Welcome to Rue du Montparnasse in Paris’ 14th Arrondisement, the street of some of the best creperies in Paris. What many visitors to Paris may not realize is where the best of the best crepes originate and where they’re most well known — that’d be Brittany in the northwest region of France.
The traditionally prepared crepe is made with buckwheat flour (ble noir) and can be had as a meal, or a dessert. One of my traditions when I first land in Paris, is to find the closest creperie to my hotel and order one to go and it’s almost always the same one – ham with mushrooms (and onions or spinach if they happen to have either on hand). Most creperies are shocked when I say leave out the cheese since cheese is the core ingredient in any savory crepe.
The neighborhood of Montparnasse is full of creperies because the Gare Montparnasse is the train station that services Brittany and many of the inhabitants of that region, have settled in Montparnasse.
The top notch crêperie along this charming street and the one with the longest queues, is the traditionally decorated Le Petit Josselin Creperie, where the speciality is the Couple – two layers of galette with the filling in the middle. Josselin is known to be one of the best on the street although I found that many of the others are equally as good. Note that they’re not open on Mondays and they only take cash.
The sweet Crêpe de Froment is also incredible, which comes in three varieties: classic (honey and lemon or wonderful caramel beurre salé); flambéed with calvados; or a fantasy creation oozing with chocolate, banana, ice cream and whipped cream. The best way to have a savory crepe here is with bowls of their classic cider — go for the brut which is far better than the sweet.
Inside, you feel like you could be in Brittany, the decor is so traditional.
Le Petit Josselin Creperie
59 Rue du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris, France
+33 1 43 22 91 81
Metro: Edgar Quinet or Montparnasse-Bienvenue (Vavin is also relatively closeby)
Creperie Saint-Malo
Also located in the bustling district of la Bastille, right down the road from Le Petit Josselin on rue du Montparnasse is Creperie Saint-Malo. The creperie has brick walls, an old wheel on the wall and is dimly lit. It’s simply adorable and offers a number of savory and sweet creperie offerings. You can sit outside at one of their dainty tables or inside at one of their classic wooden tables.
Crêperie du Pont-Aven
At the Crêperie du Pont-Aven, with its attractive red interior dating back to 1920, try the Gwazenn crêpe comes with scallops, mushrooms and cream; and the Pont-Aven which is filled with salmon, leeks and cream. They also offer eel variations and the Gwazenn crêpe, which comes with scallops, mushrooms and cream.
Plougastel Creperie has been around since 1972 and has a very romantic ambiance compared to many of the other restaurants on the street. The pancake Plougastel is one of the first Breton pancake of Paris. Today, it has preserved the philosophy that its exception: the ingredients are carefully prepared home in respect of the Breton tradition. Savour local specialties accompany Val de Rance cider.
All of the above creperies are located on the same block as Le Petit Josselin. A couple other creperies in other parts of Paris worth noting include the Breizh Cafe in the heart of the Marais and La Creperie Bretonne Fleuri near Bastille.
BREIZH CAFE
109 Rue Vielle du Temple
3rd Arrondisement
Metro: St-Sebastien Froissart
LA CREPERIE BRETONNE FLEURI
67, rue de Charonne
11th Arrondisement
Metro: Charonne, Ledru Rollin or Bastille
Also be sure to see our top Paris restaurants review write-up, which is a fairly extensive look at the best Paris restaurants.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
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