My first creme brulee at La Dolce Vita yesterday. It's a sweet white custard (mine was flavoured with vanilla bean, the classic, I think). With a thin caramelized sugar crust. Served with berries and tropical fruit. Good, though still does not beat pavlova.

From CremeBrulee.com: (http://www.cremebrulee.com/creme.htm)
"The origins of crème brûlée (pronounced krehm broo-LAY) are very much in contention, with the English, Spanish, and French all staking claim. The Spanish have taken credit for this sensuous custard as "crema catalana" since the eighteenth century, while the English claim it originated in seventeenth-century Britain, where it was known as "burnt cream" and the English school boys at Cambridge demanded it. It apparently wasn't until the end of the nineteenth century that common usage of the French translation came into vogue, putting it on the map from Paris to Le Cirque in New York City." See also note from Trinity College http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=440