Slow and Savoury: I Feel Like Crepe

In line for a late night screening at the Royal Cinema, I couldn't help but notice the newest café to open shop in Little Italy. "I Feel Like Crêpe", proudly shows off its odd little name on a bold red storefront sign and welcomes patrons with big bright windows and a slick European-style café interior.

I'm intrigued and return the following evening with friends to see what this spot has to offer.

While the overall look of I Feel Like Crêpe bears resemblance to Queen West's, Café Crêpe, the menu does offer a different line-up of dishes.

Both sweet and savoury crêpes fill most of the menu along with a tiny grilled panini section and a list of café type drinks. The selection of crêpes is impressively diverse and creatively put together with each being given personal names like, Margot, Emilie, and Inês on the sweet side and Leopold, Claude and Philippe on the savoury.

We order up some Illy coffee ($1.80) and San Pellegrino mineral water ($2.50) along with Celeste ($7), Noele ($8) and feisty Léon ($8).

First off, because it has to be said: it was a good thing the menu was so entertaining, 'cause the service is achingly slow. We waited a half-hour for some attention and when we did finally place the order, we waited some 30-40 minutes for our crêpes to arrive.

In between and afterwards, we were faced with very friendly but slightly confused or nervous staff. Hopefully this is just a group of rookies finding their footing in a new café.

Once the food arrived, everyone agreed we could see past the slowness this time around.

Celeste (pictured at the top) is the crowd favourite: Nutella, strawberries and banana wrapped up in a warm crêpe for $7. With plenty of fruit and Nutella both inside and out, she didn't disappoint.

Noele is the seemingly older, more sophisticated sister to Celeste. The combination of rich dark chocolate and strawberries is similar but much more decadent.

And on the savoury side of things, Léon is an instant hit with everyone. Filled with spicy sausage, roasted red peppers, eggplant spread and feta cheese, this crepe is the poster-boy for "savoury".

And that is where I Feel Like Crêpe really shines. Despite being a big fan of Café Crêpe on Queen, the one area of their menu I've never quite been satisfied with is their savoury crepes. Most are too plain or just repeat the same few ingredients in different combinations. At I Feel Like Crêpe, each savoury crêpe really has a completely different personality and is filled enough to make for a nice light meal.

I plan to head back for brunch this weekend and try out an Etienne (grilled asparagus and hollaindaise sauce) or perhaps even the Lazar (smoked salmon, cream cheese and Spanish onion).

Let's just hope the brunch order makes it to the table before dinner.