Crêpeaffaire opened at the end of October on the bustling Banbury Road which runs through Summertown in North Oxford. After a chilled out day at home, I headed there with my three kids to check it out as a Feb half term afternoon treat.
Bright and airy from the full length windows, it’s minimalist and urban in style with an open plan kitchen. Watching our food being prepared and cooked is always a highlight for my kids and they love to do this in the nearby family favourite restaurant Mamma Mia. There’s something quite mesmerizing about watching the crepe pancakes being swirled out to cover the hot plate.
As a creperie, the menu is as you can imagine very pancake focused. They are the thin crepes rather than the thick fluffy American style. There are breakfast, sweet and savoury options. You essentially have the same crepe and then it’s all about choosing the filling and toppings.
My youngest has a simple Nutella pancake, my 9 year old went all out for the Ultimate Nutella so he could have whipped cream and ice cream too. My eldest quickly chose the Oreo and I went for the sophisticated Ferrero Rocher. Ingredients and calorie information is all available from their menu online but probably best not to look at that!
The pancakes were flippin’ delicious and a meal in themselves so pick your time of day wisely. I’m not sure when my kids will be hungry enough for dinner and they’re on a sugar comedown while I write up this review.
Once thing I would mention, especially if you’re going with a large group, is that they can only make two pancakes at a time. As they’re thin, they quick to cook, however it did feel a bit disjointed with food arriving at different times. The first two pancakes came together and then a third arrived and I’m not sure if they forgot about my eldest but his didn’t arrive until I’d finished mine. It wasn’t a huge delay but a little frustrating. We could see them being prepared from where we were sat and I’d say the guy doing it wasn’t the best at multi tasking as he paused every time he said something to his colleague and all the pauses seem to add up.
If you’re gluten free or vegan, they have options to cover that too. While the menu is mostly crepes with a wide range of flavours and toppings, they also milkshakes, hot drinks and a bar.
An absolute bonus is a good sized play area for younger kids at the back of Crêpeaffaire, I think my face must have lit up with relief when I saw it. It meant my youngest didn’t have to sit fidgeting in his seat and could move around freely building a giant Lego house and ride on some bouncy hoppers. There’s plenty of space in general so you could easily pop in here with toddlers and mum friends and have a coffee at the back with space for pushchairs.
