From blueberries to bacon, get your sweet (or savoury) fix this Pancake Day with Absolutely London’s round-up up of the city’s best stacks…
By Abbie Schofield
Shrove Tuesday may mark the beginning of Lent, but it’s also a welcome excuse to indulge in our favourite brunch treat – pancakes. If you don’t fancy flipping your own on 25 February, there are plenty of London restaurants serving top-notch stacks. So whether you’re a simple sugar and lemon person or prefer to pimp your pancakes with lashings of melted chocolate and strawberries, we’ve found the best eateries to celebrate Pancake Day in the capital.
Our top picks for Pancake Day in London
Darwin and Wallace
All of Darwin and Wallace’s collection of neighbourhood bars, including No 197 Chiswick Fire Station and No 1a Duke Street, will be serving up a delicious pancake selection for the 25th. From the unusual kimchi pancakes with smoked salmon to the vegan banana pancakes with maple syrup and coconut yoghurt, they have warm and fluffy pancakes for every craving.
Hello Darling
Four pancakes, each paired with its own cocktail, will be on offer at Hello Darling exclusively for 25 February. We have our eye on the vegan banana, miso caramel and peanut brittle pancake teamed with a Cocoa Negroni and the smoked haddock and mature cheddar pancake accompanied by a Jager Mule.
Avobar
Adding a health kick to pancake day, Avobar are serving green matcha pancakes with sweet or savoury toppings. For £12.50, diners can sample the sweet stack topped with avo-butter, caramelised banana and maple syrup or the savoury stack with salmon or grilled bacon and a turmeric poached egg.
Chinese Tapas House
For a non-traditional pancake celebration, head to the unassuming Chinese Tapas House to try the Jianbing, a Chinese savoury crepe from Beijing. A popular street food breakfast snack, the large crepe is stuffed with spring onions, chilli oil, pickles, crispy wonton skin deep fried dough sticks and Chinese sausage.
15 Little Newport Street, chinatown.co.uk
Harvey Nichols
Harvey Nichols are offering all-you-can eat pancakes with delicious toppings and sauces for just £12.50 per person. Available at all their sites from 20-25th February, American-style pancakes can be paired with the likes of honeycomb, berries, roasted pecans and chocolate coated candied orange. Sauces to drizzle on your pancakes (or drown them in) include everything from melted chocolate to salted caramel. Guests also have the option to donate £1 to homeless charity StreetSmart whilst they munch their pancakes.
Burr & Co
Burr & Co, the restaurant at Kimpton Fitzroy London, has launched a limited edition pancake menu from 24 February – 1 March. Dishes are just £7 and diners can choose from four irresistible toppings: chocolate sauce and roasted hazelnut, winter berries and raspberry coulis, spinach and Emmental cheese and dulce de leche.
Circolo Popolare
Circolo’s ricotta pancakes with maple syrup and roasted banana will be served for breakfast, lunch and dinner on 25 February. And where better to enjoy fluffy buttermilk pancakes than one of London’s most Instagram-famous restaurants?
Lina Stores
Lina Stores will be celebrating Pancake Day and Italian Carnevale by serving traditional chiacchiere, thinly fried strips of dough topped with icing sugar and a dark chocolate dipping sauce. The King’s Cross restaurant will have chiacchiere on its breakfast menu from 15-25 February and it will also be available to purchase at the Brewer Street and King’s Cross delis.
Stoney Street
Alex Hely-Hutchinson’s Borough Market eatery will be adding Ølands wheat crêpes to the menu on Pancake Day. There are two topping choices: simple lemon and sugar or the more indulgent chocolate hazelnut praline topped with cream. The special Danish flour will also be available to purchase on the day along with Alex’s own pancake recipe.
Christopher’s
The Covent Garden restaurant has three special pancakes on the menu as well as the chance to build your own stack. The ‘lobster benedict’ gluten-free pancake is made with butter-poached lobster, corn, shrimp and turmeric served with a poached egg, kale, spinach and béarnaise sauce. The indulgent ‘Honey I cookied the pancakes!’ is slathered with hazelnut butter ganache and honeycomb ice cream, and the fruity ‘Peaches ‘n’ Cream’ is topped with grilled peaches, vanilla mascarpone and maple syrup.
Where The Pancakes Are
The pancake specialists have expanded their opening hours for Shrove Tuesday to 7:30am-9:30pm, and additional seating will be provided in Flat Iron Square’s Après Lodge. Pancakes on offer include the Pear Caramel, Forest Berries and the savoury 1000 Baby Greens. Plus at 8pm there will be a three-legged pancake-flipping race with the winners receiving free pancakes and drinks!
Dirty Bones
The epic buttermilk pancake brunch dish is making a guest appearance this Pancake Day at Dirty Bones. Available as a one-off dessert special, guests can go all out and pimp their stack of buttermilk pancakes with toppings of their choice, including blueberry jam, white chocolate sauce, caramelised bananas and clotted cream.
Lamb Tavern
For a more active Pancake Day celebration, The Lamb Tavern in Leadenhall Market will once again play host to its famous Pancake Race and Giveaway. Entrants will run through the 14th century market whilst flipping pancakes, with the fastest receiving the coveted frying pan trophy and a hamper of treats from local market retailers. 500 free pancakes will also be given away at lunchtime on a first-come-first-served basis – race you!
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