I've been there before, but never alone. Mostly with friends, a group of five or more, always had space for us. I've even gone on a first date there, a last date too. The place, I wouldn't call small or too big, it seems like a right sized restaurant. Some low to the ground padded booths in the front for a more intimate setting. They seated me on the other side, a two-person table, there were a few couples there as well, and a crew of six twenty somethings dressed for a special occasion. The couple in front of me looked like they were on a date, she laughed and played with her hair and the back on his head looked like the back of a head, His posture was less than confident. The two-person table to the left of me was empty, I've sat there before, I wasn't sitting there today though, and neither was she. I looked through the menu.
They have the type of menu that's unforgettable. It has pictures, Its formatted well, is in a three ring binder and curtails style and just enough class to be accessible for anyone. On my drive there, the silly thought crossed my mind for a moment that she might be there, silly thoughts are commonplace here, The light fixtures are little tea pots and steaming cups of something hollow out the backs of the chairs. I flipped though the tea section, its massive, takes up like 20 pages easily, Many styles of tea and many flavors for each. I went with the Silver needle, Harvested only a few days each spring, Silver needle is the highest grade of white tea and one of the rarest teas in the world. It's clear, delicate, Nectar-like infusion has an evanescent sweetness and a mellow, lingering finish. At least that's what the menu says, a cup was $10.95. It tasted just the way they described it, I would drink this tea every day if I could afford it, or one of their teas, there are so many options, If you're a fan of tasty caffeinated beverages this place is gold. The have Decaf teas as well, these don't interest me personally, but they have them. I flipped through straight to the desserts.
A good friend told me about their walnut chocolate cake many times, I went to order it once before, but they were out of stock then. But today, today they have a piece, I ordered it first. I also ordered the Nalesniki, Fried crepes with ricotta and fruits of your choice, I went with blueberry, blackberry, raspberry and of course strawberry. A light vanilla cream, chocolate drizzle and a sprinkle of powdered sugar topped it. It came in four pieces, rolled up with the strawberries on top and the other berries inside of each, at first I thought they screwed me on the berries, Never judge a Nalesniki by its cover. The Chocolate walnut cake was shaped like the bottom half of an ostrich egg, The inside was moist and dense, and a high quality chocolate flavor. It was encrusted with chopped walnuts, a drizzling of chocolate and finally a powdering of powdered sugar. I love powdered sugar. I see now why my friend orders a piece each time he comes here, I'm stealing his idea.
From my own experiences here, I know for a fact. The crepes are bangin. They're larger than you'd expect and always filled with the freshest ingredients. They have a large variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. From salmon to mussels, stroganoff to steak strips, Potato cakes to cream puffs! There are the safe choices and the choices with names from a language I don't recognize. Vareniki and Pelmeni dumplings to Grenki and Khachapuri, they all sound delicious from their respective descriptions, Thankfully the menu has plenty of pictures too. There is also a ton of different coffees to choose from, Next time I plan on trying their Matcha and golden turmeric latte. My pinky starts to rise as I type that last one but I hold it down. I got just the right amount of check ins from my waitress too, She seemed like she was angry at something, it reminded me of her. Or it may have just been her eastern European accent which I liked a little too much. I plan on coming back here for certain, you wouldn't expect it for where its located. It's just a piece of the areas culture jumping out at you. High quality food, High quality tea at an appropriate cost. Just another sliver of what the area has to offer, I'm going to check out the supermarket down the street soon.
261 Union Street West Springfield, MA 01089 - (413) 304-2052
Crepesteahouse.com/
