La Creperie
1 Taojiang Lu
Shanghai, China
PRICE: ????
RATING:

I was surprised with how authentic La Creperie was. OK, it’s not a very valid statement for me to make, since I’ve never actually lived in Brittany, France (where the cafe owner hails from). But I say this because the food was totally different in taste and ingredients to anything else I’ve eaten in my life.

It’s primarily a crepe place, serving up a staggering selection of savory and sweet crepes. The cafe is cosy and bustling with diners, and is modelled after the seaside and lighthouse – which is what Brittany is like, I presume. Sometimes, themed cafes are pretty tacky, but La Creperie definitely isn’t. It’s a laid back, casual cafe that makes for a fabulous weekend brunch. Our waitress spoke fluent English and all the staff were very attentive and polite, with food coming out quickly from the open kitchen.

Our drinks came out first. The Kir Breton (cider with blackcurrent cream) is a traditional drink from Brittany, France. It’s a sweet, fizzy drink… and just like a sparkling Ribena, to be honest. A very very expensive one 😉 The fresh Limonade looked impressive – a refreshing drink crammed with limes. However, 3/4 of the glass was filled with ice, so there wasn’t actually that much drink in it.. considering it was expensive (around 35? if I recall correctly).

The ‘Les Pierres Noires’ – French camembert cheese, smoked ham, mixed mushrooms, salad was incredible! Thin crepe encasing a tumble of fragrant mushrooms and ham, and dotted with melty French camembert. It was a flavour explosion and the ingredients blended together really well. It could have done with a rich creamy sauce drizzled on top though, as it was slightly on the dry side since the dish didn’t have any sauce. Also, the “salad” as announced on the menu was, hilariously, about 4 small lettuce leaves on the side. PLEASE.

I loved the ‘La Marin’ – scallops, garlic, parsley, white wine, cream though it looked rather pathetic, as there were 5 (obviously carefully counted out) scallops looking lonely atop the flat crepe. They were beautifully seared though, and the creamy sauce was divine. They should use this sauce on all their crepes, it was luscious and truly made a big difference to the taste of the dish. However, since there are only 5 scallops and an empty flat crepe, this is no where near enough to fill you.

What surprised me about their crepes was that the actual crepe batter is made with buckwheat. The crepes come out dark brown, and have the most heavenly texture and aroma. It’s intoxicating and so so mouth-watering. Now that I’ve had Brittany buckwheat crepes, I fear other crepes just won’t cut it anymore 😉

Dessert was a Cooked banana, ice cream, almonds, chocolate sauce crepe. I was delighted to see that it was drenched in chocolate sauce – yum. They use regular crepe batter this time (I assume because the buckwheat variety is slightly savoury) and the soft cooked bananas were beautifully paired with the rest of the ingredients.

The Kouign Amann was ordered because I had NO IDEA what it was and wanted to try something new. Turns out it’s a French dessert that’s simple yet so right – layers and layers of dough slathered in butter and sugar, then baked until the sugar caramelises. It results in a tastebud-party in my mouth. The layers are quite dense because they’re so weighed down with the butter and sugar (which seeps out when you cut the cake) and the sweetness is staggering. It’s divine eaten with a (big) scoop of cream – the cool subtle vanilla flavour playing down the extreme sweetness of the cake. One slice is more than enough – any more and you’d go straight into a food coma 😉

The dining experience was a delight, and we enjoyed being able to sample Brittany’s fantastic cuisine. On the downside, the place is expensive considering the portion sizes and the fact that we’re in China where food is cheap. It would be well worth it (and also a full 5 stars) if the portions were bumped up by 50% – since normal eaters (eg. non dieting folk, skinny women) won’t be full after one of their mains.

La Creperie, from Brittany, France

The boat-themed bar and open kitchen

Lighthouse-themed

Kir Breton, a traditional drink from Brittany, France. (cider with blackcurrent cream),
and a fresh Limonade

‘Les Pierres Noires’ – French camembert cheese, smoked ham, mixed mushrooms, salad

‘La Marin’ – scallops, garlic, parsley, white wine, cream

Cooked banana, ice cream, almonds, chocolate sauce crepe

Kouign Amann

A Brittany food convert!