Dines Out: Crêpe Affaire

In advance of the forthcoming Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival I have been taking a look at some of the more affordable dining options in the city. Whilst the festival celebrates the very best of local chefs and produce and the finest of dining options too, there are those moments when you crave something simple, and dare I say it, something less demanding on the wallet.

On a recent stop I had a great coffee coupled with the worst cake I have ever encountered, a vegan lemon and ginger cake, yes I know, I might have guessed when I read the word vegan but… well to create a cake that tasted of neither lemon or ginger, and come to that cake, well that’s quite an achievement. The coffee was good I suppose.

A few days ago, in need of a light lunch I ventured into, with a friend, a créperie in the centre of town. As Victoria Wood once said “We crept in, had a crepe, and crept out again”. I like pancakes, in London in the ‘70s, yes that long ago, we would go to Asterix at World’s End. In the ‘90s in Brighton we went to Cripes, how we loved Cripes, now long gone but still remembered.

By their very nature crêpes have to be made fresh

On this occasion Mr S and I went into Crêpe Affaire. It’s not a fast food joint, by their very nature crépes have to be made fresh and take a little time, so we ordered and sat outside in the sun enjoying excellent freshly squeezed orange juice.

Mr S, a demi-vegi, chose the vegetable option in a buckwheat pancake. I had advised buckwheat as in my opinion they have a better flavour especially when coupled with a savoury filling, he loved it. I chose the Mexican chicken in buckwheat too and it was good too. I might have suggested a little more chilli fire in the filling but it was packed with tasty meat and rice and went down well. I will certainly return for those occasions when I need a tasty light lunch that will not break the bank.

Crêpe Affaire, 35 East Street, Brighton, crepeaffaire.com/uk

Tea Time
Most people think of me as a seasoned boozer, and in fairness I do like a tipple, but the truth is I am a tea and coffee drinker, and I particularly like mint teas and the like, but as their popularity has risen I have noted a steady decline in quality. So I was delighted to discover a brand called Hoogly.
So far I have been more than impressed by their mint tea which is very fresh and has visible leaf content rather than dust. I can say the same of their lemon and ginger brew which again has visible content in the silky bags and packs a proper punch of citrus and ginger fire, and it does it fast, you don’t need to bash the bags around to extract the flavour.

For stockists go to hooglytea.com