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closeWednesday, Aug. 19, 2009
Joan of Arc offers sweet and savory crepes
Dallas' Joan of Arc rolls salads, sandwiches and savory crepes into one refreshing package.
By TERESA GUBBINS
Special to dfw.com
The place: Joan of Arc Creperie & Cafe
The cuisine: Crepes, sandwiches, salads
The draw: If you like crepes, you’ll be happy — Joan of Arc is one of the few local places where you can get them. Owner Joan Tri is an entrepreneur who quit the corporate world to open this storefront down the street from Four Seasons Las Colinas.
The food: There are crepes both savory and sweet, plus salads and sandwiches, with a selection of breakfast crepes available on Saturdays and Sundays.
Among entree crepes, the most popular is the Santa Fe ($8.99) with chicken, onions, Cheddar cheese, avocado and salsa, served with sour cream. But the favorite at my table was the Greek ($8.99), filled with chicken, hummus, onions, feta cheese and spinach. It came folded in a fat, tempting, burritolike shape, sprinkled with sliced black olives. The hummus added richness and served as a good canvas to the flavorful onions and sharp feta cheese. Sandwiches included a number of appealingly upscale options such as a vegetarian ($7.29) with spinach, provolone cheese, avocado, pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. But the best pick was the ham and brie ($8.59) with thinly shaved ham, a thick slice of creamy brie cheese, spinach, red onion and dried cranberries. This was a fantastic assemblage of ingredients, all in tip-top shape, whose flavors complemented each other. The only disappointment was the wheat roll, which, though soft in texture, had a slightly stale flavor.
Salads included a decent Caesar ($6.49) with house-made croutons and thick shavings of Parmesan. The Napa Valley ($8.29), with chicken, golden raisins, walnuts and strawberries, would have been better if its field greens didn’t include a handful of droopy, rotted leaves.
The sweet side: Dessert crepes are Joan’s specialty, with fresh fruit and classic ingredients such as Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread. Strawberry-banana bliss ($6.49) had good, fresh slices of banana and strawberry with crushed graham crackers, white chocolate chips and a scoop of Blue Bell strawberry ice cream. The white-chocolate chips sounded like a good idea, but their harder texture didn’t mesh with the rest of the ingredients. And, oddly, the ingredients were simply spread over the top of the crepe, instead of being folded within.
The strawberry-banana Nutella ($6.49) dessert crepe with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream was probably the ideal.
The atmosphere: Black decor gives the narrow space a modern, though dark feeling.
The service: You place your order at the cash register, and your food is brought to your table. The pace is leisurely but the staff is certainly responsive.
The details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. No bar. Smoke-free. Wheelchair-accessible.
4020 N. MacArthur Blvd., #120
Irving
972-870-5632
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