“Charming” is an adjective I long to use more often. Sometimes it seems like the only things you can depend on as consistently charming are vintage hats, France Gall songs and Colin Firth. So when I walk into Chez Tess Crêperie, I am pleased. It is, in a word, charming.
A small, sweet space, it really does feel like it is chez Tess. It’s like an extra-large dining room that your mom set up in case her 30 kids drop by for pancakes.
I arrive after the lunch rush, before my companion. Greeted warmly, I opt for a cozy table nestled by a window. The server is very attentive, quickly bringing menus and describing the daily specials. My companion arrives shortly, greeted with the same enthusiasm.
The small lunch menu features a handful of appetizers and a host of savory crepes, ranging from vegetarian to ham and chicken to seafood. (There is a wider array of sweet crepes on the weekend brunch menu.)
To start, we order the warm brie ($8.95) and the daily appetizer special, prosciutto-wrapped scallops with a maple glaze. For entrees, ratatouille ($10.95) and crepe cordon bleu ($12.95), plus Tideview cider ($7) and a glass of champagne ($7).
The melting brie is flanked by rows of toasted baguette and thinly sliced crispy green apple. Lush kalamata olives and what must be half a head of roasted garlic finish the enormous plate. The creamy cheese is delicious with the sweet smokiness of earthy garlic and tart apple. The olives are a bit of a mismatch, but it’s a small misstep.
On the other plate, five small scallops are simply presented atop an arugula leaf, drizzled with a maple reduction. The scallops are tasty, with nice caramelization, but a tad over-cooked. The sauce has a nice zip of acidity, though doesn’t pop with maple flavour. The biggest problem here is the absence of prosciutto.
Our server apologizes and quickly insists that the dish will be removed from our bill. (It isn’t until I get home that I realize it wasn’t, but I can’t work myself into an indignant frenzy since I did eat and enjoy what was there.)
The light, golden buckwheat crepes arrive next. Both crepes are served with a salad of mixed leafy greens. The tangy vinaigrette is deliciously set off with a swipe through the decorative drizzles of balsamic on the plate.
Generous, meaty portions of honey ham and roasted chicken are rolled into the cordon bleu with bright cherry tomatoes. Grated Swiss cheese sits on top, spilling into a puddle of creamy Dijon dressing. It’s rich and satisfying without being heavy.
The ratatouille crepe is folded like a little gift, packed with tender slices of marinated eggplant and zucchini, topped with caramelized onions. Tomato appears absent; most of the flavour comes from the sweetness of the feathery roasted red pepper sauce and the wonderful browned sugar of the onions.
Not content with exploring just the savoury crepes, we sample the sweet by splitting the Euro ($10.95) for dessert, with a coffee each ($1.85). Filled with a classic combination of banana and Nutella, the vanilla crepe is beautifully presented after being halved on two plates by our thoughtful server. Nutella fans around a little crepe mountain, which is covered with a light maple-bourbon whipped cream and a sprinkle of toasted almonds. It’s nutty and chocolatey without being oversweet.
It’s not just the delicious food that will bring me back to Chez Tess. The exceptional service really made this restaurant live up to the hopes I had walking through the door. I am charmed, I’m sure.
Chez Tess Crêperie
5687 Charles Street
406-3133
Tue-Thur 11:30-8:30 Fri-Sat 11:30-10pm Sun 9am-3pm
This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2010.
I ate at this place. It wasn’t as good as I would have hoped. It’s loud, too small and the food was less then delicious.
$11 for a dessert seems rather high for what amounts to pancake batter, bananas, Nutella and some whipped cream, which I can easily make myself, if I’m paying that much for a dessert I want it to be a souffle, or an involved pastry. I know there is more overhead with running a restaurant, but I rather get my crepe for $4 at the market…
I have to agree…I have only been once so I am willing to give it another go, but my first experience was nothing memorable. Well I didn’t mind the smallness and loudness of the place the food just wasnt enjoyable.
Took a friend 2 weeks ago–loved it, from the atmosphere, to the great beers on offer (Garrison), to the tasty crepes themselves & Greek salad. Will definitely return, but my only gripe is why there is no vegan option for crepes: if I can whip them up at home egg & dairy free, a trained Chef should be able to.
Ate at Chez Tess last week. Delicious food, lovely presentation, great service, nice atmosphere.
We had a table of 6 and everyone said the food was ok but expensive.We found the noise too much to make it enjoyable.I doubt we will go back.
My uncle runs a crêperie in Montréal, and I grew up eating and working there. I moved to Halifax recently, and discovered that there was a crêperie in town, so of course I went. I was sadly disspointed. First of all, the “buckwheat” crêpes weren’t even made of buckwheat flour, and the crêpes that we did get were spongy and soggy. When I received my plate, I asked the server why the crêpe was folded up to look like a wrap, and he said, “it’s the French style.” I’m sorry, but I’m French, and no one makes wraps out of crêpes! And to top it all off, I had to pay 15$ for a pancake with some filling! The same crêpe would have cost 4$ at my uncle’s place or any crêperie in Québec (and even much less in France). I don’t know if they are putting gold leaf or diamonds dust in their crêpes, but to charge people that much money for flour, eggs, and cream just seems silly. Perhaps it’s because Halifax doesn’t seem to have many restaurants that do French food, that people accept paying these prices simply because they think they’re getting something “special”. Ouf…I’ll never be going there again. I could take that money and make a meal for 4 out of it!
Well I’ve been to Chez Tess more than once. I have had a wonderful experience every time. It’s as much about the people working there and the ambiance, as it is about the way the crepes are wrapped or how much they cost.
Frenchdiner may need to wait until they’ve grown up a bit and stop comparing apples to oranges. If one is that unhappy, one should speak to the owner or manager…….
I found Chez Tess to be very disapointing.The food was okay at best, served on a dirty plate on a wobbly table which had me spill my drink several times. The service was nice, although the waitress couldn’t remeber my order and had to be reminded 3 times. A quick glimpse at the kitchen staff made me wonder about the cleanliness of the food I was eating. Over all, it was just another restaurant with run of the mill generic service and food. Nothing to be excited about.
I ate at Chez Tess once and the food, while OK was way overpriced. i had the beef crepe and it was not good and way, way overpriced, Lunch for 2 was $45 without any alcohol. I would not go back.
Went last (Saturday) night. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Great music and atmosphere. Our server was timely and friendly, just waiting to be asked about anything on the menu. I thought the presentation was excellent–I’d say on par with Fid. I tried the smoked salmon crepe after an appetizer of brie. The brie was ok but it could have been accompanied with more bread. The salmon on the other hand was great–I never imagined caramelized onions and smoked salmon would compliment each other so well.
Also noteworthy: our server didn’t have any problems/attitude upon our producing a slip from Halifax Restaurant Deals. It was a nice night so we decided to ride our bikes rather than drive, and locked them up on a parking sign right in front of CT. As we were doing this I wondered whether they’d prefer if we put them somewhere else, but any thoughts in this vein were quashed as our server said goodbye at the door and remarked “night night for a ride!”