Friday, March 30, 2007

March 28, 2007: Breizoz

Update 15/06/2023: Breizoz is now closed.

Michael and I finished our dinner at Umi Nomiya quite early, and I wasn't feeling completely full. And yeah, OK, I had my eye on a dessert venue on Gertrude St too! It didn't take too much persuasion to get Michael to Breizoz, the local creperie. Compared to the coolly airconditioned and reasonably minimalist vibe of Ume, Breizoz was warmer and had a homely clutter, scattered with fragments of its culinary inspiration of Brittany.

Breizoz offers a long list of savoury and sweet crepes. The savouries tend to include a maximum of three ingredients, and if you're going to be bypassing the ham and the lamb sausage you'll generally be choosing between different combinations of cheese, egg and mushroom (you can see the full menu here). The blackboard special of cheese and leek sounded pretty good too!

But enough of that, let's get to the sweet ones! There are plenty of fruity, alcoholic and otherwise naughty options. I initially chose the rhubarb one with pistachio ice-cream from the specials board, but our waitress apologised that it was no longer available. My second choice, the jaffa crepe ($9), didn't taste at all second class. The crepe was a good measure of crunchy and chewy, the chocolate sauce was of an acceptable quality, but the highlight for me was the candied orange peel: sweet, sour and a little bitter with lots of syrup to spread around. Michael had something with apple, but I barely even glanced at is as I rationed out my orange slivers across the expanse of thin folded batter.

On a quiet Wednesday night a customer might expect a little more attention that usual, but I would still like to commend the service at Breizoz. Our jug of water arrived within seconds of us sitting down, and a nearby table of French visitors were served completely in their mother tongue. Another customer, when his EFTPOS bill was mucked up, received a compensatory packet of meringues to take home, even though he hadn't raised a complaint.

This would have been a sweet and satisfying end to our evening, but we had only completed the edible part. The next few hours were spent at the Forum Theatre under the spell of Jarvis Cocker's charms. A decade after I discovered his band Pulp, I finally had a chance to witness his theatrics in person and it more than lived up my expectations. It will burn brighter in my memory than our dinner or dessert venues but they were worthy support acts. Even better, they're far more accessible for multiple visits!

Address: Cnr of Gertrude and Brunswick Sts, Fitzroy
Ph: 9415 7588
Licensed
Price: sweet crepes $5-$13
Website: www.breizoz.com.au

2 comments:

  1. That sounds like a perfect way to spend a Wednesday night- being spoilt aurally and gastronomically! :)

    I think a light dinner is a godsend if you have your mind set on a wicked dessert! Always wanted to check out Breizoz, but was thwarted everytime because of timing. Have you also been to the one down in Williamstown?

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  2. Nope, haven't visited the Williamstown one but I think the menu would probably be pretty similar.

    If you're a crepe fan, I hope you can eventually find the time to visit Breizoz. :-)

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