Ninas crepes on First Hill

Granted, I only had a simple caramel crepe, but if a supposed creperie can't get that right, then there really isn't any point.

I stopped in early in the morning (before 7) in the mood for a simple sweet crepe. Not finding either of my old standbys on the menu (crepe with butter and sugar, or crepe with butter and honey), I opted for the crepe with butter and "Imported European Caramel". Which came in a can. And tasted like tin. Nice.

So - she makes the crepe. Except that she has to make it twice, because she didn't have all of her equipment up front ready waiting for her when she poured the batter, and wasted a crepe in her attempt to smooth it over the element. All in all, she spent ten minutes making a crepe that it would have taken most others three.

All that would have been worth it had the crepe itself tasted fine. As mentioned before, the caramel topping had a tinny aftertaste to it. The crepe itself tasted vaguely like cardboard - not appetizing at all.

La Cote

Unfortunately, it's been a while since my wife and I visited this restaurant. We walked here during a rare warm early spring day for brunch, and were not disappointed. I can tell you that both the savory and sweet crepes that we had were excellent, and the waiter's wine recommendations for each crepe were spot-on. Good thing we had the walk back during which to sober up a bit!


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Anita's Crepes in Ballard

Carrie I first tried Anita's early last summer at the market in Ballard. We were looking for alternative caterers for our wedding, and were very interested in Anita's. We each tried a sweet and savory crepe at the stand, and immediately inquired about the possibility of having them cater our wedding; unfortunately, since they used gas for their cooking, and we were holding our wedding indoors, we had to give them a pass.

The reason I bring this up is to point out that when we went to the restaurant, we did so not just with high hopes, but with expectations based on past experience. Which is what made the actual experience in the restaurant all the more painful for the two of us.

I ordered Anita's Breakfast with over-medium eggs, sausage and a cinnamon crepe; Carrie had the Wild Mushrooms and Gruyer crepe. The flavors of her crepe were flat and a bit muddles, while the Gruyer had a rather weak, watery composition. My plate arrived with the eggs, sausage and crepe all touching the same buttery creme fraiche topping that should have been reserved for the crepe, which was a bit too thick and doughy for my liking. The eggs were decently prepared, and the sausage was quite good - but that had little to do with the skill of the cooks, and more with the culinary acumen of whoever ordered that particular brand.

The service was decent; the waitress was prompt with getting our drinks to us, although I did have to bug her for a warm up for my wife's coffee. The place was fairly busy, and the cooks seemed to be ill-equipped for the sheer volume.

All in all, we've both had better elsewhere, and were disappointed that, at least for us, Anita's had seemed to miss a few beats in the transition from being a stand-based business to a fixed-location one