LA CREPERIE
Oh la la! There’s a delightful new French Creperie in Wanchai that is so authentically French, you’ll feel just like you’ve been transported to a cute little seaside town in Brittany.
Though La Creperie is located on one of Wanchai’s busiest thoroughfares, as soon as you enter, you feel the warm cozy atmosphere typical of a quaint family restaurant. There are wooden floors, high tables with stools, photos of boats, nautical lamps and salt and pepper shakers shaped like lighthouses. On the tables are charming yellow, blue and white cups which are used for traditional cider- a slightly alcoholic fizzy apple drink that goes perfectly with crepes.
The efficient employees are wearing nautical blue and white striped shirts. La Creperie is positively slammed at lunchtime and though the servers may seem a little harried, they still have time to smile and be polite. Generally speaking, they get the order exactly as you asked for it. (At times, it takes a little longer to get your crepe- it depends how busy it is.)
It’s not a surprise lunchtime is so busy with so many surrounding offices in the vicinity. In addition, the lunch set menu is a good deal for 88HKD. You get a savory crepe and a dessert crepe with coffee or tea. You can add on soup, cider or juice for a few dollars extra.
Inside the open kitchen, you can see the chefs working their magic using traditional crepe machines. They pour the batter and flatten it out with a wooden utensil until it’s super thin. It’s this thin crispiness that makes the texture of the crepe particularly delicious.
The savory crepes, called galettes, are made with buckwheat flour which has a distinct nutty flavor. I tried the Broceliande crepe filled with goat’s cheese flavored with honey and thyme. The crepe is topped with fresh crunchy lettuce with a mildly tangy vinagrette and sprinkled with walnuts. There’s a round piece of Crotine cheese on top of it all. The Crotine is pan-fried till crispy on the outside. The scrumptious combination of sweet, salty, nutty, crispy and creamy really had the tastebuds dancing!
The staff also recommends La Complet- a typical ham, egg and cheese crepe. Ironically, another galette called L’Americain is also recommended. It has burger meat (Steak Hache), emmental cheese and onion. It’s a substantial crepe which you can eat if you’re fairly hungry. La Finnestrine which has curried chicken, spinach and egg is sometimes on the lunch set menu. There’s also a selection of galettes with seafood fillings- like the ones with scallops, smoked salmon or mixed seafood. The majority of the savory crepes are filled with mixture of pork products and various types of cheese.
Though crepes are the main attraction, there are a few things on the menu which are not crepes like the goats cheese salad with smoked ham, the seafood pasta, fish soup, oysters, scallops baked in the shell and fish soup. Some items are not available every day.
There are so many mouth watering dessert crepe choices you’d be hard-pressed to choose one. Some have recommended the plain chocolate crepe, but there’s also the classic lemon and sugar, the nutella crepe and a variety of fruit fillings. One of the most popular dessert crepes by far is the stewed banana crepe topped with caramel ice-cream drizzled with salted butter caramel. You can also have this same crepe with apple. Simply divine!
With its combination of fresh and perfectly flavored ingredients, coupled with the expert know how of a chef from Brittany, we predict La Creperie will remain a very popular venue with both locals and expats. We highly recommend making reservations.
