While no one needs a reason to eat pancakes, Shrove Tuesday (aka pancake day) puts London’s top pancake places back on the map. This city covers all types and toppings, from traditional buttermilk stacks with berries to cinnamon roll pancakes covered in cream cheese and fluffy ricotta cakes topped with honeycomb butter for crunch. Tuck into these fried up beauties on the day, or save them for when weekends require more than avocado toast…
All types of pancakes: Where the pancakes are
Tucked away in the arches of Flat Iron Square, Where The Pancakes Are lives up to its name with a menu running on pancakes. Sweet and savoury, small and big, traditional or trendy, there’s literally nothing this destination can’t do besides solving the queues. Favourites include pear caramel with lemon zest and house cream or banana praline marshmallow with your choice of chocolate or caramel. For savoury, there are Welsh rarebit-inspired pancakes complete with salt vinegar crisps (YES!), Australian-style corn fritters or Dutch babies that look like giant Yorkshire puddings – all worth the wait.
Address: 85a Southwark Bridge Rd, London SE1 0NQ
Dulce de leche pancakes: NAC
This Mayfair restaurant might look far too fancy and stylish for your fix of pancakes, but their generous ricotta stack doesn’t necessary fit the ‘fine-dining’ bill. Not two, not three, but four massive pancakes are piled onto each other, covered in heaps of dulce de leche that makes every mouthful incredibly decadent and rich, paired perfectly with sliced bananas for balance. These pancakes are ideal for sharing.
Address: 41 N Audley St, London W1K 6ZP
Cinnamon roll pancakes: Café Miami
A light-filled space with calming pastel-coloured furnishings, Café Miami takes inspiration from America’s coast in both the décor and food. Pancakes are fluffy, big and even bigger on flavour, with blueberries baked into the batter or lashings of Nutella spread on top. But if it’s your first time here, the cinnamon roll pancakes are an absolute must: your usual smooth stack is now swirled like cinnamon buns, with caramelized edges sizzling with cinnamon and a sauce that swaps maple syrup for cream cheese frosting. It’s the best of brunch and dessert combined.
Address: 24 Lower Clapton Rd, London E5 0PD
Buttermilk pancakes: Riding House Café
Pancakes served in posh surroundings with polished service, that’s exactly why Riding House Café is buzzing with people on the weekends. Pancakes come in two ways, with berries and clotted cream or triple-smoked streaky bacon, both made with buttermilk and incredibly cake-like in texture, along with a side of maple syrup to soak your stack in. Don’t be surprised if you can’t finish them; these pancakes are very filling.
Address: 43-51 Great Titchfield St, London W1W 7PQ
White chocolate pancakes: Hash E8
A no-thrills setting with plates of comfort food, Hash E8 is a bit of a Hackney hidden gem serving the sweetest pancakes in London. Covered in caramelised bananas, these buttermilk pancakes are sumptuously soft and studded with WHITE chocolate chips inside, which are slightly melted and give you that ultimate melt-in-your-mouth moment from top to bottom. Sweet tooth well and truly satisfied.
Address: 170 Dalston Ln, London E8 1NG
American-style pancakes: Outsider Tart
An American restaurant run by fellow New Yorkers, Outsider Tart brings casual diner-style pancakes to the upscale area of Chiswick. There are specials and staples on the brunch menu, including buttermilk pancakes baked with fresh blueberries (in, not on, it makes all the difference), which are steaming hot and soothingly soft, served with a whole jug of maple syrup for endless amounts of pouring.
Address: 83 Chiswick High Rd, London W4 2EF
Buckwheat pancakes: Milk Cafe
With weekly-changing toppings you never know what you’re going to get, besides a buckwheat base and a presentation that makes these pancakes look like a work of art. Milk Café does buckwheat beauties fried until browned and golden, but it’s the toppings that get people excited. Think graham cracker crumbs and whipped cheesecake, burnt plums and miso cremeaux, or cherries and caramelised feulletine crunch – can we just take a moment to appreciate the creativity here?
Address: 18-20 Bedford Hill, Balham, London SW12 9RG
Ricotta hotcakes: Granger & Co
Granger & Co has become London’s go-to destination for brunch, doing simple dishes exceptionally well (soft scrambled eggs with sourdough is the star here, not boring or basic, and a fresh Aussie will make you re-think your full English). There’s one rule everyone seems to religiously follow: every order must include hotcakes for the table, which are so pillowy and soft that they melt in your mouth along with a heavenly topping of honeycomb butter.
Address: 175 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2SB; 237 Pavilion Rd, London SW1X 0BP; 7 Pancras Square, London N1C 4AG; 50 Sekforde Street, London EC1R 0HA
Banana & salted caramel pancakes: The Breakfast Club
A London institution for breakfast, The Breakfast Club has people queuing for pancakes come rain or shine. There’s a banoffee-inspired stack with bananas and decadent drizzles of salted caramel and chocolate, or a lighter mixed berry option with vanilla cream that is whipped up to be just as fluffy as the pancakes underneath. It’s so hard to pick a favourite, depending on your mood for something rich and gooey, or light and sweet – best to bring someone who wants a bit of both.
Address: 29 East Bay Lane Canalside Here East, London E15 2GW (my favourite location)
Buttermilk blueberry hotcakes: Angie’s Little Food Shop
Don’t be fooled by these bite-sized blueberry-studded pancakes, Angie’s hotcakes are way more filling than they look. Puffed up and covered in powdered sugar, they look like donuts or the mini Dutch-style pancakes known as poffertjes, complete with a fluffy inside and served with two sides for dipping. A shot of espresso-spiked mascarpone and thick cinnamon vanilla cream, both sauces add warmth and depth to these unique little pancakes.
Address: 114 Chiswick High Rd, London W4 1PU
If you want more savoury-style pancakes, take a look at my guide to London’s best corn fritters.
