London’s best restaurants for pancakes

Rest assured, there’s nothing dodgy about the eggs used for the pancakes at this manically popular all-day American diner set in the brutalist shadow of the Barbican. Made to the US remit and served all day, every day, these eggy goodies get slathered with maple syrup, splodged with blueberry jam and vanilla cream or loaded up diner-style with fried chicken and banana. Eat them for Friday ‘Frunch’ or for normal brunch at the weekends.

You’ve heard of fried chicken and waffles, but what about fried chicken and pancakes? Try French restaurant Cocotte’s cereal-crusted, free-range chicken thigh pieces with four fluffy pancakes stacks and sweet chilli, soy and honey sauce. Catch the Shrove Tuesday stack on the lunch menu while you can from its Notting Hill, Queen’s Park, South Kensington, Parsons Green and Shoreditch branches until March 4.

Take your pancake game to the next level at The Beaumont hotel’s glamorous Mayfair restaurant with a clubby 1920s New York feel. Eat your way through stacks of fluffy pancakes drenched in maple syrup and cured bacon or sour cherries and clotted cream.

This one’s for those of you who like your pancakes with some stunning views thrown in. Boasting one of the biggest riverside terraces in London, Coppa Club occupies a prime spot with Tower Bridge in near sight – although tall windows mean you can soak up the vistas whatever the weather. ‘Short stack’ US-style pancakes make an appearance at breakfast, loaded up with the usual savoury or sweet additions: dry-cured streaky bacon and maple syrup for the carnivores, berries and maple syrup for the veggies.

If the very idea of ‘healthy eating in Notting Hill’ fills you with dread, fear not: this cute café from Aussie-born ‘farm girl’ Rose Mann is a little ripper. Colourful interiors and non-stop sunny service are matched by a menu that includes some fair dinkum ‘cherry ripe’ pancakes. These fluffy buckwheat and buttermilk creations come topped with maple syrup, raw cacao nibs, Greek yoghurt, toasted almonds, coconut and sour cherry jam. 

It’s fun, fun, fun all the way at this riotous Shoreditch spot – a cross between a chintzy curio-filled emporium and your Italian nonna’s parlour. You’re here for the good times, but there’s some very decent food on offer too, including airy ricotta pancakes for breakfast/brunch. These come with caramelised banana as standard, plus your choice of toppings – perhaps maple syrup or homemade chocolate sauce. Oh, and just wait until you see the loos.

Bill Granger’s chain of sunny-side-up all-day restaurants preaches the gospel of bronzed healthy indulgence, with a line-up of goodness-packed dishes including some proper thick Aussie ‘hotcakes’. Find these ricotta-based pancake riffs among the breakfast and lunch ‘classics’, stacked up and served in mouthwatering modern style with banana and honeycomb butter (plus grilled Wiltshire bacon if you need a salty fix). Branches in Chelsea, Clerkenwell and King’s Cross will open for extended hours, from 7am to 11pm. And for one day only, on March 1, stack lovers can indulge with a hotcake shake – a blend of banana, honeycomb and maple. 

Founded in 1958 and now a must-visit on London’s tourist trail, this pancake house dresses up its garish offer with ‘butterscotch specials’ and assorted crowd-pulling gimmicks. The sweet side of things is fairly straightforward (fruit salad, Nutella, berry compote etc), but savouries are more outlandish, with Moroccan lamb stew, chicken curry and Hawaiian variations in the mix. Gluten-free and dairy-free versions are available on request and there are some colourful vegan options too. Branches in Chelsea and Kensington.

Fancy a pancake at 2am? Well, now you can get your pancake fix day and night at the 24-hour Polo Lounge. All week long it’s going flipping mad for pancakes. It will be opening up a special pancake hatch so you can get pancakes to take away and be delivered, and it’s offering a special menu dedicated to the fluffy topped discs. Think CBD pancakes (the first and only in London), apple-pie-and-custard pancakes, sticky toffee pudding pancakes, alongside signature stacks such as lotus banoffee and strawberries and chocolate. If you’re feeling brave and hungry, take on. its epic pancake challenge. Work your way through a stack of 12 fluffy pancakes, with your choice of berries, cookies and cream or banoffee lotus biscuit, in under 15 minutes and you win the £30 meal for free and a bottle of bubbly.

You don’t have to wait ’til Shrove Tuesday comes round for your pancake fix thanks to this bright, buzzy venue squeezed into one corner of Flat Iron Square. Sweet and savoury buttermilk varieties abound (anyone for ‘1,000 baby greens’ or a combo of banana, praline and marshmallow?), and the owners also have what they call ‘another batter’ for those who require gluten-free and dairy-free versions. Can’t make it out? Get pancake kits delivered to you instead.

Breakfast at The Wolseley is one of London’s prime-time social events – and this mother of all the grand cafés never disappoints. Whether you’re a high flyer or along for the ride, no one feels out of place as the conversation crackles over bowls of muesli, kedgeree and pancakes loaded with berries, bacon and maple syrup. All that’s needed to complete the full Wolseley trip is a large Wolseley Imperial – Mandarin Napoléon and Cognac with a long espresso and hot milk topped with chocolate and whipped cream.