Crépes at the Food Court?

In my post about Bangkok’s Crépes & Co, I mentioned that there was a place for crépes at the food court in the Fashion Square Mall. Well, yesterday Hao and I went to La Creperia Café for a late breakfast.

I hadn’t been to the Fashion Square Mall in at least half a year, so it was interesting alone to be at there. We went up to the second level, where the food court and movie theatre was, and we scanned the food court shops for La Creperia. Hao spotted it, and, upon seeing the sign unlit and the menus lacking the hyper-illumination of most food court menus, I was dismayed. “Aw, it’s closed!”

“No, it isn’t,” Hao walked briskly towards the stand. “Look, there’s someone behind the counter.”

Sure enough, the place was open after all, but the design for the store seemed a bit out-of-step with the florescent glow all the other stalls were emitting. If it were a regular stand-alone café, though, it would be fine. We approach the stall, hunger mingled with excitement of new possibilities. I seize a menu lying on the counter, and my eyes widen with crépe possibilities.

In the end, Hao and I both opted for sweet crépes. I bullied him out of getting the Romeo y Julieta crépe with Nutella, bananas and strawberries, because that’s what I wanted, so he opted for the Evita, which consisted of dolci di lecce (or dolce de leche) and bananas. The two gentleman behind the counter, who were very helpful, made the crepes in a quick fashion, having the crépe skins already premade, which sped up the process to merely involve the preparation of the insides.

I watched the older man smear the dolci di lecce from a can onto the crépe for Hao’s Evita, and it struck me that the can could’ve been heated just a wee bit for easier spreading, as the consistency was akin to peanut butter you pulled out of a very cold fridge. Once it was finally spread around, he peeled an banana and plopped it whole onto the crepe, cut it into small pieces, then pushed the banana bits around to make it even across the crépe work area. He then folded it neatly into a sort of diamond, then flipped it over to cook a bit on the folded side. Transferring the crépe to a plate, the whole look was completed with some caramel syrup, powdered sugar and whipped cream.

Oh boy!

Mine had been already made, so I took the two crépes out into the sea of mostly empty chairs in the food court. It had shocked me at how empty the mall was in general, considering it was a Saturday afternoon. Hao was waiting for his coffee to cool, which didn’t really get cool enough to drink until after we had eaten, whereupon he found it a little bitter, like it had been sitting for a while.

The crépes themselves were fabulous, but the frustrating thing was that they were so hard to cut intowith the plastic utensils requisite for mall food. I was afraid I’d break my dinky plastic fork as I attempted to pierce the crépe exterior in order to get to its sweet deliciousness. And, oh, was it sweet. The Romeo y Julieta was decadent; I wound up not being able to finish all of it. Hao said his Evita was on the sweet side, too, but he was able to clean his plate.

I think the final verdict was that La Creperia made some pretty awesome crépes, but it’s probably best just to get them in a to-go package and take them home with you, unless you’re really into food court scenery. That way, you can use real dining utensils, as opposed to plastic, and your eating won’t be periodically interrupted by a blood-curdling shriek from a 4 year-old on the other side of the mall. La Creperia has savoury food as well, and I’d love to try one of those next. Early on, we were warned by one of the employees that the menu was going to be changed up, and that the prices on their website aren’t exactly the same as at the location in the food court, but if you’re in the area and in the mood for a crépe to take out, look at their menu, although the PDF file also mentions pasta, which may not be at their little location in Orlando, but more than likely at their bigger location in the Tampa area.

Food Nostalgia: Crépes & Co.

Around five years ago, I was living the last of my days in a hot, sticky country known as Thailand, renting a small efficiency apartment in the Royal King Garden Inn for a month until I moved on back to Orlando.  During that month, I packed in as much enjoyment as I could in visiting my favourite eateries and bars, often in the company of my two very good friends, Gary and Alli.

While living it up, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Crépes & Co.  It’s a fabulous place off Sukhumvit that Tanya, a friend of a friend, had shown me.  Although I had only the opportunity to have gone there once, I’m still gladdened by its web presence, as it is giving me hope that the place will still be there whenever I get around to going back to Bangkok… which will happen!  :::shakes fist!:::

I can’t remember exactly what I had gotten, but I loved both the entrée crépe and my dessert crépe.  If you happen to be in the area, I suggest you give the place a go, as it’s a fantastic concept for a light lunch or dinner.  Although I’m sure I was well-satiated after my meal at Crépes & Co, should you be hungry, the streets of Bangkok used to house the best street vendors in the world.  It’s true.

Now I have heard of a crépe place here in Orlando that I haven’t yet been to.  La Creperia Cafe has been visited by my friends Fran and Joe, and they told me it was pretty good.  Curiously, the location they went to, which is the only one in Orlando, is in the Orlando Fashion Square Mall.  It’s not a place I find myself often–I’m at the mall once a month at best, and normally at the Mall of Millenia–but I’ve been tempted to brave the crowds of shoppers for a taste of tasty crépes.

Then again, with the way the economy is tanking in the US at the moment, the crowds of shoppers are probably not really “crowds,” but perhaps more like “small contingents.”