[Shanghai] La Crêperie: A Taste of Brittany

Categories: French, Crêperie
Address:  1 Taojiang Lu, near Fenyang Lu (Xuhui District); 桃江路1號, 近汾阳路 (徐匯區)
Hours:  Monday - Sunday, 11:00am-10:30pm
Date visited: May 2013
Price:  ¥40-65RMB per sweet crepe
Verdict: Not quite genuine compared to those in France, but probably the best in Shanghai; will give it another try

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I’ve wanted to check out this place for a while now. My love for crepes has definitely shot up after having lived in Paris for a few months. Don’t get me wrong though - I’ve always been fond of crepes and you’d think that I’d be sick of eating them by now - but NO, those authentic French crepes are really some life-changing somethings!

Back to La Crêperie. A popular brunch and dessert place for locals and expats, the restaurant opened its first chain in Shanghai in 2007. A second Shanghai store just recently opened in Jing An, but there are also other branches in Hong Kong and Saigon. The concept was to bring Brittany's most famous culinary exports to the Shanghai community (Brittany is a region of northwestern France where crepes originated). La Crêperie did exactly this: its menu has a large selection of salty and savory buckwheat galettes as well as dreamy sweet crepes.

My friend and I decided to walk over for dessert after a healthy lunch at Sproutworks (review coming soon).

Having been here once before, my foodie friend commented that the crepes here are huge and definitely large enough for two to share. She’s tried their signature La Defi sweet crepe last time and thought it was delicious. To try something new, we ordered the L’Ambassadeur crepe (60RMB; Ferrero Rocher ice cream, chocolate sauce, grilled hazelnuts, whipped cream) this time.

L’Ambassadeur (60RMB) - Ferrero Rocher ice cream, chocolate sauce, grilled hazelnuts, whipped cream — **L’Ambassadeur (60RMB) -** Ferrero Rocher ice cream, chocolate sauce, grilled hazelnuts, whipped cream

To be honest, I was fairly disappointed. The crepe itself was too thick and chewy by French standards, and the batter's ratio of flour to water was certainly off by more than just a little. The whipped cream or chocolate sauce wasn’t anything special, and the Ferrero Rocher ice cream wasn’t flavorful enough. I’ve definitely had better. However, keep in mind that I'm definitely biased. I frequently ate crepes in Paris and thus my standards are relatively high.

I’ll give this place another try though. I still want to try their savory gazettes and my friend did agree that their famous La Defi she had last time was better.

On a side note, the décor was cute, and all the waiters wore sailor uniforms and spoke English!