancy."

La Planche A

La Planche A

13 rue des Prairies Saint Gilles, 14000 Caen, France

Steak • Viande • Poisson • Français


"we chose the board a by walking in the port and on the basis of a quick check on tripadvisor. 4.5 out of 5 cannot be bad. It's really possible. We ordered the menu (if I remember correctly, about 29 euros/person). The first course came fast enough. I had a mixture of salmon, which was good, but there was a little seasoning (somewhat the tartar.) other people had carpaccio, which was cut too thick, had no seasoning or oil at all, in the taste of rolled rock. then: the main dish. a person ordered the steak, bleeding (meaning bleeding) when it arrived, we only have to look at it to see that it was essentially raw. no need to cut it, it was obvious only by looking at it. Once you cut the meat, it was indeed raw and cold. We made it and asked for the leather as it should be. Another person took the beef tartar. It is mainly raw meat, seasoned with mustard, pepper, salt, capers, ... can be delicious, but beef tartar must be red. ours had a strange greyish color. Obviously, it had been prepared long enough in advance. Not acceptable. Needless to say that we didn't really want to enjoy our other dishes (fish.) no idea why everyone around became a potato with the main dishes of the menu, and we didn't. included in the menu. they quickly corrected this, but it is a strange mistake to commit when 90% of your customers seem to order the menu. Obviously, 4.5/5 is far from what we got. Maybe we were on a day off, but we paid much more. . . ."