One of the first things I searched for when we decided to go to Japan was fluffy pancakes (a.k.a. soufflé pancakes) in Tokyo! My friend Fatima Juvale, who you can find on instagram under the handle @foodlovedubai, posted such tempting pictures of fluffy soufflé pancakes when she first went to Japan, and that’s the first I learnt of this glorious existence, and vowed to O.D on them whenever I went to Japan. A year later, I sent her a message for recommendations and she did not disappoint!
Just to get you all warmed up, let’s start off with a picture the original Manuka honey Happy Pancakes, because who doesn’t look a good pour shot?
Happy Pancakes in the making! I spied with my little eye and figured out the secret to the fluffiness: stiff egg whites were folded into the pancake batter before they were dolloped onto the griddle! A candy thermometer was used to gauge whether or not the pancakes were cooked all the way through.
The “original” Happy Pancakes, with whipped butter and Manuka honey sauce. I hate Manuka honey so I didn’t like these, but M loved them.
The happy pancakes with citrus and yogurt sauce, topped with dill and cilantro were my absolute favorite order here. I had these at least 4 times.
While the idea of putting cilantro and dill on sweet pancakes might sound odd, it worked perfectly, and the burst of freshness helped cut through the eggy (albeit light and fluffy) pancakes! They really tasted like we were eating soufflé in the form of pancakes!
This was M’s favorite order, and he had these at least trice: the Tiramisu Happy Pancakes.
Your quintessential berry sauce pancakes. Nothing to see here. (I told you we went to Happy Pancake a LOT).
Another plate of pancakes we really loved was at Tokyo Station. Fair-beurre was a random find at breakfast time, before we took the Shinkansen to Osaka. These tasted more like the butter mind pancakes we are used to having, but a thicker and fluffier version! We all know how much I love matcha, so this plate made me very happy. The scoop of cream on top tasted like clotted cream, but lighter.
I had heard so much about Burn Side Street Cafe and how they serve pancakes only 3 times a day but these were easily (although the tallest) the driest pancakes we had in Tokyo. Overpriced and overrated.The “melon” pancakes only had some rock melon on the side, not easy to eat at all, as they weren’t sliced or peeled. Also, you can’t tell but the diameter of those pancakes is tiny.
I saw charcoal and matcha with Azuki bean sauce and I was sold. Super dry though, not moist at all and we didn’t go back to Burn Side St. Cafe., even though we went back to Harajuku several times.
Where we did have awesome melon fluffy pancakes though, was at Flippers. The pancakes were very similar to Happy Pancake (fluffy moist and delicious!), but the price point was much higher, more at par with Burn Side St. Cafe.
We also got some fluffy pancakes with berries at Flipper’s, but the melon ones took the crown.
Other places we didn’t get to try but heard good things about were Bills Omotesando (and Ginza), because we ended up going on a Sunday, when the waiting line was too long, and Cafe and Pancake Gram (where we missed the first slot and were asked to come back at 1 p.m. to get a number for the 2 p.m. session. Hard pass, because as a tourist, time is gold.
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Girl, pancake goals right there! How many days were you there for? These look so good and I’m definitely going to add to my list. Esp the matcha. Or the cilantro and dill. If I had to do just one of the above, which should it be? Like you said, time is gold so I wont have too many tries and I want to make it count 🙂
Hi Nancy! Happy Pancakes is the place to go, for sure. Two reasons: they serve breakfast all day and they have several branches. If you have the option, go on a weekday instead of a weekend, to avoid the lines!