Perierra Creperie

(Please read Part 2, posted in March 2012)

Perierra Creperie, a food cart located in the food cart pod near SE 13th Ave and Hawthorne, sells a lovely array of sweet and savory crepes. They also sell smoothies and shakes, if you're in the mood for one of those!

There were so many choices on the menu, I had a hard time choosing which one to try. Ultimately, the adventurous dude in me took over, and I went for a combination I had never seen (or even heard of) before: a sweet crepe filled with walnuts, honey, cardamom, and coriander. The menu said $5.25, but for some unknown reason, the cart operator only charged me $5. But hey, I won't complain about that!

Menu (in July 2011)

The crepe basically came all wrapped in a cone-shape.
I unfolded one of the areas to show the filling.

Perierra serves their crepes in a cone-shaped wrap style, so I not only had to figure out how to take the photo of this dish, I had to also figure out how the heck I was gonna eat it without looking too much like a competitive eater in training.

Anyway, the crepe gets mixed reviews. I liked the textural, nutty contrast of the walnuts, and the honey gave the crepe a little sweetness. However, cardamom and corainder are strong flavors, and their presence hit me pretty hard here -- perhaps too hard. I'm not sure how much the cart operator works with those two spices, but a little can go a very long way, and lacing a delicate crepe with too much cardamom and coriander will just kill the experience. The amount of spice took this crepe out of the sweet realm and into more of a savory feel. The crepe pancake itself, while slightly thicker than what I perceive a crepe to be, was still OK.

If I did it my way, I would have added more honey, a little more walnut, and just a touch of the cardamom and the coriander (or at least not as much as what I ate).

I'm sure there are people out there who must be thinking I'm a moron for not just getting something super appetizing from Perierra (that can be easily knocked out of the park) so I can give it a good score and move on. Sorry folks, it doesn't work that way with me. This is a food adventure, and a food cart lives or dies by its signature dish -- and also by any dish that I feel has potential for an amazing experience if done right.

The cart operator here did not mention a signature item, so I went with something unusual that I thought had potential for a flavor party. I really appreciated what Perierra's cart operator was going for in putting this on the menu. However, the ratio and use of each ingredient in the crepe filling was off-target. Perierra gets points for a wide menu selection and an array of uncommon crepe choices. The execution, however, may need a bit of work.