Pancakes!

No points for guessing the speciality at Pancakes! What's not immediately obvious from the name, though, is the restaurant’s range of pancakes, which include plate-sized Dutch pancakes, French crêpes and Russian blinis.

A visit to an Amsterdam pancake house is touted as one of those not-to-be-missed experiences. As a result, pancake houses are often uninventive, dishing up tourist-friendly Dutch classics involving ham and cheese, bacon and stroop (syrup) and a gooey Nutella dessert option.

Located on one of the picturesque Negen Straatjes (Nine Streets) and featuring blue and white Delftware-style tablecloths that verge on twee, Pancakes! nevertheless has fun with its Dutchness as well as expanding its menu beyond the national borders.

The classic combinations mentioned above do appear, but are complemented by the tongue-in-cheek apple pie pancake and poffertjes, baby pancakes with butter and icing sugar.

Outside the Dutch selection is a muesli pancake, served for breakfast with yoghurt and fruit, a number of ‘deluxe’ pancakes loaded with four or five different toppings, and a changing choice of pancakes from around the world. With the most expensive pancake – smoked salmon, crème fraîche, guacamole and pine nuts – topping out at €12.50, the restaurant is good value whatever you choose.

Growing up in the UK, my mum used to make pancakes for Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) and I always associated them with something eaten at home. As a kid, brown sugar with a squirt of lemon juice seemed like the ultimate indulgence. I‘m now more likely to choose a savoury pancake – in this instance fresh spinach with goat’s cheese, pine nuts and garlic oil.

The result was akin to being served a warm salad on an edible plate. The pancake was good – golden brown with a firm structure – but functioned more as a backdrop for the distinct flavours of the topping. I liked the combination so much, though, that I asked Pancakes! if they would give me the recipe for my culinary guidebook, Walk and Eat Amsterdam, published in 2011. It now features alongside a description of the restaurant.

I still think of pancakes as home food, but Pancakes! really is a pancake house worth visiting in Amsterdam. And not just by tourists.