1366 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5R 3H7
(647) 699-8233
Toronto's obsession with niche restaurants seems to have hit an all-time high this year, especially when it comes to desserts. In the last couple of years we've seen everything from restaurants that specialize in eclairs to funnel cakes. One restaurant to jump onto the specialty dessert bandwagon is Craque de Creme, whose menu has variety of creme brûlées.
I couldn't help but get excited when I heard that a cafe devoted to creme brûlée was opening in Toronto. For the uninitiated, creme brûlée is a custard topped with a hard (usually torched), sugary crust on top. It's indulgent and one of my favourite desserts. With over a dozen creme brûlées, including vegan and alcohol based concoctions, there are many yummy flavours to choose from. I went for the boozy route and had the bourbon butterscotch creme brûlée, while my boyfriend had the Vietnamese coffee. I tried both and they did not disappoint. The bourbon in my dessert was much more predominant than I thought it would be. I'm not going to lie, there was a bit of burn with each spoonful. Having never had Vietnamese coffee before I did not know how intense the coffee flavouring would be. This creme brûlée has a rich, almost bitter taste like a whole coffee bean does. Both creme brûlée custards were not overly sweet but had perfectly hard coatings on top that we happily broke into.
Even though Craque de Creme specializes in creme brûlée, they also serve French macarons, Belgian waffles, ice cream and multiple kinds of teas, coffees and hot chocolate. We each ordered a caffe Americano and French macarons. Like the creme brûlées, there are many flavours of French macarons to choose from. I chose black sesame, while my boyfriend got a salted caramel macaron. The black sesame was a unique flavour and you could see the specks of sesame in it, while the salted caramel had the perfect amount of salt added to it. Although the macarons were good, what impressed me the most was how they were decorated. Each maracon was iced to look like various animals. Seriously, who wouldn't want a macaron shaped like a cute tiger?
Like many cafes, Craque de Creme's space is small and quite narrow. It was pretty tight with two power wheelchairs, but the staff were accommodating and made sure we were seated comfortably - or at least comfortably as possible sitting at a small, round table. Since the cafe's space is limited the staff allowed us to place our orders at our table rather than at the cash register, where most customers order.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Craque de Creme but due to its small space I'm not sure that I will go back in the near future.
