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2010-10-25
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as super typhoon megi decided to skip hong kong at the change of heart, me and N stuck to our original plan of doing brunch together at la creperie in wanchai. we both have been wanting to try this place for the longest time, but owing to its relatively long distance from central, we never manage to visit during the weekdays. la creperie is the only place i know of in hong kong that serves authentic breton galette – the crepe that you get from street stalls in CWB or mongkok are more japanese st
as super typhoon megi decided to skip hong kong at the change of heart, me and N stuck to our original plan of doing brunch together at la creperie in wanchai. we both have been wanting to try this place for the longest time, but owing to its relatively long distance from central, we never manage to visit during the weekdays. la creperie is the only place i know of in hong kong that serves authentic breton galette – the crepe that you get from street stalls in CWB or mongkok are more japanese style crepes at best.
crepe is BIG in paris – it is like wonton noodles in hong kong, except crepe can be a street food and you are supposed to wash it down with a cup of cider. montparnasse is the “creperie” district, although elsewhere in paris you pretty much cannot walk for two blocks without passing by one – whether it’s a casual street stall or a more proper cafe. there are two types of crepes – crepe sucree, or sweet crepe, is made of wheat flour and usually consists of ingredients like chocolate and ice-cream; crepe salee is the savory kind, more commonly known as galette, that is made of buckwheat and traditional ingredients include ham and egg.
la creperie in wanchai only opened about six months ago but quickly became a hong kong address for homey authentic breton experience. the cafe actually belongs to a franchise that first opened its store in shanghai, and hong kong is its second outlet. chef and most of the staffs are french in the wanchai version, with high tables and wooden chairs that are comfortably far apart (those of you who have been to galette cafes in paris would know what i’m talking about). N and i arrived at 11.30am and had the place all to ourselves, though the place started filling up pretty quickly pass noon. we kicked off with a cup of cider and some galettes first:
galette with salmon and spinach - it was indeed open-faced buckwheat galette and did not disappoint me. the pancake was thin and crispy, with tiny airholes that allowed for heat passing through. salmon and spinach can never go wrong with galette, and the sauce that came with lettuce was delightful. on the other hand, i thought the kitchen did not use enough butter to grease the pan before grilling the pancake, hence it lacked the rich buttery aroma that i was looking for. the piece of lemon on the side was also a bit unnecessary.
galette with saint jacques, bacon, and wine cream – while the spinach galette was more filling and chewy, this one was more crispy and flavorful from the wine cream and bacon. scallop was frozen and bland and nothing to be particularly excited about, but the wine cream with bacon really went well together.
N and i are both food black-holes and we reached out to the menu again for sweet crepe…
crepe with caramel ice-cream, banana, and salted caramel sauce - the crepe was slightly more crispy than what i would expect for a sweet crepe (which supposedly leans toward soft and chewy side), but it actually worked well with the crystalized salted caramel, which was deeply flavorful. a very gratifying dish…
crepe with vanilla ice-cream, apricot, almond, chantilly cream - the chantilly cream was very flat and unstable… but pancake was more chewy than the caramel one.
overall the food was pretty good and authentic; definitely the best galette i’ve had in hong kong, probably will become my go-to place whenever my crave for galette creeps under, though still nothing to rave about. disappointing was a dire selection of cider, and the dry cider was not dry enough. salt and pepper shakers shaped like lighthouse on the table, but i prefer my black pepper fresh ground… then again, service was very prompt and friendly; many of the staffs speak french (the french chef probably an owner himself) and they have the typical non-parisian friendlines. i also like the customer mix; some locals, and a lot of families (hearing french half of the time) – cute toddlers with soft, curly hair.
full review with photos: http://randomnomad.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/la-creperie/
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