Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Hard Sel


i was at a press lunch for Pierre when a seemingly knowledgeable gentleman from a French food publication recommended Fleur de Sel as the best creperie in town. You usually can trust Frenchmen about French foods, so off I went to the building best known as "the place Cher2 is" to indulge in some savoury specimens. We had Le Super Complete and I THINK La Bressoise... everyone has Le Super Complete, if the photos on Openrice are any indication, but I was far from impressed. I think a crepe with some moisture is more up my alley, there's no fun if the crepe base isn't soaked in sauces. That said, there basically aren't too many creperies in Hong Kong (does Simplicity on Hollywood count?) so if you're in Causeway Bay and craving a crepe, it's not a bad option, if you can get a table. The space is fairly tight and was packed the day we arrived -- they tried to turn us away but we suggested we could -- gasp! -- wait for a table, and they obliged. I was kind of cranky at the end because I didn't like my crepe so I didn't bother trying the sweet options, but they did look good; I should go back for a crepe suzette before I cross this off my list. If you do go, skip Le Super Complete (don't buy the hype!) and go for one of the pricier non-basics, like anything with ratatouille. Or the galettes. Or ice cream, because you can never go wrong with ice cream.

Fleur de Sel is at 2J, Po Foo Building, 84 - 94 Percival Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.





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8 comments:

  1. I've been to Fleur de Sel once and found the galettes and crepes very good. I took LA Super Complete also, which is the basic and traditionnal galette you will find in every creperie, and the crepe Kinder as a sweet (you even get to keep the surprise ;o) ).
    Actually, "crepes de ble noir" or galettes are not meant to be soaked in sauces, traditionnally you should have them with simple indredients like ham, eggs, cheese.I should know, I'm from Brittany in France where crepes are from.
    So I disagree with you, if you go to Fleur de Sel or La Creperie in Wanchai, which are the best 2 creperies in HK, go for a traditionnal galette and a sweet crepe. And seriously, what's the point of going to a creperie to have ice-cream ??

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  2. Apparently you just know nothing about Crepes. You should probably restrain yourself from writhing articles about something you don't know.
    First, crepe base is not supposed to be soaked in sauces. If you want to eat a soup send don't look for a creperie...
    Then crepe should be eaten with ratatouille. This is probably an invention from the french chef to raise interest with something everyone knows since Disney made a film out of ratatouille.
    I went to La fleur de sel once. Service was ok, food was good and I didnt wait to much. By the way, being packed in a restaurant in HK is pretty common. I know that this is helping to add a line to your article but it doesnt bring anything pertinent...

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  3. My life is crap. and so is your article.

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  4. la France aux francais et les crepes aux Bretons!

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  5. Who would have thought crepes would be such a hot topic? I can't personally talk about the quality of the crepes as it was ShoeGeek who went to the Fleur de Sel but this is merely an opinion so not quite sure why there is such a strong reaction. As ShoeGeek says, she prefers something different and there's nothing wrong with that is there?

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  6. While I don't think people should be insulting you on this site, I understand the sentiment.
    ShoeGeek can "prefer something different", but she seems to be criticizing a place for doing something right.
    If she personally likes sauce on her crepes that's fine, but that's not the way they're usually prepared.
    The buckwheat-flour galette picture above looks spot on in terms of texture -- just like what you would get in France.
    If anything, it looks like there's too much filling in the HK version. Galettes are simple foods and come with basic eggs / ham / cheese -- sans sauce.
    My husband's a French chef from Normandy. I know that if we got savory crepes covered in sauce, we'd complain!
    As for sweet crepes (which are not made with buckwheat) I prefer the simplest ones, like with lemon juice and a sprinkling of sugar. Sometimes I make these at home.

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  7. I don't mean to be hard on you, though. I get insulting comments on my blog from anonymous people, too, and it's annoying.

    As you know, I generally love your site. Except that it constantly makes me want to spend my hard-earned money on accessories!

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  8. I guess all these comments came a while ago, but I should probably still respond.

    No, I'm not an expert on authentic French crepes. I'm not an expert on anything that we write about either, really. But I do believe that food is an emotional experience, a deeply personal one, and I have also never followed the oh-so-Hong Kong mantra that quality and authenticity are the same thing. I like sauce on everything I eat, I think crab rangoon is a legitimate Chinese dish and I would totally put mayonnaise in my tacos.

    Maybe it's incorrect to position this post as a review, given that I am apparently in no position to do so, but more as a comment that, authentic or not, the crepes I had that day were REALLY DRY. So what I should have said instead of "get your crepes covered in sauce" is "order yourself a beverage so you don't choke".

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