It's All A Load Of Crepes At This Fabulous French Restaurant
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Last Updated 22 July 2019
Our first experience of crepes was buying them out of a van on the Champs Elysees in Paris, which has got to be the place to lose our crepe virginity.
So if we think 'crepe', we think street food. We've eaten at a few creperies around London but they've always been cafes so we weren't sure that L'Ami Malo, a modern French creperie near Liverpool Street station, would be fit for fine dining.
Everything about the place is very chic, from the vegetation on the walls to the cylindrical lights that hangs low above our table. We're impressed before we've even seen the menu.
The meal starts strong with goat's cheese croquettes that melt and ooze in our mouths. Normally croquettes fresh from the kitchen take time to cool down, but not so here. The goat's cheese has a strong taste but not so much as to overpower the accompanying beetroot.
But we're here for crepes and their savoury cousins, galettes. We opt for the salmon and the addition of apples, olives and hazelnut feels like a mix that shouldn't work, but we're surprised to find they all play nice with the superb salmon, making for a delicious main.
If we're being very picky then the use of hazelnut does give the galette a crunchier texture that doesn't sit well with its gooey cheesy centre. Thankfully the mushroom galette is much smoother, and better for it.
Dessert has to be a crepe. The four apple crepe plays off the sweetness of the salted caramel ice cream. We're not always sold on salted caramel but in this case it's a perfectly sweet bedfellow for the apples.
For those feeling crepe-d out we can confirm that the Dark Chocolate Delice for dessert is also delicious, with a silky smooth texture that's rich and filling.
This restaurant has a quiet and intimate ambience, it's perfect for couples and the crepes and galettes also make for a seductive double act.
L'Ami Malo, 14 Artillery Passage, Spitalfields, E1 7LJ.