It’s Pancake Day on 4th March.
And there’s a stack of good reasons to celebrate.
Specifically, the ones being assembled by professional pancake purveyors across the city. We’re talking old-school wafer-thin crepes drizzled in lemon & sugar. We’re talking thick American blueberry pancakes with extra bacon. We’re even talking Japanese soufflé pancakes that are more cloud than food.
Here are those places:
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Where the Pancakes Are | London Bridge, Fitzrovia & Battersea
Where The Pancakes Are has long been the epicentre of London’s pancake scene, setting the standard for everyone else when it comes to Pancake Day. And this year, they’re making sure it’s not just about the pancakes—it’s about the spectacle. Expect queue giveaways, roll-the-dice games with plenty of prizes, and even free pancakes for the first 25 guests at each of their central London restaurants (Battersea Power Station, London Bridge & Fitzrovia). Be quick—once they’re gone, they’re gone.
As for the main event, this year’s headline dish is the CFC—Cornflake Fried Chicken. It’s a buttermilk pancake topped with oven-fried, cornflake-crusted buttermilk chicken, a fried egg, and rocket. Guests can opt for a brunch-friendly version with avocado, hollandaise, and house pickles or go for the all-day alternative with fresh kimchi, a sriracha dip, and corn on the cob.
Details: Arch 35a, 85a Southwark Bridge Rd, London SE1 0NQ | 7 Charlotte St, London W1T 1RG | Battersea Power Station, Unit 227, Battersea Power Station, SW8 5BN | Book Where The Pancakes Are
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Sunday in Brooklyn | Notting Hill
This post is brought to you by Captain Obvious: NYC import Sunday in Brooklyn’s legendary, trademarked, triple-stacked brown butter & hazelnut maple praline pancakes are really, really good. You can get them on the dessert menu for dinner. And despite the name, it’s open on a Tuesday, in London. Praise be.
Details: 98 Westbourne Grove, W2 5RU | Book Sunday
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Fuwa Fuwa | Soho
Aaand behold another of Japan’s great inventions – the soufflé pancake. The total opposite of the mille crepe, the soufflé pancake takes up about the same dimensions – but is just one giant, fluffy-as-a-cloud pillow of dough. Fuwa Fuwa have nailed the technique, and serve theirs up with toppings like biscoff sauce and strawberries; matcha and white chocolate; and chocolate honeycomb crunch.
Details: 57A Dean Street, London, W1D 6AJ | Walk-ins only
Maison François | Green Park
Gorgeously grown-up French bistro Maison Francois on Duke Street likes to keep things classic, and its pancakes are no exception. We’re talking buttermilk pancakes with berries, lemon crème fraîche, pistachios, honey – because of course we are. Pancakes, a cafetiere of French press coffee and the morning papers; it’s surely the dictionary definition of ‘breakfast of champions’.
Details: 34 Duke Street St James’s, London, SW1Y 6DF | Book Maison François
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La Petite Bretagne | Hammersmith
LPB almost certainly serves the best Breton-style crepes in the city. And you can see why – their savoury galettes are all made with buckwheat flour, and come armed with cheese, ham, egg, smoked salmon, raclette, bacon, stilton, and other ridiculously tasty ingredients. They even do a Full English Breakfast galette, which you can follow up with a sweet crêpe doused in flaming Grand Marnier.
Details: 5-7 Beadon Road, W6 0EA
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Granger & Co | Across London
For the past quarter of a century, Granger & Co’s hotcakes have been selling… well, as anticipated, really. They’re made with ricotta, which adds an extraordinary creaminess to the pancake’s texture, and there’s a little honey butter melted on top to bring it all together. Once eaten, never forgotten – and they’ll be serving them till 5pm on Pancake Day.
Details: Chelsea, Clerkenwell, King’s Cross, Notting Hill, Marylebone | Walk-ins only
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Mildreds | Across London
Yep, even vegans can get down with Fat Tuesday – because these plant-based eateries are serving up some outrageous stacks this Pancake Day. Mildreds is serving up quadruple towers of vegan pancakes drizzled in Biscoff sauce, vanilla maple syrup, speculoos caramel, cookie crumbs and banana, while sister restaurants Mallow will be topping their Black Forest Pancakes with cherries, hazelnuts and vanilla cream…
Details: Across London | Book Mildreds and Mallow
Sunday | Barnsbury
Beautifully casual North London institution Sunday is well-loved for its breakfasts, brunches and lunches – its Instagram is a safe space if you’re seeking to mainline some ‘eggs benedict, French toast, and sweet potato and salt beef hash’ content – and its pancakes are as reliably exceptional as the rest of its menu. You’ll be after the buttermilk pancakes with bacon and berry compote, no doubt, but the kitchen is known to experiment – a curried sweetcorn pancake has been seen on the menu before, for instance.–
Details: 169 Hemingford Road, London, N1 1DA | Walk-in only
Héfaure | Soho
Bubble tea and Japanese soufflé pancakes – judging by the expansion of dessert specialists Héfaure across London, this combination is a recipe for success. You’re here for the pancakes, of course – they’re as fluffy and light as a soufflé, as their name might suggest, and come served with the indulgent topping of your choice. Think Biscoff and caramel, think strawberries and cream, think matcha – and, if you’re truly keen to show your allegiance to bubble tea, you can also get your pancakes served with a topping of tapioca balls (no, it’s genuinely nice).
Details: 108 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5EH | Walk-in only
The Aubrey | Knightsbridge
Remember those soufflé pancakes? Well if you head to The Aubrey on a weekend – that’s The Mandarin Oriental’s plush take on a Japanese izakaya – you can get them topped with equally fluffy whipped cream and fresh fruit. They also do stacks of matcha-infused pancakes and okonomiyaki – a kind of savoury pancake, served here with tea-smoked salmon and kewpie mayo.
Details: Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA | Book The Aubrey
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Riding House Café & Rail House Café | Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury & Victoria
You’ll be hard pressed to find a better pancake in the capital. It’s served with fresh fruit, maple syrup, triple-smoked bacon, and the real deal-sealer: vanilla clotted cream. Oh, and typically on pancake day, they come bottomless.
Details: 43-51 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PQ | Brunswick Centre, Bernard St, London WC1N 1AF |8 Sir Simon Milton Square, SW1E 5DJ | Book Riding House
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Milk | Balham
Trust us, the queue outside only serves to sharpen your appetite for what are truly exceptional pancakes. Expect the likes of buckwheat pancakes with chinotto caramel and coffee parfait; or Catania pink navel with orange blossom cream, almond cake, calamansi and poppyseed brittle.
Details: 18-20 Bedford Hill, SW12 9RG | Walk-ins only
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The Delaunay | Aldwych
The Delaunay won’t be doing anything special this Pancake Day. Other than cooking some of the best pancakes in the city, as they do every other day of the year, of course. They come in stacks of three, and are like little fluffy blueberry-topped clouds.
Details: 55 Aldwych, WC2B 4BB | Book The Delaunay
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Caravan | Across London
These aren’t your everyday pancakes. Well, strictly speaking Caravan does serve them every day. But for pancake day, they come topped with cream cheese, ginger and poached strawberries; lemon curd cream cheese & poached pear; or in savoury form with kimchi pancakes, Korean fried chicken and a fried egg. Which actually makes them quite exotic.
Details: Across London | Book Caravan
Enjoyed your Pancake Day London tour? Then you’ll love this thing called brunch…
