Taking a break from shopping around Harajuku (which by the way has the best children's store, Kiddyland) my godmother decided to bring me to a creperie located in the area. Seeing my confusion as to why we were going to a dessert shop for lunch, she excitedly explained to me that she discovered this specific creperie shortly after a trip through Europe where she was able to try a type of savory crepe called a gallete.
Crepes and Galletes are generally made with flour, eggs, milk and butter. But the difference between the two lie mainly in the flour and the filling. Crepes are made using a slightly sweeter dough and filled with fruit and/or topped with ice cream or a syrup of some sort. Meanwhile Galletes are made with buckwheat flour (the same flour used to make Japanese soba noodles, which contributes to their darker colour) and can be filled with meats, vegetables, and cheese.
While the possible origins of crepe is fairly varied, as many cultures have their own variation of this dish (the pancake being one of them), the region of Brittany (Bretagne) prides itself on being the masters of crepe, and when a Bretagne native came to Japan and decided to open Cafe-Creperie Le Bretagne, he insisted on bringing three French crepier to work at his restaurant.
With the exception of one or two foreign men sitting outside, most of the lunch time crowd consisted of young Japanese women (mental note to self: this place is perfect for a girl's day out). A waiter soon came with our menus and we each both ordered a gallete and a crepe. For drinks we opted to try their apple cider (which is the drink taken with crepe, as apples grow abundantly in northwestern France).
We first began with a light and brightly coloured garden salad, followed by our galletes. I had the Tomato and Mushroom "Complete"(Scrambled egg, ham, cheese, organic tomato, and mushrooms) while my godmother ordered the Chorizo "Complete"(Sunny side up egg, Iberico chorizo, cheese). Mine had a more mellow flavor,a crisp and thin buckwheat layer that cracked under my knife to reveal vegetables and ham on a bed of cheese and egg. The gallete with the Iberico chorizo was more flavorful and was clearly the house favorite, from the many orders of the Iberico chorizo gallete coming out of the kitchen. After our galletes our crepes were brought out. We had the Concarnoise (Chestnut puree, vanilla ice cream) and the Vannetaise (Salted butter caramel with vanilla ice cream).While the usual dessert crepe is chock full of fruits and slathered with sauce and whipped cream, the crepes that were brought out were very unassuming, which I enjoyed immensely. The chestnuts were in season, and the salty caramel complemented the vanilla ice cream and the crepe.
Overall it was a very light and refreshing lunch, after which we went back to sightseeing.
Crepes and Galletes are generally made with flour, eggs, milk and butter. But the difference between the two lie mainly in the flour and the filling. Crepes are made using a slightly sweeter dough and filled with fruit and/or topped with ice cream or a syrup of some sort. Meanwhile Galletes are made with buckwheat flour (the same flour used to make Japanese soba noodles, which contributes to their darker colour) and can be filled with meats, vegetables, and cheese.
While the possible origins of crepe is fairly varied, as many cultures have their own variation of this dish (the pancake being one of them), the region of Brittany (Bretagne) prides itself on being the masters of crepe, and when a Bretagne native came to Japan and decided to open Cafe-Creperie Le Bretagne, he insisted on bringing three French crepier to work at his restaurant.
With the exception of one or two foreign men sitting outside, most of the lunch time crowd consisted of young Japanese women (mental note to self: this place is perfect for a girl's day out). A waiter soon came with our menus and we each both ordered a gallete and a crepe. For drinks we opted to try their apple cider (which is the drink taken with crepe, as apples grow abundantly in northwestern France).
We first began with a light and brightly coloured garden salad, followed by our galletes. I had the Tomato and Mushroom "Complete"(Scrambled egg, ham, cheese, organic tomato, and mushrooms) while my godmother ordered the Chorizo "Complete"(Sunny side up egg, Iberico chorizo, cheese). Mine had a more mellow flavor,a crisp and thin buckwheat layer that cracked under my knife to reveal vegetables and ham on a bed of cheese and egg. The gallete with the Iberico chorizo was more flavorful and was clearly the house favorite, from the many orders of the Iberico chorizo gallete coming out of the kitchen. After our galletes our crepes were brought out. We had the Concarnoise (Chestnut puree, vanilla ice cream) and the Vannetaise (Salted butter caramel with vanilla ice cream).While the usual dessert crepe is chock full of fruits and slathered with sauce and whipped cream, the crepes that were brought out were very unassuming, which I enjoyed immensely. The chestnuts were in season, and the salty caramel complemented the vanilla ice cream and the crepe.
Overall it was a very light and refreshing lunch, after which we went back to sightseeing.
http://www.le-bretagne.com/
(mental note to self: this place is perfect for a girl's day out)
ReplyDeletehannah, maybe heaven for those two men :))
but seriously, ahhhhh i crave crepe!
How perfect! I'm in Tokyo right now and I'll definitely check that out!
ReplyDeletehey sugarlessgirl
ReplyDeletehope you can give us your opinion on it once you've tried it. thanks for stopping by!
Remind me to check that out!!! NYAAAAAAA.
ReplyDeleteyummy
ReplyDeletewhoa...this is the real thing in japan
ReplyDelete