I love crepes. Crepes to Paris is like roti to Bangkok or donuts to California; they're yummy, quick, and cheap; about 2.30 euro each. Crepe stands are every where in the city; some are good, others are better, and then there are the bad ones.
Just the other day, I grabbed a crepe on my way to my French lesson, and couple of weeks ago, I had one after class as my quick no fuss dinner option. There's one particular stand that I like; from Metro Montparnasse, on Boulevard Montparnasse, walking towards Metro Vavin, on the left hand side, there's a little crepe stand that make very good crepes. They use buckwheat for their savory crepe and fresh lemon juice for their sugar and lemon crepes; bad crepe stand use preserved lemon juice from a bottle. When I was still attending Le Cordon Bleu, the crepe stand right in front of Metro Vaugirard was the place to go.
Some vendors are cheap and lazy. They will pre-make the crepes a few hours before hand and reheat them as the day goes. Dude! You should stay away from those crepe stands. Those crepes taste like ****; they come out soft and soggy. Yuck! I prefer mine freshly made and bien cuit; crunchy on the edges. So, my advice on crepes stand is to check out the crepe stand and the ingredients they use, or just hang around until someone else orders a crepe.
If you fancy eating crepes at a restaurant, you should try Creperie Ty Breiz; it's cozy and inexpensive. The restaurant is very charming and nicely decorated; it feels like you're eating at your grandma's country kitchen. According to chowhound.com, Creperie Ty Breiz uses floment flour, finest low-protein soft wheat, for their desert crepes. For savory crepes, they use a mixture of of froment and sarrasin or buckwheat flour. So, one night, while Sandra was in town visiting from Chicago, we ventured there. I forgot what the she ordered, but it had cheese, bacon, and potatoes; and I had something similar, but without the bacon. All that was washed down with crafe de vin rouge, or their house red wine. Oh, they supposedly have really good apple cider too, but we did what the French did best, drink lots of wine and be merry. To end the meal, we had sweet crepe with nutella and crepe suzette.
Crepes are also readily available in the supermarket in the cold section; it's often sold next to the ready made tart dough. Just reheat with a little butter in a non-stick pan and fill it to your heart desires.
So, back to crepe stands. What's available you may ask?
Sweet Options:
- sugar
- butter and sugar
- sugar and lemon (my fav)
- sugar and cinnamon (my friend Sandra's fav)g
- sugar and honey
- chestnut spread (my friend Jill's fav)
- nutella
- nutella and banana
etc.
Savory Options:
- cheese
- cheese and ham
- cheese and sausage
- egg and cheese
- cheese, ham, and eggs
- cheese, sausage, and ham
- 4 cheeses
etc.
Okay...that's it for now.
Caio
Creperie Ty Breiz
52, boulevard de Vaugirard
75015 Paris
closed Sunday & Monday
