Initial - Caen

剛剛才從餐廳離開回到飯店30分鐘，但是腦海已經一直回想今晚的美食饗宴！服務人員非常專業友善及幫忙！美好的用餐環境以及非常安靜！我們點的是八道菜75歐元！（實際上有11道）每分錢都花的值得！食物非常完美的呈現擺盤、食材高檔新鮮美味！甚至覺得像是一幅又一幅的畫作！非常高興能找到這麼好的地方絕對會再來！實在太棒了！謝謝你們！Just back from the restaurant within 30 min but already start to think about it again and again!! Great staff ! Friendly and helpful!!! Nice and quiet ambient ! We ordered 8 courses for 75 € ! Really worth every penny !! The food is so beautifully presented and with high quality and fresh materials! Sometimes even like a painting for me ! I am very happy to find it and surly will visit again soon !! Bravo!! Merci!!

I chose Initial because it was a Michelin One Star Restaurant and I was eagerly anticipating my meal there. However, I’m sorry to say I was disappointed in the food. The ambiance is fine – a bit cold and modern, but the tables are well spaced so that you are not on top of your neighbors. Service was great. The personnel there were always very responsive and not in a hovering manner. However, in my opinion, the food was just okay. I had the 6 course menu with 5 wines. The wines were very good – and appropriate – for the food selections, though I found it a bit annoying that I was asked to guess what wine I was being served. The food was beautifully presented, but unfortunately, it was simply bland. The chef likes his foams – or, I suppose, "emulsions" – and they appear on virtually every dish. However, none of the food that was covered by the “emulsions” had any spice, so much so that I asked for a pepper mill in an attempt to give the food a little flavor. The price wasn’t at all expensive for a Michelin One Star Restaurant --- if only the food had been better.

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.

We had the lunch menu at 21 euros, which was mind blowingly good. Small gazpacho for intro followed by the entree, then a free small cuplet of mussels which were cooked to perfection, then main course of filet of sea bass (fantastic) and finally a dessert to crown the whole gastronomy experience. Wow! On ly the french can cook this good.

This was the second Michelin 1* restaurant we ate at on consecutive nights in Caen. The menus are imaginative and exciting, very different from more traditional high end establishments. The name of the restaurant gives a clue that the Chef is going to surprise you with flavors and combinations that are hard to guess, and the waiters quiz you after to see if you passed (one sauce with tomatoe was easy, the other with courgette impossible for us to identify). Overall the food is excptional and very good value. The only minor downsides are that the wine list is a little bit sparse, but still good; and the bread service acceptable, but not exceptional. The ambience and service is a bit more relaxed, that fits well with the style of the food. We would happily eat here again, and recommend highly. The number of tables is small, so advance booking probably essential.