Fantastic User Suggestions
We are always looking for new places to find pancakes! If you have any suggestions feel free to post them on our Facebook wall. Have had some really great ones so far that we will be sure to check out soon!
Helen: Dimitri’s Feast’s Semolina Pancakes in Richmond; Banana and Butterscotch Oatmeal pancakes at Ferguson Street Provisions in Williamstown; and The Pikelet stack at Le Traiteur in Lonsdale Street in CBD
Jessica: Can I recommend 1000 blessings in Richmond? Delicious.
Thank-you Helen and Jess!
Pancakes on the Rocks.. SYDNEY(!?)
So the name of the blog is Melbourne Pancake, right? Well you wouldn’t be from Melbourne if you didn’t have some complex emotions towards Sydney. Both a rival and a friend, we always want to do things better than them. What better way to compete than pancakes?
On our recent trip into Sydney, we thought we would do some ‘research’. We checked out this place called ‘Pancakes on the Rocks’ in, you guessed it, The Rocks area of Sydney.
First impressions of this place were that it was identical to the Pancake Parlour (very big pancake chain in Melbourne). But once we looked at the menu, we saw the big difference - price! Pancakes here are about 1/3 of the price they are at the Pancake Parlour, around $8-12 each for a generous serving (see image!).
So they tasted bad, right? Not at all, they were pretty darn good for the price and the servings were more than generous. If you are looking for a good cheap, meal in Sydney and like the Pancake Parlour, try these guys out. Is Sydney still better than Melbourne? Maybe when it comes to Pancake sizzlers.
Cafe Verona
These delightful mini pancakes offered a refreshing new experience compared to others we have had so far. They felt more like scones, equipped with a steaming mass of fresh jam and cream which equaled in size the pancakes, altogether, themselves. For only $8.50 for 12 of these beauties, it is definitely a must-have for your next visit to Queen Victoria Market.
While the pancakes were nice, the atmosphere played severe detriment to the overall eating experience. The cafe is tiny, cramped and absorbs the noise of the food court, as well as the noise of the extremely loud staff… who seem to have forgotten they are serving humans and not cattle. You may have to wait a while for your order to come too, so you will have to endure their shouting for a long time, whilst standing and getting pushed around by tourists. Our tip is to grab the pancakes and quickly find somewhere nice in the market to sit and recover from the stress of the queue. Alternatively, one could simply head over to the famous hot donut van around the corner for a quicker and tastier experience.
Fun fact, Queen Victoria Market is statistically the most visited tourist attraction in Melbourne.
Address: 77 Victoria St, Melbourne 3000 (Queen Victoria Market)
Atmosphere: 2/5
Presentation: 3/5
Taste: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Would we go there again? Yes
Overall Pancake Score:65%
For a map of the best pancakes near you, check out the leaderboard!
Las Chicas
The pancakes at Las Chicas are amazing value, and although tasty, will have you coming back just for the experience. They offer four varieties:
1. Plain with cinnamon sugar, lemon wedge & mascarpone
2. Fresh banana, strawberries, pistachio ricotta & maple syrup
3. Boysenberry coulis, orange mascarpone and mint
4. Bacon & maple syrup
These are offered in two sizes, HUGE and HUGER. For around $10 each, +$2 for the up-size, you are guaranteed to go home full. We had the banana, strawberry pistachio pancake and the bacon & maple syrup pancake. While the pistachio ricotta didn’t taste that great, there was so much of the other stuff (I repeat, pancakes were enormous) that it didn’t matter. The bacon and maple syrup was good, but missing that X Factor once again (quantity over quality with these ones!). It was not just the pancakes that were great though, the staff were energetic and helpful.. and although random to say it the CONDIMENTS were fantastic. With a Chai latte we were given our own little pot of honey with a honey stick (see picture), with the pancakes came our own enormous bottle of maple syrup and the water came in Vodka bottles, which was pretty trendy. With the buzz of Carlisle Street to enhance this experience outside, these pancakes are among the best in Melbourne.
Address: 203 Carlisle St, Balaclava
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Presentation: 4/5
Taste: 4/5
Value: 5/5
Would we go there again? Yes
Overall Pancake Score: 87.5%
Life on Mars
Last post I lamented over the loss of the X Factor. Sure, most of these pancakes are pretty delicious, but did they really have that special something to put them over the line?
And then I was served these beauties.
Blueberry filled (FILLED!) pancakes drizzled with blueberry compote and fresh blueberries. It was enough for the blueberry lover in me to drool at the sight. Did they taste just as good? Yes. Yes, they did. Where other pancakes have been cast aside with their overt sweetness, it seemed that the blueberry filling gave these pancakes a savoury nature, allowing the fruit and cream on top to provide that sugary goodness. And at only $9, I was surprised that I didn’t go away hungry (rather, I had to be rolled out of the café).
It seems those martians at Life On Mars have concocted the perfect recipe – go and try before this quiet new café is overrun by baboons. Astronomical taste, venue and value. - C
Address: 842 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn
Atmosphere: 4/5
Presentation: 4/5
Taste: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Would we go there again? Yes
Overall Pancake Score: 90%
Moka Pot Cafe
Maybe I’m beginning to expect too much. Maybe I’m expecting these pancakes to presented on a bed of fairy floss, drizzling with soft, creamy melted orange chocolate, and topped with a golden leaf (but is that really too much to ask?!). I can’t seem to fault today’s pancake, found at Moka Pot Café, Greythorn, but something was amiss.
Fluffy buttermilk pancakes, topped with warm banana, maple syrup and caramelised nuts, served with a scoop of icecream - it was all as appetising as it sounds. A decent sized serving for $14.90, it seemed to have everything I would’ve asked for, but it was nothing surprising.
Would I revisit this family breakfast spot? Maybe, but probably only for the gingerbread houses they are selling for Christmas (only 28 days to go!). - C
Address: 315 Doncaster Road, Balwyn
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Presentation: 3.5/5
Taste: 3.5/5
Value: 3.5/5
Overall Pancake Score: 70%
Breizoz French Creperie
In comparison with Roule Galette, this one comes second. We tried a number of crepes / galettes, and while some were very tasty, they were very inconsistent. One of them (apple pie) had an off-putting aftertaste, while the chocolate one was amazing. The crepes were crispy, delicate and I’m sure is what one would exactly expect in France. The venue could do with a clean, as our cups, water jug and table were filthy. The waitress we had was bored and rude. Overall, a negative experience, which could never create the perfect pancake atmosphere.
Although this venue strives to accurately portray France, I think my perceptions of France will remain in a much more romantic light (i.e. Roule Galette).
Address: 49 Brunswick St, Fitzroy
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Presentation: 2/5
Taste: 4.5/5
Value: 4/5
Would we go there again? Yes
Overall Pancake Score: 80%
Cafe Eden
Canadian buttermilk pancakes, topped with bacon, grilled banana, a berry compote and maple syrup. To some this sounds like a heart attack, but to me it sounded like a challenge. Anxious at first, this was actually the best pancake I’ve had so far. I didn’t believe it, and went back. It was still good, but sadly not as good. These pancakes exceeded expectations, though. Who would have thought bacon and maple syrup would make a good couple? Maybe those crazy Canadians have gotten something right. Atmosphere is nice, in the quaint Maling Road in Canterbury. Value was excellent, felt like I was going to explode on the footpath. Best pancakes in Melbourne? This one would depend on your tastes, and I would say on par with Apte.
Address: 78 Maling Road, Canterbury 3123
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Presentation: 4/5
Taste: 4.5/5
Value: 4/5
Would we go there again? Again, already have.
Overall Pancake Score: 85.0%
Apte
And I thought that nothing would ever beat McDonalds hotcakes! If you go to Apte, you ought to be apt to find good pancakes. Pancakes which even exceed my ability to make puns, pancakes which soar above the ranks of others into ‘closer to best pancake, really good pancake, will go back for you pancake, but i’d like to see if there are other good ones too pancake’ category.
We had ’Banana Pikelets with clotted cream, sugared nuts, fresh berries & maple syrup’. Pretty damn good, was fresh and is definitely the highest scoring on taste so far.
Like a reverse dating profile, these pancakes look better than they do in its photo. Staff at Apte are a friendly lot, outside was pleasant and was overall a good experience. I would think many people who go here would claim these pancakes as their favourite in Melbourne, and I definitely think you should try these for yourself.
Address: 538 Heidelberg Rd, Alphington, 3078
Atmosphere: 4.5/5
Presentation: 3.5/5
Taste: 4.5/5
Value: 4/5
Would we go there again? Already have.
Overall Pancake Score: 82.5%
McDonalds
Located just below the heart of Toorak, on Chapel St, this McDonalds was a little bit cleaner and fancier than some of the others. Although this review was originally meant to be tongue-in-cheek, they seriously weren’t THAT bad! Better than they used to be. In terms of value, you can’t really complain about $3.50. That’s on par with, and cheaper than, some cups of coffee. You get your own cutlery to keep, some butter tubs and your own maple syrup. Extraordinary.
Anyway, everyone is familiar with these pancakes, but sometimes we just need to be reminded they can be a cheap solution to your pancake cravings. From now on you will be able to understand that anything scoring below these pancakes will be.. well.. worse than McDonalds pancakes.
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Address: Nearly every street corner.
Atmosphere: 2.5/5
Presentation: 1/5 (I even tried to make them look pretty, you really can’t get much worse)
Taste: 2.5/5
Value: 5/5
Would we go there again? Yes! So cheeeeeeeeap.
Overall Pancake Score: 55%
Roule Galette
Roule Galette specialises in crepes (french pancakes) and galettes (savoury crepes). In one of Melbourne’s iconic ‘European’ laneways, it comes equipped with its own French-speaking staff too - a very authentic dining experience. As you can see from the menu below (one of two pages), there is a vast variety of crepes (and galettes) to choose from. From $4 with one topping, the prices go up to above $9.50, and could go into the $20s if you add all of the toppings.
With a fantastic atmosphere, taste, presentation and value there was nothing really that bad to say about the crepes while eating them. However, the main difference between these crepes and the traditional pancakes of the other cafes, is that there was still much room left in the belly afterwards. If you were to compare them in the ‘fullness’ criteria of ‘value’, then this one should be lower in comparison. While some may be enchanted by the French atmosphere, and disillusioned to the fact that they are still hungry.. I was definitely not. But who can ever be full off crepes? This was still a very enjoyable experience and definitely the favourite so far.
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Address: Scott Alley, 241 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Atmosphere: 4/5
Presentation: 4/5
Taste: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Would we go there again? Yes
Overall Pancake Score: 80%
