Best of Both Worlds

I have no qualms forking over good money for good food.  But there's something all too satisfying when you're able to find good food for an excellent price.  At Creperie Josselin, eating from the 10 lunch prefix menu almost feels like a crime.  For 10, they provide their traditional jambon (ham), fromage (cheese), and oeuf (egg) crepe, an option of a simple dessert crepe or sorbet, and a boisson (drink).  And with the drink, you can get their famous cider, a glass of wine, or if you're boring (like me), a bottle of apple juice.  And while everybody around me was getting a specialty crepe off the traditional menu (which were priced more appropriately at about 6-9 for just a meal crepe), the temptation of satisfying myself on just 10 was too great an opportunity to pass up.

At first glance, the savory crepe makes you do a double take because it's not what you expect from a savory crepe.  its a thick buckwheat crepe batter that is slightly crisped and stuffed with all the savory ingredients (in this case cheese, egg, and ham).  There is no sauce glazed over the crepe nor do any fancy decorations adorn the top, but none of that is needed as simple and to the point seem to be the theme of this creperie.  And this no frills crepe was actually quite delicious.  The buckwheat crepe batter is not as smooth as a traditional batter, but provides a little more grainy taste.  It is soft at the heart of the crepe where all the ingredients are and crispy on the edges, even until the very last bite.  The combination of cheese, egg, and ham within the crepe is gooey and flavorful, but not too greasy as sometimes this combination is.  I was able to scarf down the entire crepe and not feel heavy or bloated at the end.

Which was definitely a good thing because I still had dessert coming up.  In the mood for something citrusy, I went with the lemon crepe.  The dessert crepe came on the more traditional egg based batter and was stuffed with a lemon glaze and sprinkled with sugar.  The batter itself was fluffy and could be peeled in layers, almost reminding me of an omelet where the egg is rolled in thin layers over and over.  The lemon glazing was sweet and citrusy and the sugar added some crunch.  The dessert was also light and delectable as the whole thing disappeared in no time.

The end of a good meal is usually when the smiling ends as the waiter brings the l'addition (check/bill) and the penalties of a delicious meal, but not at Creperie Josselin where great, authentic French crepes and friendly service can all be bought for a bargain 10 during lunchtime.

Creperie Josselin

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67 Rue du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris, France

Metro: Edgar Quinet, Vavin, or Montparnasse Bievenue

When in Paris, eat crepes

So I've already reviewed a local crepe stand, but this time, we go deep into the Latin Quarters to eat some authentic sit-down restaurant type crepes at La Petite Tour.  The sit-down restaurant has an extremely friendly (and English speaking) staff who will kindly escort you to a great upstairs seated area that has open windows and a view into the rest of the Latin Quarters.

We started off our meal with a bottle of supposedly famous alcoholic apple cider.  Since I'm not used to the flavor of alcohol too much we got a the DOUX or a light smooth version of the bottle with only 2.5% alcohol as opposed to the darker, raw version with an unknown percentage of alcohol.  (I only know the percentage because the waiter kept assuring us that this bottle was a light version with only 2.5%...constantly).  The 75cL bottle that was good for 2 cupfuls for each of the three people present set us back only €11 and was actually pretty good.  After getting by the initial sip and shock of alcoholic after taste, I resumed to almost chugging the rest of my cup down thinking I could quench my thirst with this apple cider.  

As for the main entree, there is a wide selection of crepes ranging from the simple ham and cheese to more unique combinations under the house specialties list.  I have a tendency to try the house specials when I go to a new place and I wasn't about to leave La Petit Tour without trying their specialty crepes. So out of the four they had, I went with the recommendation of a friend and useful Paris blog and chose the “Forrestière” which had ground steak, lots of mushrooms, goat and emmental cheese, dairy cream, and garlic. I've had savory crepes before but as usual, the French surprised me once more with a crepe that came out looking more like a casserole:

Interestingly enough,I found the crepe under that mound of cheese.  The taste was definitely beefy and rich with the steak, and cheese overpowering much of the garlic and  mushroom.  The crepe batter itself didn't have too much flavor (or was again overpowered) and had a more grainy texture and dark color that made me wonder if it was wheat-based.  The crepe was solid in taste overall but is definitely not for those with a light palette.  I had a taste of my friends specialty crepe that had ham and I think I might have preferred the lighter ham flavor over the heavy steak.  


But on to dessert! I chose again a specialty crepe as opposed to a standard nutella and banana crepe that came with apples, walnuts, vanilla ice cream, and flaming glaze.  The flaming glaze was another surprise where our waiter brought out our crepe, doused it with alcohol and lit the entire thing on fire.  Pretty confusing and amazing at the same time.  The fire was too sudden and short to capture on picture or video.  The crepe did look something like this before we demolished it though:

The texture of the crepe was excellent with the right amount of fluffy layers.  Ice cream was ice cream and the apples and walnuts tasted like well...apples and walnuts.  Everything about this dessert crepe would have been great if it weren't for the darned flaming glaze.  You see, the alcohol (I'm gonna guess rum) that was doused over the entirety of our crepe to set it on fire for a fleeting 2 seconds definitely overpowered the delicate taste of everything else and since again, I'm not a big proponent of an alcoholic flavor, this dessert crepe was definitely a miss.  


However, overall, La Petite Tour is a gem of a crepe place that offers a huge selection of crepes where I just happened to order the wrong one.  I would definitely go back though to try their other selections of crepes, one without a flaming glaze.  


La Petite Tour

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6 Rue Grégoire de Tours, 75006 Paris, Île-de-France, France
Metro: Mabillon or Odeon

Starting Local

Before even coming to Paris, the one thing our professor would always talk about is the local crepe shop right across the street from our hotel.   The shop is nestled right between Le Pierrot and Le 15 Cafe and is easy to miss except for the sweet and savory smells that waft out of this small stall once the occasional crepe order has been placed.  Without a real name to define the stall, this shop is definitely a local attraction.

As for the actual crepes, they offer a variety of sweet as well as savory crepes.  On the savory crepes, you can get anything from cheese, mushroom, tomatoes, basil, chicken, turkey, chorizo, bacon, ham, and fried egg.  Salt and pepper is optional but the "special" hot sauce is a must that adds a great flavor to the crepe.  The savory crepes here can range anywhere between €3-5 depending on the number of toppings.

The sweet crepes are a little more limited compared (surprisingly) with bananas usually being the only fresh fruit available.  There are however options of heaping mounds of nutella as well as coconut shavings, strawberry/blueberry/orange jam, almond shavings, and even drops of alcohol.

Overall, this local crepe shop is a plus.  While the crepe batter may not always be fresh (there's usually a stack of pre-made crepes that are quickly heated up) and the selection of fresh fruits is marginal (seems to be like that with all crepe shops in Paris though as fresh fruit is definitely an expensive delicacy), the proximity of the shop to the hotel as well as its accessible hours (10am-2am) make it a place i frequent often to satisfy midnight (or 1am) cravings of hunger (usually with a savory crepe).  But I think Ryo-san back home at Harajuku Crepes would be pleased to know that his dessert crepes are still my favorite.

So far i have tried the following combinations:
-nutella/banana
-ham, cheese, tomato, mushroom
-chicken, cheese, egg, tomato
-bacon, mozzarella, tomato 



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On Boulevard de Grenelle between Le Pierrot and Le 15 Cafe
Open 10am - 2am
Metro:  La Motte-Picquet Grenelle