First Taste – Crepes and Coffee at Astoria’s Cafe LeFrapè

The crepe train continues to move its way through Astoria, and this stop is at newcomer Cafe LeFrapè, a lovely little cafe on Astoria Blvd offering crepes, coffee, panini, and more. The interior is very bright and cheery, with rustic wood paneling and white tile walls. There are a number of chairs and tables up front, a bar of seating on the west wall (with iPads), and a comfy seating area in the back. And the crepes are very tasty.

Crepes, Savory and Sweet, Plus Breakfast

We walked over around noon on Saturday, and even though it was technically after breakfast-time, we found the savory breakfast crepe sounded really appealing. It was a regular crepe filled with turkey, egg, and Gruyere cheese. It arrived folded up and stuffed in a triangular cardboard container, reminiscent of how Japanese crepes are packaged.

However, when I held the cardboard container straight up with the tip at the bottom, it started to leak out liquid from the egg-cheese combo, so I wouldn’t recommend you handle the crepe in this manner. It was easy enough to tear it apart inside the holder, and of course you could just pull it out and eat it unsheathed on the plate.

The mix of turkey, egg, and cheese was a great savory combination, and very satisfying as a light breakfast; it also comes with a small coffee. The crepe itself was soft and easy to cut with the knife—by the way, I usually dislike using plastic utensils, since the knife is usually pretty lame, but these utensils did a great job and were easy to handle. Perhaps a small thing but it made an impression.

They offer a variety of other savory options, with fillings like hummus, asparagus, prosciutto, ham, Gruyere cheese, and more. Savory crepes come with a little salad on the side.

Sweet Crepe, the Classic Lemon and Sugar

Ever since I had a lemon and sugar crepe at Cafe Triskell, I’ve been in love with this simple, straightforward approach in Crepesville. I chose to try the version at Cafe LeFrapè and I wasn’t disappointed.

The crepe had a soft, sweet aroma and the lemon was present but wasn’t overly acidic. There was accompanying whipped cream but I could have done without it (or, I would have preferred they use real whipped cream, not ReddiWhip-esque whipped cream) since it didn’t really add anything to the dish. But overall, I was very happy with this crepe.

Aside from this lemon sugar crepe, sweet crepes include ingredients like chocolate, strawberries, nutella, passion fruit, and cream cheese, and you an also get an addition of ice cream on your crepe for a dollar.

Don’t Forget the Coffee

I tried a coffee drink I don’t normally order, an iced caramel latte. It sure was sweet at first—not a surprise—but after a little while, everything mixed together and balanced out. I liked how the caramel syrup actually tasted like caramel and wasn’t just sweet. This was definitely a treat.

I also tried my dining companion’s iced coffee, which was decent, though I’ll admit I haven’t found a lot of remarkable iced coffee in this town (excluding cold brew and iced espresso drinks).

More on Cafe LeFrapè’s Space

A couple more shots of the interior. I really liked the decals they had on the wall near the WC (non-gender specific, BTW). Here’s a view of the back seating area.

Looking out toward the main dining room.

The art up front—I like how they’ve incorporated the radiator into the picture.

The aforementioned wall art by the WC.

They’ve been open for a few months now, and they’re currently open 9am to 9pm most days. The location on Astoria Blvd is right across the street from the Astoria World Manor. Perhaps Cafe LeFrapè would be a nice place to discuss over coffee and a crepe the goings-on at the latest Community Board meeting. And if you want to order in, they do deliver, and yes, they are on Seamless.

Cafe LeFrapè (25-11 Astoria Blvd, Astoria. 718-626-7600)
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One Comment

AstoriaFriend July 6th, 2016

I recently moved back to Astoria and tried out Le Frappe for lunch. While I enjoyed the hummus crepe I ordered and found the space and decor to be charming, the woman who served me was incredibly unfriendly. Share barely greeted me and didn’t thank me at all for my patronage. And I was one of only two patrons at that moment. The other was an elderly man who didn’t order anything and just sat at a table reading his newspaper and cracking open some peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor. She talked to him, but all but ignored me. I have not gone back and don’t plan to unless they get their act togethet and show some appreciation to their few paying customers.

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