A little back story, back during the summer break before my senior year in college, I was lucky enough to get invited to visit England with my friends family. It was such an amazing experience. Until then, I had never really travelled beyond the Caribbean. While in England, we decided to visit a few days in Paris. It was there, from a little hut on the streets of Paris, that I had my first ever crepe: A simple lemon sugar. The flavor was anything less than simple. Fresh squeezed lemons added a strong, tart citrus punch. What I can assume was real, natural white sugar was sprinkled onto the light crepe. Très Magnifique! Jump forward a few years. I have tried crepes from numerous places since my trip to Paris, and nothing has ever come close. Granted, some of those places were in malls and food courts, but come on! Nobody else can pour sugar and squeeze a lemon onto some dough?! My expectations when stopping at Bar Suzette's setup in the middle of Manhattan were unfortunately low. There it was though… "Lemon, Butter & Sugar -$6."
I was second in line behind a woman getting a chicken crepe and a Nutella with banana crepe; both looked delicious (I'm not sure what the specifics of the chicken crepe were, but the woman's first bite brought out a response which can only be referred to as a food-gasm). The guy making all of the crepes was explaining that almost all of the ingredients are from NY and as healthy and natural as you can get.
With a quick pour and spin of the crepe batter, I'm ready for my fillings. Out comes a block of butter which gets rubbed onto the folded crepe, then the natural white sugar is liberally applied, and finally the fresh squee…wait a second. That's not a lemon! It's a squeeze bottle with some pale yellow sauce in it. Hmmmm. Okay, they obviously know what they're doing. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Folded up and in my hands, the smell is intoxicating. I take a deep breath and cross my fingers and take my first bite……I was definitely pleased. Can it contend with my authentic crepe from Paris? No. BUT, it is by far the closest I have had since then. The consistency of the actual crepe was a delicious blend of crispy and chewy. The sugar covered every bite and helped the crepe melt in your mouth. The only real issue I had was with the "lemon" sauce. It didn't have that punch that I was hoping for the sharp tartness had been taken away. With fresh lemon juice, it seeps into the dough of the crepe so it covers evenly. I thought the lemon sauce was doing the same until I reached the last few bites. It turns out, all of the sauce collected in the bottom of my crepe. Oh well! Now don't get me wrong…the crepe was very good. $6 good? Probably not. But I would easily go back to try some of their other flavors. My high expectations are to blame for the less than perfect review. So my journey continues for New York's best crepe. Until then, Bar Suzette will be my go to place.
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Bar Suzette: World Crepe Bar
75 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011
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