Half Moon Crepe Company

After our long walk through the cobblestoned streets and lanes we ended up here as the original place we were going was closed. i ordered a savoury crêpe with bacon, egg and ballymaloe relish and it was overall tasty enough without blowing me away and my friend had a stewed apple and cinnamon crêpe which she said was tasty but did not have enough toppings and she would have prefered fresh apple rather than stewed.
We ordered tea for two and got two grubby mugs and one pot with two teabags. Two teabags in one small teapot does not tea for two make. one teabag in small pot each and two fresh clean mugs does and this request was quickly rectified by the straight faced but not unpleasant waitress. Of course it was left to me to moan about the grubby mugs and shortfall in tea but these sort of issues are things that any good restaurant should not let happen to their customers and should learn from.
The place was clean and simply and artfully decorated and in a really good central location. Good for what i ordered but next time the original place will be open hopefully.

The location is probably the best thing about the Half Moon Crêpe Company. It’s in the middle of Temple bar, and, additionally, is nearly always open. (Lemon, Dublin’s more famous crêpe centre, alas, is not).
The restaurant isn’t as ‘nice-​looking’ as it could be, if that matters to you. It’s quite dark and a bit smelly inside, and basically has a ‘greasy spoon’ atmosphere. That’s not to say it’s unpleasant however.
As regards the crepes themselves, the company offer a wide variety of sweet and savoury, at a reasonable price. They are very large, which is usually good, but also very oily, which is usually bad.
A point to note here is that the staff have a bit of an attitude unless the owner is around. Sometimes it feels like you’re really putting them out by placing an order. (I once had to ask seven times for a glass of water before they brought it).
Not too bad, but go to Lemon if you can.

I find myself being treated quite well here.
I first attended on a Friday, with a lovely voucher a friend of mine gave me which was expiring on that day. She was unable to attend and very kindly gave the voucher to myself. Lovely!
I didn’t have a lot of time that day, things were going pear-​shaped at the office and things were quite manic, so I scurried through Temple Bar and easily found the café. I presented the voucher and rather than being treated scabby, I was actually pampered beyond belief.
Large portions of wine, complementary ice cream, and three lovely strawberry, banana, chocolate crepes. They were gorgeous. One of the principles at my office, of whom I shared the crêpe with, remarked that this was truly the best thing to happen to herself that day. I was inclined to agree.
The attendant at the counter was quite helpful to myself, not one to be ordering crepes on a semi-​regular basis, I wanted to ensure myself the best experience with my friend’s 10 Euro voucher and I’m confident that I did.
The crêpe itself was quite large. Having already had lunch, I was unsure whether I could finish it in one go. I wasn’t able, but it reheated well enough (blasphemy) and was a lovely decadent treat with tea later that evening. There was plenty of chocolate, to the point where it was seeping out of wrapping. The bananas and strawberries plentiful and sweet.
A quick glance at the wall showed most the crepes to be under 6 Euros.

The worst crêpe I ever had.
I ordered a strawberry crêpe and literally got 3 little strawberries cut in half. What a rip off! There was really nothing appealing about this place. SKIP IT!

Love it, love it. Temple Bar is a pretty busy place and you can get distracted by so many things, so it’s awesome that Half Moon stays open pretty late. The service was great and it’s always fun to watch your crêpe being made. I had the nutella and marshmallow crêpe… soooo good. My friend’s banana toffee was not as awesome, or maybe that’s because it was a little odd; the bananas were on the outside. Also it wasn’t that sweet and hey, if you’re having a dessert crêpe, you might as well get it dripping with so much sweetness you could feel your blood sugar go waaay up to dangerous levels.
Hmm, so I’ve heard of Lemon Crepes and hadn’t tried it, so no basis of comparison there. However, I *have* had Genki in San Francisco and from now on it’s the only crêpe place I can give 5 stars to. Sorry Half Moon.

I must say I liked it in here. Not least because my marshmallow, Nutella and Ice Cream crêpe was yummy. Also because it’s mostly empty. I love places that are mostly empty. Not completely, just mostly. The gentle hum of conversation is nice but the absence of stifling warmth and humidity caused by cumulative body heat and mouthbreathing is even better. It’s generally nice to be able to find a seat too.
The girl who served me was a little rude but not so blatantly that I could take her to task for it and not look like an arsehole. It went something like this:
«Hi I’d like the Nutella and marshmallow one please» *points to chalkboard specials*
«Yeah, Nutella and marshmallow, ok.» she says as if I was delaying her although she was smirking the whole time. «Anything to drink»
«Yeah do you do coffee? I’ll have a latte»
*chuckles* «Latte?!» she says as if I asked for a fabergé egg
«Er white coffee» I say sheepishly.
«Ah white coffee» she says despite knowing exactly what I was talking about beforehand.
Bitch.

I used to think that crepes were only a dessert, and I always had mine with Kinder chocolate– maybe a German thing– or with Nutella and banana. Half Moon opened my eyes: they make fab savoury crepes. Bacon, cheese and maple syrup– how great does that sound? And tastes great as well, and best of all you can get these until late… a nice change from your usual kebab. I prefer these to Lemon’s crepes but the restaurant décor isn’t that great and you would not want to sit here for too long. And it is ideally placed right at Temple Bar square, where there is a lot of pubs around.

Half Moon is an easy place to miss. Unlike most of the other eateries in Temple bar, they have no sandwich boards outside to trip over, no outdoor seating, or special deals advertised to lure in the punters. Despite the prime location on Temple Bar Square, they are never, ever full.
They do reasonably good crepes, though I agree with Laura, they aren’t quite up to Lemon standard. There’s a similar menu, balancing sweet and savoury, most falling in around the € 6 mark.
There’s usually a busker or two wailing away at the corner here, so depending on the day, you could have a wonderful or bloody awful soundtrack accompaniment to your snack.

Lemon, one would have thought, has the Dublin crêpe market wrapped up in orange cardboard. However, Half Moon have launched their counter attack, opening in the lucrative Temple Bar area and (cannily) staying open until late to catch the hungry drunken revellers. And sure why not?! A crêpe is as good at 3 in the morning as it is at 3 in the afternoon. And Half Moon aren’t half bad. Personally, I don’t think they’ve gone far enough in creating a separate identity to Lemon — aside from the substitution of lime green for orange, the décor is fairly similar. They do have individual tables though, and, if you’re lucky, you can grab a sofa.
The crepes are grand, and a bit cheaper than their competitors, though personally I don’t think they’re quite as good (me being a crêpe connoisseur and all). Overall though, they’ve got a good selection, it’s handy, and it’s independent. For the last reason alone I’d say check it out!