RESTAURANT REVIEW:

Usually I am a bit skeptical about trendy restaurants. They never seem to have any staying power because people often tire of the trend and then the quality of the food isn’t good enough to sustain any consistent business.

It would be easy to put Rockin’ Crepes in the same category. The flashy dining area, with music provided by satellite radio’s Hair Nation channel, is an ode to heavy metal.

The walls look like the set of a head banger’s video, and the tables and chairs have drawings of the genre’s icons, such as Ozzy Osbourne and Robert Plant.

It is quite a dichotomy, delicate crepes and heavy metal and the smell of gimmick could have been stifling, but gladly the only aroma when walking in is that of the wafer-thin delicacies.

There are three different sections of the crepes, breakfast, lunch/dinner and dessert, all with names that matches the restaurant’s theme, like Judas Priest, Motley Crue and Iron Maiden.

I like how the menu features a calorie count along with the description of crepes. It surprised me that some of the bigger crepes had light calorie counts.

The crepe mixture is made from scratch daily and includes the basic ingredients of flour, milk and eggs, with a hint of pancake batter taste. The important thing is what they put inside the crepe, which can consist of just about anything they think up.

There are six breakfast crepes. I liked the Armored Saint, which has egg with salt and pepper, smoked ham, spinach, onions and Hollandaise sauce. The sauce was drizzled, which I liked, as too much Hollandaise sauce tends to overwhelm every other flavor. The ham and spinach were a great combination.

With my crepe I had one of the restaurant’s smoothies. The Tesla is strawberries, banana, nonfat yogurt, soy milk and ice. There is no sugar added and the ice isn’t ground down all the way. It took a little getting used to, but I actually liked it, even though my mind and taste buds were expecting something different.

When I returned for breakfast a few days later with a guest the music was much lower than it was on my previous visit Saturday afternoon. I got the impression the volume is dictated by the time of day and whoever is working.

My guest wanted breakfast and ordered an Alice Cooper. The crepe has egg, seasoned with salt and pepper, Cheddar cheese and bacon. It was quite good, though a bit simple, but exactly what my guest wanted.

I decided on a lunch crepe, but asked for a substitution. I wanted the AC/DC, but the ham came with cheddar and Swiss cheeses. I asked for brie and provolone instead and thought this combination was perfect. The staff was very accommodating and though there were some service lapses at times, it was nothing big enough to get worked up about.

My guest and I were split on how we liked the macaroni salad that came with the meal. I like a creamy macaroni salad and this one is dry. My guest enjoyed that and appreciated that it wasn’t swimming in mayo.

The other option for a side dish with your crepe is a fresh fruit cup, and we both agreed this was the better choice. The fruit, which consisted of cut strawberries, bananas and whole raspberries, was a perfect accompaniment to the crepe.

Reading about the dessert crepes proved too tempting, and we split a White Zombie. It was incredible — dark chocolate mixed with thinly sliced bananas and strawberries and a semi-sweet crème. My guest swooned over this saying it was the perfect way to end a meal with her coffee.

I will probably try the fondue on my next visit, though I have never been that fond of the sticky stuff. If it is anything like the quality of the crepes, I will be won over quite quickly.

ROCKIN’ CREPES

ADDRESS: 8943 Atlanta Ave., Huntington Beach

PHONE: (714) 536-9100

CUISINE: crepes and fondue

SPECIALTY DISH: none

ALCOHOL SERVED: no

ENTRÉE PRICE RANGE: $4.99 to $16.99

FAMILY FRIENDLY: yes

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED: American Express, MasterCard and Visa

RATING: ***

JOHN REGER reviews local restaurants and may be contacted at Nolimepublishing@aol.com or P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 90740.