Fontaine Caffe

Caffe with TWO F's!!! My theory about the misspelling is that it wasn't out of ignorance, instead, it was intentional to make it easily findable by search engine. There are Fontaine Cafe's and Cafe Fontaine's, but only one Fontaine Caffe.

When I heard that a low-key creperie opened in Old Town, I was very curious. It has potential to be a must-go spot, but for now it's definitely skippable. It should be an adorable buzzing place that evokes a corner Parisian cafe, but instead it's awkwardly quiet (not much in people-watching) and inconsistent in the food department. Like it's French counterpart, the service was nothing to be proud of--just kidding, Paris! Don't hate me because I'm American.

Food-wise, I had parts of the Zenist (lentils, spinach, and tomatoes simmered in coriander coconut curry sauce) and the Moroccan (spinach and feta topped with mint-yogurt sauce). The Zenist was underwhelming in flavor and texture, it tasted like lumpy lukewarm mediocre lentil soup leaked onto a crepe. The crepe flavor didn't work well with the lentil mixture at all.

The Moroccan was DELISH and if I was forced to go back, I could eat that and be very happy. But I hope you aren't thirsty, because when you ask for water for the third time and finally get it, you may never get a refill. We all had a mug of (cold) French cider, which was pretty fun and different. But still, I want my agua!

E, what did you have and was it good?

J had the Washingtonian--steak and potatoes with a red wine mushroom sauce. His conclusion was that it was okay, but the large squares of steak weren't conducive to the crepe format...maybe thinly sliced or shredded would have worked out better. It required a fork, which pretty much sucks the fun out of being in a creperie.

Dessert was much better. But what creperie could possibly serve a "bad" dessert? The Marathon--nutella, peanut butter, and either banana and peanut butter--embodies all that is right with a sweet crepe. Mmmm. J had the Grand Chocolate, which had dark chocolate and praline mousse with chocolate sauce, was creamy, sweet, and totally decadent.

All of the sweet crepes look good, though--I'd love to try the marscapone and cherry, or the butter pecan (ice cream), poached pear, and cognac. Basically, I'd like to go there with 5 or 6 friends and share a bunch of desserts.

So to wrap up, it's not my first-stop in Old Town for dinner, but it's decent for dessert, if you aren't in the mood for frozen custard (Dairy Godmother).

Fontaine Caffe
119 S. Royal Street
Alexandria, VA
Metro: Blue or Yellow Line to King Street