Update: This business has ceased its operations.
Hammer Bay is an outdoor food center near Bay Avenue. Although this eatery has been open for almost a decade, a new dessert stall Paris Penang Café made this place its home in early August.
The proprietor behind this dessert stall is Mr. Brahim, an Algerian-French national who left his IT career in Paris and brought his family to Malaysia to start a new life. An avid dessert lover, Mr. Brahim enjoys cooking for his family. Therefore it seems natural to base his new business around French desserts – crêpes to be specific.
A crêpe is a type of thin pancake with various types of fillings such as jam, peanut butter and fruits. Popularity of crêpes as a street snack is synonymous with Malaysian crave love for roti canai.
The most important aspect is the wheat batter which Mr. Brahim specially prepares at home every day.
To prepare a crêpe, Mr. Brahim starts by applying a thin layer of batter over a flat hot plate.
The batter solidifies in mere seconds. This forms the crust of the crêpe. The crêpe is gently tapped and flipped over to ensure uniform heating.
Once the crêpe reaches a certain degree of dryness, it is time to apply some condiments. My crêpe of choice today is the La Banana Crêpes (RM13.00), which features banana slices, chocolate sauce, plus a choice of either caramel, strawberry jam, peanut butter or Nutella. As I crave for chocolate, I opted for Nutella.
The crêpe is folded once, then fresh slices of banana are added. Subsequently, the crêpe is folded again, making it quarter-sized. A drizzle of chocolate sauce is applied on top, followed by powdered sugar as icing.
On the side, a scoop of vanilla ice cream is provided. This is free of charge as part of Paris Penang’s new opening. Crushed roasted nuts are applied for crunchy sensation. Extra banana slices are left on the side of the plate to be enjoyed with ice cream.
The crêpe is lovely and light on the mouth. This is certainly a heavenly dessert especially if you enjoy pastries.
According to Mr. Brahim, Paris Penang is his stepping stone toward opening a proper restaurant with full table service. He is starting slow to test the public’s reception. When the time is right, he plans to introduce more French and Algerian dishes for Penangites to enjoy.
Address: Persiaran Bayan Indah 2, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 011-1505-8372
Business hours: 6:00pm-1:00am
