The words “Japanese Parfait” scribbled on a window enticed me into tiny and bare shop on Baldwin Street, just west of Spadina, in Kensington Market. I tried to look in without actually stepping in (I am sometimes intimidated by minimalist spaces), but two very friendly people spotted me before I spotted them and were pointing to the menu above and waving me in.
That is where I met my first Japanese crepe and Japanese parfait.
Owned by Christinn and Carson (they prefer just first names for this story), Millie Creperie (161 Baldwin St.) serves up Japanese Harajuku-style crepes. With different batter options like buckwheat, green tea, and earl grey, the crepes are stuffed with your choice of toppings, gelato, and whipped cream. The Japanese crepe is rolled into a cone so it’s easy to eat with your hands and on the go. As my friend said, “this is way better than a waffle cone.”
The menu is a mix-and-match list allowing you to customize your crepe the way you like. Standards like strawberries, bananas, and blueberries are available, along with Nutella, matcha, and adzuki (red bean paste). Assuming you choose a topping, spread, gelato, and whipped cream, a crepe will run you about $7.50.
The gelato is made off-site by the owners and current flavours include: green tea, chocolate, mango, hazelnut, vanilla and lemon. But you can expect black sesame, and red bean to be added to the list.
Now, that Japanese parfait that piqued my interest in the first place turned out to be stunning concoction of gelato, strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, adzuki beans, corn flakes, chocolate sauce, and Pocky. The mix of unexpected flavours and textures are what make the Japanese parfait. Corn flakes? Yes, corn flakes. It’s not weird. It’s delicious.
Several new menu items are in the test-kitchen phase including a millie crepe cake. Layers of crepes and pastry cream piled high are topped with caramelized sugar and sliced just like any regular cake. Christinn is working on one that she hopes will rival any found in New York or Japan. We’ll find out soon enough.
Follow Millie Creperie on Twitter: @MillieCreperie
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