Westchester Breakfast Club

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A slice of Paris in Mt. Kisco? Well, that’s what Little Crepe Street is trying to achive, one crepe at a time. On y va! Let’s see how our Sunday morning crepe breakfast turned out.

Attendees: :jump_to_Sylvia:, :jump_to_Shelley:, :jump_to_Andrew:, :jump_to_Reid:, :jump_to_Jeff:

:a_Sylvia:

Ever since I heard about the Little Crepe Street, I actually couldn’t wait to go. Located within walking distance of the Mount Kisco train station, the colorful awnings of the Little Crepe Street and its sister restaurant, Little Kabab Street, were a welcome contrast to the otherwise muted facade along Main Street.

Luckily, as we walked in, a table that could accommodate five people just opened up.

I started with a banana lassi.  It was good.  Not very sweet or heavy, and just the right amount of banana.
I had the Asparagus, Sherried Mushroom, and Gruyere crepe.  That was delicious.  The asparagus was cut into nice small pieces, and the sauce wasn’t just a block of cheese.  It was served with a pinch of arugula.  Literally, just a few leaves.

While the crepe was filling, for research sake, I had to have a sweet crepe too.  So, I settled on the lemon curd and fresh berry crepe.  The tang of the fresh raspberries played well with the sweetness of the lemon curd and blueberries.  It wasn’t overly lemony, and probably could be a touch sweeter to accommodate the very tart (out of season) raspberries.

The czar says:  If I want a good cheese-based crepe, I’ll go to Aurays in Larchmont.  If I want a hearty savory or sweet crepe, Little Crepe Street.  Just not with a large party…

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:a_Shelley:

Last summer I had two crepe-related disappointments: first, I tried to get a genuine crepe at a Bastille Day celebration in Manhattan, but the line for a crepe easily stretched all the way out to Queens, so I left like a sad mime, sans crepe; then I was let down by my overpriced crepe experience at Rue Des Crepes. Would this venture prove to be any different?

Just about.

Although the bbq chicken crepe caught my eye, this was my first meal of the day and I thought that choice might sit a bit too heavy. So instead I opted for a basic ham, cheese, and egg crepe for $7.50.

The crepe looked hearty, much fluffier and filled with more ingredients than the rather sad, flat ham and cheese crepe I had at Rue Des Crepes. Although none of us could identify it, I didn’t mind the drizzles of green and orange sauce on top of the crepe. It added an intriguing (if hard to place) dash of flavor. The crepe itself was well-cooked and the fillings were plentiful. I was satisfied.

But then I just had to go and order dessert. Because I didn’t want to be a total glutton and I wanted to save some pennies, I opted for the “coffee crepe” version of the lemon/sugar crepe. It was $3.00 compared to $4.50 for the full-size dessert crepe. As I saw the full-size dessert crepes that others had ordered come to the table, I was drooling. And then I got my tiny crepe, which didn’t even have any whipped cream. It made me sad. And flavorwise, it was nothing memorable. It was too strong on the lemon, and my lips pursed a bit with every bite. I kind of wish I had skipped dessert, since my entree crepe was satisfying on its own. It’s not that it was a bad crepe; it just didn’t have any satisfying power. The small size crepe is a nice idea, but it would have been nice if it had the same sort of decorative extras as the full-size dessert crepes: A small dollup of whipped cream, a dash of chocolate–something to make it look a bit more special and not just like a flat, neutral color triangle on a small white plate).

As the sole non-coffee-drinker of the WBC, I have to say that I think some people are making a fuss out of the coffee. Since Little Crepe Street is neither a coffee shop nor a breakfast-only establishment, I wouldn’t deduct major points for the coffee. Then again I didn’t have any and even if I did, I would have no basis for comparison. But still.

Overall I think Little Crepe Street is a cute addition to the ever-expanding Mt. Kisco dining scene. And I strongly prefer the crepes here than the ones at Rue Des Crepes. Little Crepe Street offers an intriguing variety of crepe flavors, the crepe shell is delicate, and they’re very generous with the ingredients. Overall, the price is right as well. I’d go back for lunch to give that bbq chicken crepe a try.

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:a_Andrew:

Unfortunately the main thing I remember about Little Crepe Street is watered down French vanilla coffee. I don’t even like French vanilla coffee, but that’s their “regular” coffee. I fear that either they don’t know how to properly brew coffee or they are really cheap with it.

The sausage, egg, and cheese crepe I ordered was fresh, and tasty, although not satisfying. You’d probably have to eat 2 or 3 crepes to be full, and at $7-$8 a crepe, that will make for some expensive breakfast with bad coffee. (Editor’s Note: We’ve determined that Andrew has an unnaturally large appetite; the rest of us were full after one savory crepe and one dessert crepe.) I also had a banana strawberry and nutella crepe and for about the same amount of money, which seemed a little overpriced. The disappointing coffee does not make you want to stay and hang out there. Maybe that’s their plan to get people to eat their crepes and not linger over watery coffee.

The coffee was so disappointing, we had to go to Starbucks afterwards, otherwise the rest of our day would have been ruined.

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:a_Reid:

:a_Jeff:

Maybe it’s me.  It seems that every time I go to a crepe breakfast, I have a negative experience.  The issue is, the negative experience isn’t with the crepes.  It’s with the rest of the experience.
First, let me start off with the actual food in question.  It was good.  I had a sunny side up crepe that had ham and cheese in it.  The egg was more sunny side down, which really is just an over easy egg.  This, I don’t mind.  As long as the egg isn’t over cooked, I can live with it, and this egg wasn’t overcooked.  The crepe was tasty enough.  It was maybe a little less then one would expect for $7.  The dessert crepe with the mango and citrus filling was great, but also cost $7.  Food-wise, it’s exactly what I said:  It was good enough to consume.

The bigger issue I had was the coffee.  You serve breakfast and expect to charge over $2 for coffee and also expect to limit the coffee to one refill?  I don’t care if you’re trying to be French or think you’re bringing a piece of Paris to Mt. Kisco, you can’t charge over $2 for a small cup of coffee you refill once!  The only way that might be acceptable is if your charge $2 for an entire French press coffee that’s left at your table.  Maybe that’s the end of my coffee rant…  BUT IT’S NOT!  The coffee was not good. It was just really water and had little to no flavor.  It was more hot water than anything else.  Bad job guys.  Bad job indeed.  You better believe that first thing I did after breakfast was walk right over to Starbucks and get myself a proper coffee.

I suppose the moral of my story is that I should stay away from crepe-based establishments from now on.

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