Mr Crepe aa51 Davis Square
Somerville, MA
While my friend had an appointment at Harvard Vanguard I decided to go get a little breakfast. Passing on the ubiquitous Au Bon Pain in the building I strolled down to Davis Square and stopped at Mr Crepe. Now to be fair I've had crepes in Paris, Northern France, Montreal and Ottawa so needless to say I've been spoiled which is why I reviewed this so sharply.
My low rating is not based around comparing though it's more based on value and that is where Mr Crepe falls flat (pardon the pun). Walking in my first impression is that it's quite chaotic and there was only one other person in here. There were plenty of seats but frankly none were especially cleanly. That's inexcusable for such a slow time. The menu is simple enough with a mix of Sweet and Savory crepes, and something called Super Crepes which with all their ingredients seemed impossible to be stuffed into one crepe. I am a firm believer that simple is best with crepes so I opted for a Sweet Crepe with Banana and Nutella. To accompany it I got an unsweetened Raspberry Iced Tea.
The food arrived quick enough, the tea was served in a frosted glass mug. Which was odd not bad just odd. Probably would have made a better impact on a hot day then on this brisk morning. The crepe came out with a dash of powdered sugar. While there was any number of jams and preserves I could have had them add for free* I decided to keep it simple.
The crepe was made with thin slices of banana that were perfectly warmed to a firm custard like consistency and a generous but not too liberal amount of Nutella. Now you can't go wrong with Banana unless its a bad one and Nutella comes straight out of a jar so really they only thing they really had to focus on was the crepe. It was underwhelming really. A little disappointing frankly; I expected better. This seemed more like something I would get a place that only made crepes as a special or novelty item. Certainly not the calling card of the business. While not tough it was definitely not delicate, almost rubbery.
With only two of us in the place I would think it would almost be given that they would be perfect. What really made me click the 2 stars though was the value. Tea, 1/4 of a banana, batter and a smear of Nutella all came to $10. A little steep for what it was.
Had the crepe been perfect then maybe I would have enjoyed the splurge more. Alas it was not and it put a dent in the wallet. There were crepes on the menu alone that rivaled $9 with all its fillings definitely not cheap and not worth the money. Crepes are not suppose to be heavy on the wallet or the palette.
If your in Boston and want a crepe steer yourself to Paris in Coolidge Corner instead.
