Started raiding the backs of kitchen cupboards for that little yellow plastic container of Jif, hoping it doesn’t now taste like the cleaning product which once went by the same name? Scribbled down the egg-to-flour ratio that your mum swears by when making pancakes?
Sure, you could make a pancake (and please feel free to go big and use our Uncle Buck recipe), but if you happen to live in London, and thus on the doorstep of some of the most inventive and gastronomically savvy establishments in the world, you can go out and get incredible pancakes made especially for you.
Here are 10 flipping brilliant pancakes to try today. Not all at once mind.
Make it a shrewd Tuesday.
The battered Mars Bar one - Mac & Wild, 65 Great Titchfield St, W1W 7PS
Living up to their Scottish roots, the good folk of Mac & Wild bring a Glaswegian delicacy to the English capital this pancake day. First they fill crepes with lavish chocolate ganache, add some ozzing caramel, then they give it a battering before deep frying it all for a terrifically crunchy finish. You then come along and buy five of them. Moreish doesn't cover it.
£7
The bacon and banana one
Do as chef Ramsay would do and get your F*CKING pancakes from this F*CKING venue, a swish part of the Gordon Ramsay Group and currently offering up this sweet and savory masterpiece: caramelized banana and crispy smoked bacon. Don't think about calories, think about the potasium levels you'll have upped.
£7
Gordonramsayrestaurants.com - and you can even enjoy the recipes here
The healthy ones - Pont St, 20 Chesham Place, SW1X 8HQ
Not content with making some of the fluffiest vanilla pancakes in the land, this glamorous haunt is replacing the traditional flour with healthier spelt, an ancient grain full of nutrients and fibre which doesn't impact on texture nor taste. It's the sort of ingredient that will make you feel less guilty about pouring on gallons of maple syrup. Just don't ask how it's spelt.
£9.50
The MONSTER - Polo Bar, 176 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4NQ
Fancy your chances against this coma-inducing 12-in mountain of sugar and batter, bananas, fresh berries, strawberry sauce and vanilla ice cream? Wolf down the whole lot for the Pancake Challenge at Polo Bar, and you’ll win yourself a free bottle of prosecco, followed by lots of indigestion.
£14
The Sri Lankan one - Hoppers, 49 Frith St, W1D 4SG
Yes, that's a pancake, soaked with coconut milk and aqquiring its classic bowl shape from the wok-like pans its made in. Served with chutneys and a lamb kari, if you want something out of the ordinary, now's your chance.
From £4.50
The Reece’s Pieces one - The Diner, various locations
Strewn with peanut butter chips, chocolate sauce and peanut ice cream, you could serve the toppings on a piece of LEGO and we'd still gulp it down. As it is, the rich, plump pancakes prove perfect foil for the delicious additions. It truly is nuts (don't eat if you've allergies), and you'll find it across the Diner's nine locations from today until 12 February.
£8.50
The red velvet one - The Diner, Various locations
Any excuse for us to recommend this staple classic: among the other pancake oddities (Oreo Cookie stack with marshmallow fluff cream, broken oreos and icing sugar included), The Diner is also serving up its striking Red Velvet pancakes. We're hungry just looking at it.
£8.50
The fruity one - West Thirty Six, 36 Golborne Road, W10 5PR
A veritable fruit orgy, pancakes don't get much more action than West Thirty Six's oat ricotta and berry pancakes with thyme honey, layering on all kinds of sweet delights with the powdered sugar.
£8.50
The honey drizzled one, The Lancaster, Hyde Park, W2 2TY
In preparation for the holy day of pancakes, staff at the Lancaster Hotel have been sourcing honey from bees on its roof and are now offering it up as just one of a few drool-inducing toppings available for the pancake treats being flipped in its award-winning restaurant, Island Grill. If Soho is a bit too bustling tonight, head here for a more refined pancake binge.
£5
The Berry One - Caravan, King’s Cross, N1C 4AA
Beat the commuter blues with some buttermilk pancakes, served with balsamic cherries, mascarpone and pecans inside this King's Cross foodie-magnet. Berry good in short.
£8.50
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