But for now I'll give my review of The Creperie. The Creperie was established 35 years ago in the financial district of downtown Edmonton, and has been a mainstay for romantic atmosphere and french cuisine for as long as I can remember (as a child I knew if you were going to The Creperie it was a special occasion). My last recollection of going was probably 10 years ago or so when my french class took a field trip there. And to be honest, I don't think a single thing has changed. Nick's birthday was this week, so we made our way over on Wednesday night.
Upon entering this basement restaurant you're flooded with a catacomb like restaurant with partitions between tables. Walking in the floors are old and charming, and there is a warmth to the lighting that makes it feel very intimate. We were seated in a small booth, next to a wall of jars filled with pasta, herbs and spices and corks and wrappers from old wine bottles. The table was simple with a small candle and white linens. While I did like the intimacy of having a small wall next to us, the jars looked like they had been filled in the 80's and have never been replaced, and really I only only describe the decor is "dusty." The upholstery was floral and worn out. Both Nick and I agreed that it was cozy, but needed some serious renovations. The character of the building itself was lost with the outdated decor. When we were leaving, I did notice a library type nook seating area that was exactly what I was hoping for the rest of the restaurant.
Our waiter was friendly, soft spoken, and very formal. Nick and I shared a bottle of St.Margherita Pinot Grigio, which was good but nothing to write home about, and started off with french bread and some extremely creamy garlic and herb butter. The bread was fresh and you can't go wrong whipped butter! We had the Escargots a la Chef as our appetizer - snails on mushrooms caps, served with a spinach cream. The mushroom and escargot was soft and juicy, but the sauce lacked a thick consistency and much taste.
We both then tried one of their specials - the butternut squash soup. This soup was a lot less creamy then what you traditionally think a butternut squash soup is, but it worked. Very light and fresh, with thin green apple slices on top to add some sourness to the sweet squash, and goat cheese of the bottom for a creamy, strong flavored finish. Both Nick and I really enjoyed this dish.
For our main dish, we both got crepes. I went traditional and got the Crepe a la Reine (chicken and veal with wild mushrooms with a white wine cream sauce), while Nick chose the Crepe Seafood Americaine (scallops, shrimp and monkfish with a taragon lobster sauce). It came served with orzo pasta and sauteed vegetables. My crepe was unfortunately very disappointing. The chicken was incredibly dry and I found the veal to be scarce and the mushrooms to be nothing out of the ordinary. The sauce had consistency of how sauce seems to get when it's reheated - pasty and dry. The crepe batter itself wasn't anything spectacular either - not soft and chewy like I remember crepes being. I really got the sense that this wasn't made fresh, but a compilation of pre-cooked ingredient put together (though I never asked if this was the case). The grilled vegetables and orzo pasta were boring and I hardly ate any of it. Nick seemed to like his crepe much more then mine, and of the bite a took the taragon lobster sauce did seems to add much more flavour to his crepe then my sauce did.
We ended off the night with dessert crepes - ice cream filled and topped with raspberry sauce, whip cream and almond slices. Again, I think the crepes were made ahead of time, as they were cold and the crepe itself tough (a freshly made warm crepe with the cold ice cream melting inside was more of my expectation) but it's hard to not like ice cream and raspberry sauce.
Overall I was pretty disappointed. Though it was partially due to my nostalgic memories of this place being something special that maybe over-hyped it in my mind, I really think this place suffers from being stuck on a decor and a menu that no longer functions in Edmonton's restaurant scene. The fact that the soup special was so amazing, makes me think that the Chefs really can be creative and cook, but are forced to put out the same uninspired regular menu year after year. Nick and I went to a small crepe restaurant in Vancouver called La Bretagne Creperie, that was incredibly simple and casual, but they crepes delicious and so much better then what we were served here - which really makes me sad for The Creperie. I see they are closed at the end of July for "building maintenance" so my hope is that they're doing so renos and might make some updates, but I really think The Creperie is going to remain a fond memory for me while I go eat elsewhere.
Hi Lindsey.
ReplyDeleteWere you able to visit again since the "building maintenance" and see if it's been upgraded at all?