Fleur de Sel  

I am writing this review as a Frenchman, used to amazing, authentic French crepes in France. So I am going to be picky.

First, the setting and decor. I like it, it is nice and casual, and surprisingly quiet. The atmosphere is very relaxing, you can almost forget you're right in the middle of CWB.

On to the food. It is good, but not outstanding, the toulouse sausage galette for example, is a little bit bland and has too much onion, and some of the toppings on the other choices are a bit odd (i.e. non-traditional). I feel that "la creperie" in Wan Chai has better galettes, but fleur de sel really shines for dessert crepes, and the service is definitely better here. Their namesake, the salted caramel, is delicious. If you have a small appetite, I recommend sharing a galette between two so you have space for dessert. You can't really say you've been to a creperie unless you have both a galette and a dessert crepe, and washed it all down with cider (this last part is essential, galettes and cider go together like salt and pepper, or fish and water). It is definitely on the pricy side, but this is to be expected; even in France, going to the creperie isn't exactly cheap.

"Fleur de Sel" doesn't only sound beautiful to non-French speakers; it actually means "flower of salt". Fleur de Sel is a type of hand-harvested sea salt which is traditionally collected off the Coast of Brittany, and given that crêpe is originated from Brittany (northwest of France), I cannot help to applaud the linkage.

It was a fine afternoon. Having met up my old friend K, we followed the openrice map and made it to an old building in the overcrowded Causeway Bay. Up we went taking the old lift, then through passageway with the whitewashed brick wall; we entered into a different world, a very different part of Causeway Bay. Unconsciously, I took an extra breath to soak up the atmosphere.

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We were greeted by a young French waiter and I responded naturally "Bonjour".

The restaurant is not very big; or perhaps I should call it a cafe. The main dinning area consists only around 10 tables. What caught my eyes immediately was the balcony area with some wicker chairs and coffee tables. We requested to enjoy the sun at the balcony and were swiftly seated.

A simple menu with a long list of savoury crêpes (made with buckwheat flour and unsweetened) and sweet crêpes (made with wheat flour and slightly sweetened) - happily spoilt with so many options, it took us a while to make our final decisions (at the end, we decided to order a savoury and a sweet one to share!)..

There were a few types of Cider to choose from (on top of wine and, of course, other common drinks). Cider is traditionally known as a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice exclusively; nevertheless, there is a pear variation on their drinks menu (!!!). I have an inclination to go for what the "traditional" is, and so we ordered a bottle of "dry cider". (I will go back for the pear one sometime soon )Cider is generally served in traditional ceramic bowls rather than glasses in crêperies in France. And (omg!) yes, Fleur de Sel does it in the CORRECT way. First up, the savory crêpe "la truffe" - in a nice brown, served skin-thin, and delicately crisp. It looked super inviting and tasty, and it smelled amazingly delicious and mouth-watering. The crêpe was filled generously with ham, emmental cheese, black truffle paste and wrapped up neatly with an egg sitting in the middle. It was a moist and hearty combination - the distinctive earthy fragrance of the black truffle mixed with the creamy and aromatic emmental cheese (you see.. i have always loved emmental cheese - traditional cow cheese, with a hint of sweetness coupled with fresh-cut hay; goes super well with a good glass of wine ). This is what I would call "a perfect marriage"; neither component overpowered the other; they blended, they complemented, they made each other better. You have a choice of adding camenbert cheese with a small additional charge; we did, and I would highly, highly recommend everyone doing it!! The delicate salty taste of camenbert certainly brought the experience to a whole new level. I was satisfied, very satisfied. Then our sweet crêpe arrived "L'After Eight". Yes, not too difficult to guess - a crêpe resembling the classic "After Eight chocolate". I thought that it was a good dessert choice; afterall "After Eights" are "after-dinner mints" . Again, a successful presentation - it was something which made me smile when I merely looked at it. I found this crêpe in a pretty homey gold, even thinner than the savory one; but interestingly (and I actually loved it), it was chewier! Topped with elegant stripes of warm chocolate sauce, a scoop of cacao ice cream (aka: chocolate ice-cream) with a piece of After Eight inserted in the scoop (not to forget a blob of cream and a berry as decoration ). The mint element, besides the minty bit sandwiched in the After Eight chocolate, was represented and brought to us by the jade-green shot of "Get 27" (a liquor with mint, typically 21% alcohol). A fun take on traditional crêpes. Instead of taking the shot in the "correct way", I gently poured some "Get 27" over the creamy and flavourful cacao ice cream. Each mouthful was divine. It was nice that the cacao ice cream was so creamy and boldly-chocolatey-flavoured; hence "Get 27" did NOT take over the scene, only hints of it lingered around and pushed our senses to a high-end. Heaven on a plate.

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Flash backs then came with memories of two summers back... the crêperie that we visited in St Malo, Brittany after our oyster feast by the sea... I breathed in deeply looking up the sky as K continued telling me about her "struggle" whether to date "Guy A" or "Guy B". I thought to myself.. if there is really such a struggle, one should date neither - there is not enough love..
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Definitely somewhere I will return - for a relaxing lunch or to have a leisurely "afternoon tea". I will be back for sure for an awesome slice of Brittany!

Hong Kong boasts two establishments when it comes to authentic French crêpes, and they are La Creperie and Fleur de Sel. It seems like Hong Konger’s love for crêpes has not subsided, with La Crepere opening its second branch in Sheung Wan in August this year, and Fleur de Sel following its footsteps and presenting its second venture on 51 Graham Street, Soho.

Located on the second floor of a nondescript building in Causeway Bay (opposite the Lee Theatre), Fleur de Sel is an intimate and cosy space. The menu is simple but not limited, with a selection of galettes (savoury crêpes) and dessert crêpes to choose from. The staff are predominantly French; the service could have been warmer, but it didn’t really bother me as I was there for nothing else but the crêpes!

The difference, to me, between La Creperie and Fleur de Sel is that the galettes at La Creperie are crispier, hence have more of a bite and are more delicious, whereas the ones at Fleur de Sel are a touch too soft and pliable; however, the fillings at Fleur de Sel are better, with the ingredients being flavourful and the tastes spot-on.

(1) We started off with La Super Complete ($78), which was filled with ham, cheese, egg, and mushrooms that came together nicely. The finely chopped mushrooms were full of flavours, and the runny-yolked sunny side up was beautiful.(2) La Terre-neuve ($112), filled with smoked salmon, egg and spinach was equally accomplished. The smoked salmon had a remarkable taste, and the double cream added richness but was not overpowering.(3) Ordering La Sarladaise ($128) made my meal complete, as it was filled with confit of duck that had deep and distinctive flavours, mushrooms, and potatoes that added extra textures to the galette. The duck was thinly shredded so it was easy to eat.(4) La Bourguinone ($128) was by far the best dish at Fleur de Sel! Filled with mushrooms, bacon, spinach and snails fricassee that were tender and soothing, the galette was then smothered in a creamy and delectable white wine sauce.(5) The smoked sausages in La Toulouse ($94) were chunky and delicious with meaty flavours. The caramelised onions were sweet and mellow, and the French mustard gave a good kick; however, I wish there were more sausages in this galette.(6) No one needs to be convinced as to how absolutely amazing dessert crêpes are! We started off with the Crêpe au chocolat maison ($46), which was drizzled in home made chocolate sauce. Served with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, this crêpe was simple and heavenly.(7) La Poire ($68) was topped with caramelized pear with lavender and crème brûlée ice cream, and was a fruity and refreshing option. The crème brûlée ice cream was decadently sweet, and the caramelized pear had a hint of pleasant alcoholic taste but could have been boiled a tad softer.(8) Last but not least, La Macaron ($88) was many girls’ dream come true, as it combined two of our favourites, crêpes and macarons, into one! The macaron was caramel-flavoured, and toffee sauce was lovely and thick; it was sweet and divine!

French cafe music, French-speaking customers warmly greeting each other, the terrace is completely open to create a street cafe atmosphere (minus the reality of old building view outside, but the contrast itself is kind of fun in its own HK way ) the cider is highly recommended by the waiter and we would agree . But the tea was mediocre and costed a hefty 30HKD extra, which put my crepe + tea bill above his salad+crepe+dessert set . So drinks/sides are recommended to be ordered with set instead of individually for best value.the crepes (or galette, technically called, since they are savory crepes and not the sweet ones) were great combinations of meaty, buckwheat healthiness and freshness of the ingredients (olive, eggs, etc) the crepes seemed thin and small-portioned but we were actually quite full afterwards. Overall flavor profile is a bit on the tame side, would be nice to have some herb punch or vinaigrette/arugula salad on the side to wake up the senses a bit.

Time feels slower here, I definitely did not want to head back to work after lunch Just want to call up another tea or sip on some cider and maybe read a book for rest of the afternoon~

We had 2 savoury crepes, 2 dessert crepes, shared a bottle of sweet cider.
The savoury crepes were better than the sweet ones but weren't cooked very well.
I expected them to be a bit more dry with a touch of crispy edges from the cheese.
The texture was a bit soggy.
Still hungry after my galette.

Ordered the limoncello crepe for dessert which was supposed to be served with passionfruit mango sorbet.
I was looking forward to the light fruity flavour mixed with tart lemon custard.
It arrived with a small ball of chocolate ice cream.
When I saw it, I asked te waiter if there was a mistake - I'd ordered the limoncello.
He apologised and said there was a problem withe kitchen - no more passionfruit ice, and he thought chocolat was a good combo with lemon.

I think restaurants should always let people know if they need to substitute something.
Especially chocolate instead of fruit!
I love chocolate, but the passionfruit was what made me order it.

The chocolate was too heavy, killed the rest of the flavours.
The lemon custard tasted old and stale like it had picked up some flavour from something else in the fridge.

The food was only so-so, service was ok, tables too close together though nice atmosphere.
Maybe they had an off night, but it was too expensive for the quality we got and I didn't feel satisfied by the food or the experience.

My friend was happy with his chocolate dessert crepe, but agreed it wasn't good value for the money.

COULD BE BETTER:
- Usually restaurants in Hong Kong do put AC maximum power, but strangely not here so it was a bit ... too hot ?!
- Waiter in a hurry to clear the table ... calm down buddy !
- Could be a bit cleaner for a French restaurant ...

GOOD:
- Good food, good quantities, good cider, good price !
- Nice staff

TO SUM UP:
Great place to have French Crepes !!!

We saw a show about crepes on TV the night before so we decided to try the recommended one in the video. However, it was exceedingly full with a long line so we changed to Plan B: Fleur de Sel. It is the first time I have come to this restaurant to try french crepes so I tried the traditional one, with ham, cheese, egg and salad. My mother had ratatouille with tuna. Both 'gallettes' were delicious and I enjoyed them tremendously.

Then we ordered a crepe as dessert. It had lavender flavor pear and ice cream. It was very nice. Then my father came and had something else and smelt delicious.

I strongly recommend this restaurant to you!

Had a very delicious brunch Breton at the very authentic French restaurant Fleur de Sel - started out with a Gelatte with egg, ham, spinach, mushroom, sausage and mixed salad and a sugar Crepe for "dessert". Very cozy environment at this little "hidden" pearl of HK - go try it!

This place is currently one of the three authentic places in Hong Kong that serve French Crepes.

It is cute compared to La Creperie and Kramp House, however I felt that Kramp House and Fleur de Sel should exchange chefs!!
Fleur de Sel is more feminstic whilst Kramp is more masculine, however Kramp’s chef is female whilst the chef at Fleur de sel is male.

The tables were so closely packed together that you could listen in to conversations around you unintentionally and to make things worse, the local Hongkies were so noisy.

The poor guy at Fleur de Sel was irritated by the noise and he could not answer the phone due to the background noise.

Visit Fleur de Sel on a weekday afternoon...
i love the corridor of their place while the interior decoration was pretty nice and cozy too.
they do have a mini balcony, which is great for spending a lazy afternoon there.this is my first time to try french crepe & pear cider
i forgot the name of this dish, but the presentation was reli good
and it made me hungry when it was delivered to my table!!!
it tastes good, but i would be much better if the crepe can be more crispy.....

Date Dined: Weds 8th June 8.15pm

Ordered: La Toulouse ( sausage, onion, cheese, French mustard)
La Super Complete ( ham, cheese, egg, mushroom )
Cranberry juice

Taste: La Toulouse - The crepe was very crispy. Comapred to crepes I have had in UK and in HK,you can tell these are more authentic. These are more thin whereas the 'crepes' out there are quite thick and very filling. as they are so thick, you can taste the flour and egg mixture. the ones here at Fleur de Sel you cannot taste the Flour taste. The crepe is crispy and you can faintly taste the egg taste in it.
The crepe was flat, with 3 sausage near the middle, nicely seperated.The sauce was drizzled on top with cheese. It certainly didn't look as colouful as the other crepe we ordered. But once you have the first bite, it was so delicious, you won't put down your fork. As the sauce is mainly in the middle the edge was very plain. So i would cut a piece of the plain crepe from the corner and dab a bit of teh musturd in the centre. it was so tasty. The sausage was quite big, i didn't like th sausage though. I wasn't expecting any taste in particular and i still cannot imagine which type of sausage would go well with the crepe. The sausage they used here was rather sweet, Like an apple tasting sausage. it was wierd. But was nice if you cut up a little piece by piece and eat with some crepe and musturd.I liked how the onions are spreaded out in the crepe, so with every mouth full you will get some onion. La Super Complete- When this crepe came, it immediately took the spotlight off La Toulouse. This crepe was more colourful. You have the crepe then the pink of the ham, then you have the white and yellow of the gg right in the middle. Looked super delicious. couldn't wait to dig in. But once I dug in I realized the crepe was crispy like La Toulouse. This one was rather soggy and soft, and you can taste the egg and flour thick mixture. even if i had it with some ham, It was rather tasteless. Unlike La Toulouse it had the mustard, this crepe has no sauce. So I would have expected more cheese, but there was hardly any cheese apart from on the side.I liked the crepe on the La Toulouse more as it was crispier. I had a question in mind which was how was i suposed to eat this crepe. the egg was perfectly cooked in the middle. as a habit, I have always kept the egg yolk to the last, and would eat the egg yolk as a whole. But for this, I think it was to poke the egg yolk and let the egg yolk run out and use it as a sauce. After you do that, half the crepe is covered with the egg yolk. It was very tasty but still, the other half of the crepe was sauceless and tasteless. Even the egg white did not taste much of anything.
Although there are flaws the crepe was still enjoyable. i loved the part with cheese and egg yolks.Atmosphere: This placed is on 2nd floor of what iw ould call a residential building. but there are many stores and cafes up there too. you might find it quite strange walking into the building. you will not find their name or photo downstairs on teh ground floor, so please remember it is on the 2nd floor/. There are two lifts. It might seems like the outside of the lift is the OLD lifts where you have to open the door yourself and close it. But inside there is another automatic door that closes itself. Then you should turn left upon arriving on 2nd floor. Walk down and you will see the restaurant signs. I liked the atmosphere inside, dimmed with some lighting, not too bright. Music coming out from the kitchen, wasn't too loud, just playing soulfully at the background. there were few tables, about 5-6 tables inside. there are some sofa seatings. You can sit on the outside too, there are about 2-3 tables outside. There are no air conditioner inside, only a couple of fans, and one wasn't even on. i noticed there was a fan outside too, so shouldn't be too hot. the walls are grey, the seats are grey with some colourful cushions by the sofa seatings. The place is quite small which makes it quite cosy. Open bar area which you can look into the kitchenw hile the chef is cooking.Service: once we have walked into the restuarant, we were greeted by one of the guy who was serving. Which i believe is French. He greeted us with a warm smile and asked how we were doing. I loved that, i havent been asked how I am since i have left London. he then asked if we would like to sit outside or inside. we sat down inside and he gave us a menu while he served the table next to us. i paid attention on how he served others. He was very warm and nearly smiled everytime his customers was ordering or talking. He later then came back to us to take our order and quickly took our order down.

He was also the one who served us the crepe and nicely told us which one was which. half way through, he also asked how our meal was going. You don't get much of that in hong Kong. A good restaurant should always consider or put their custumers satisfactory or comments as priority. And i don't mean asking how you are and walk off straight away, but liek what he did- comes over , ask how it is, look you in the eye and smile. Then listens then walk away.

Our plates were not taken away till quite later which i like, that means you are allowed to appreciate the food and how it fills you up with satifaction. instead of handing you the bill straight away with interupt the feeling of satisfaction. we asked for the bill, and he kindly handed the bill to us.

Upon leaving, we walked past the kitchen. the chef said 'bye' then asked how it was. i told him it was fantastic. He then asked me ' took lovely pictures?" I said yes, lovely pictures, and he let me take a picture of him. He was awfully kind, and I loved his attitude in making interaction with his costumers. I have not yet tried the crepe place in wanchai, but this place has won me over with its warmth and friendliness already!

ConclusionI have wanted to try this place since it was opened, but whether it was fate or just no luck, every time I came, itw as either full house, or closed. This time I made a BIG effort to come for dinner. it ahs been a good few years since it has opened, and I expected it won't be as packed since the 'Crepe' craze has cooled down. when I arrived there was one table inside and one table outside taken. But after a while another 3 tables were taken. it is still busy and popular, and i know the reason why.
The crepe is nicely made, tin and crispy with generous amount of fillings. i loved how they don't just give you a crepe on its own, but with abit of salad too, just to freshen up and make it less guilty. There are wide arrange of crepes to choose from, there are savory and sweet crepe. so much that i wanted to try them all. I can't wait til next time to go try other flavour crepe.

I was planning to have 1 savory and 1 sweet crepe, but as there were wide range of savory crepe and they all seemed delicious, i couldnt help but choose two savory and was planning get 1 sweet crepe afterwards. But you would never have expected, having the crepe really filled me up. it looked so thin and flat, but fills you up right to the top. No more room for the sweet crepe, such a shame. I would recommend to share a crepe so you can taste more. I would definately go for one that has a sauce like the one with mustard that i chose.Their service was spot on. they were friendly, and that I mean, they were NOT fake friendly which soem restaurant do. They chat to you and make sure your food is good. Leaving a good costumer service image to you will promote more business and i liked their approach. Only thing I did not like and hope they will consider about is serving water. they do not serve any water so you would need to order drinks. that is a good business strategy but being a 'considerate' host, youw ould like your costumers to enjoy the food bit more, especially in an NON aircon environment, it would be nice to serve water, it freshens up the taste bud too!
The size of the two crepe is about the same. It takes skills to make them about the same size. Size of the plate but little bit bigger so the corners are sticking out. The drinks however was not special and wasnt worth the price.

There are 3 French Crepe places in HK. I prefer Fleur de Sel the most, very typical delicious French crepe, half outdoor setting, cozy atmosphere, no queue, good service from two French gentlemen, reasonable pricing. If you look for a relaxing brunch at weekend, it's the place to go. Love it!

We took one crepe suzette and one chocolate and pear (bananas were out of stock) and they were both tasting as good as a crepe should.
The chef put burning liquor on the crepe suzette which is always a good presentation.
The environment is very cozy with indoor and outdoor seating. The whole restaurant smells very nice as they're making crepe there.
However, the price is high(esp for just a dessert), much higher than in France: we spent 250 for the 2 crepes and 2 bowls of cider.

wanna to try last time o weekend it was packed , so want to try today , rubbish! I want my money back !!!!

ordered a crepe suzette(no 30) and la paulou( 33), nothing special presentation is bad. not rich . the marshmallow is like rubber band ! chewy . I thought I m eating plastic.

the Suzette one Flambee .. just for 0.01 s . disappointed
is so pricey for this

my girl and me loved it : without no time 2 galettes with real french cheese (ham and mushrooms for her and roblochon, lardons and potatoes for me and salad for both) and then after 2 crêpes with delicious ice cream and chocolate. Perfect. Sometimes eating french food in Hong Kong is better than in France.