It was a no-brainer: if you go to Takeshita Dori in Harajuku, do NOT miss trying out the crêpes. And you have lots of choices, too, since there are many “crêpe stores” on this famous street. However, the most popular, and is touted as the “quintessential Harajuku street food“, is a crêpe sold by Marion Crêpes.
Marion Crêpes is a patisserie (yeah, I don’t know if the one on the pic below is another acceptable way to spell the word) started out as a food truck all the way back in 1976, which makes it around 38 years old now. That is quite a long time, especially for a crêpe shop.
It now has a lot of franchises in major cities all over the world, including Singapore, San Diego and San Jose in the U.S.
The Marion Crêpes in Harajuku is located on the left side of Takeshita Dori (if you’re coming from the main entrance of the street), and right across the Matsumoto Kiyoshi (or MatsuKiyo) outlet. On another side, it is facing Angel Hearts Crêpes… another crêpe shop. Which was noticeably empty while Marion had a queue.
But, really, it’s difficult to miss when you’re walking the street.
When I arrived, I wasn’t really all that hungry, because I managed to grab a bite to eat at the Visitor’s area at the Kawaguchiko Station. But there were soooo many choices, the temptation was simply too great!
I think I stood there for a good 5 minutes or so, debating what to get. Because I love matcha, and I also love azuki. Arrgghh. The dilemma!
But then I saw that there was a ranking of sorts, the best and the bestseller of the store. I figured I should just try the #1, then walk down the street again, then get another one when I get back because (hopefully) I’d be hungry by then.
The prices of the crêpes vary, depending on the flavor, I supposed. Here’s No. 1, the Custard Chocolate Special. The one I ordered. The verdict? LOVED. IT. And I’m not even a huge fan of custard or chocolate!
Number 2 is the Banana Chocolate Whipped Cream. It looked quite so-so to me. But hey, it ranked second, so I suppose it’s pretty special, eh?
Number 3 is the Strawberry Chocolate Whipped Cream. Coming from a place where strawberries are abundant, I wasn’t really impressed, but the presentation was WOW. And I am quite aware how the Japanese love their ichigo. (Darn. I should’ve tried their strawberries… but they were sooooo pricey!)
Number 4 is the Strawberry Cheesecake Melba. NOW you’re talking.
I saw several crêpes with the Melba word attached to it and, unschooled in culinary arts that I am, I had to look it up.
Melba is a dessert presumably derived from the famous dessert called “peach melba”, which is basically composed of “peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream”. It sounds – and looks – so decadent.
And rounding out the top 5 is the Tuna Pizza Cheese. Now this looks like a full meal already!
It’s so easy to understand why people take a long time ordering, because there were so many options, and they were so beautifully presented behind the glass shelf.
If you’ve got a sweet tooth, you’d probably go for the Condensed Milk Ice Cream one.
This one looked equally sinful! The sight of the cheesecake alone made my fats quake in fear. Haha!
There’s the azuki (red bean) crêpe that I was lusting over~
If you’re not into sweets or fruits, I suppose you could go for the “meal-type” ones.
Oh this is another sweet one~ *shudders*
This one is highly recommended (osusume!) and this was the one I planned on buying for my second round. It’s got all the stuff I love (well, two of the stuff I love, but I’m not gonna nitpick). GREEN TEA + RED BEAN = UTTER LOVE.
The shop was manned by only two people. One taking the orders and giving them, and the other making the actual crêpes. The waiting time? Not even 5 minutes. They are so efficient~
When I got mine, the serving was sooo generous~ At first, I was uneasy walking the street gobbling it up because it’s not something I’m used to, but when you see lots of other people doing the same, it ceases to matter.
Even their windows had that Christmas feel to it. 🙂
So the next time you find yourself in Takeshita Dori, don’t forget to try out their crêpes, particularly Marion’s.
About my round 2? The one crêpe I ordered turned out to be really filling, so even after almost 2 hours walking the whole stretch of Takeshita Dori and going up and down several stores, I was still so full when I managed to find my way back. Awww, too bad~
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