Le Mika crêperie in Masarykova should open next week.
I love that Zagreb is getting more light meal options for when you’re *kind of* hungry (aka all of the time), but don’t really want a full meal.
Yes, brunch has been a thing for years, but I think we just love to eat a bigger quantity than the humble brunch has to offer, so maybe that’s why it hasn’t really caught on. Yet!
Places like Eggspress are slowly making way for brunch to become a thing in Zagreb as well, and now we can look forward to a yummy restaurant to fill the waffle-shaped hole in my heart that has been there since the waffle place, also in Masarykova, closed down.
According to Journal.hr, the same place that once housed my beloved La Maison des Waffles will now house Le Mika, Crêperie and Galetterie, where you’ll be able to try scrumptious French crepes and galettes, made by, of course, a Master French Crêpier. Oh là là!
The opening is scheduled for the end of August, we’re not sure when exactly, but Le Mika Facebook says 22 – 26, so I think everyone will be happy with what they’ve come back to after vacations are over by the end of August.
In addition to rustic galettes with crispy crust and filled with fruit – apples, pears, peaches, apricots, you name it – there will also be salty versions, with salmon, for example.
The brioche also looked amazing, and the heavenly thin crepes look like stuff dreams are made of.
What is the difference between galettes and crepes, you ask?
I didn’t know either, but Le Mika website offered an explanation:
“The buckwheat, or black wheat, (Fagopyrum esculentum) was imported into Europe at the time of the Crusades and introduced into France as early as the 15th century. Its culture developed rapidly in the 19th century and then declined in the 20th century. However, in recent years, this culture is spreading again. It is the “black wheat” of poor Breton soils, and enters the traditional food of many regions of Central Europe (Russia, Armenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Poland). In France, it is used mainly for the famous “Breton galettes” whose reputation has widely crossed the borders of their province of origin.
Historians establish the origin of the crepe at 7000 BC. At that time, it was a rather thick cake, made with a mixture of water and various crushed cereals. A flat, warm stone was used to cook the sweet wheat pancake, for which wheat flour, milk, eggs, butter and sugar were used. It is very different from the cake of black wheat, but in both cases, the preparation gains in gluttony with its trim! At “Le Mika”, we work hand-in-hand to imagine tasty and authentic recipes, which have the good taste of Brittany … or elsewhere.”
So, galettes are, more or less, savoury buckwheat pancakes, bigger than crepes, and normally not sweet. Voila!
Either way, we can’t wait for Le Mika to open so we can taste both!
In the meantime, we’ll be following Le Mika Facebook page to stay up to date.
All photos from Le Mika, Facebook.
