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Chocolate Chunk Pancakes at Clinton St. Baking Company, LES, New York

September 7, 2014 / Lower East Side, Manhattan Munchies, New York Food / 0 comment

When you want good pancakes in New York City, it’s a well-known fact that you head to Clinton St. Baking Company. The bakery and restaurant was opened in 2001 by husband and wife team Neil Kleinberg and DeDe Lahman, with a mission to make the best baked goods in the city, hand-mixed in small batches.

Fast forward to 2014 and the once tiny bakery is now a bustling restaurant, with their pancakes awarded the title of “the best in the city” (twice!) by New York Magazine. Clinton St. Baking Co. is such a popular breakfast and lunch spot that if you turn up for brunch on a weekend, you’ll often find yourself facing an up to TWO HOUR wait. They have the waiting system down to a fine art, and even have a page on their site devoted to “the wait“.

Don’t let this dissuade you from going, however. To avoid a wait on weekends, your best bet is to arrive by 8:30am and put in your name for the first seating at 9am. To avoid a long wait in general, visit during the week or at night when the waits are shorter, if at all. Don’t worry — they serve breakfast during the dinner hour. We visited on a weekday at 8am. The restaurant was full by 8:30am, but the wait outside was pretty short, with most diners not having to wait too long for a table. If you find yourself waiting for a table, the surrounding streets have some really cool graffiti/street art that’s worth checking out.

Since Alec had to get to work, we ordered and ate as quickly as we could. I ordered the Pancakes with Warm Maple Butter (choice of wild Maine blueberry, banana walnut, or chocolate chunk pancakes, $14) and Alec ordered the Southern Breakfast (two eggs any style, sugar-cured bacon, cheese grits, and fried green tomatoes, $14). We also ordered a side of sourdough toast for Missy E ($2), which arrived with Vermont butter and the most amazing raspberry conserves I’ve ever tasted. As well as the toast, E shared my pancakes when they arrived — the novelty of chocolate for breakfast was just too exciting for her to handle.

My pancakes were fantastic. I chose chocolate chunks, and my three big fluffy pancakes were absolutely chockfull of the chocolate. The pancakes were warm and the butter atop them was slightly melting. I really enjoyed their warm maple butter instead of maple syrup as it wasn’t anywhere near as sickeningly sweet. Alec’s southern breakfast was a bit on the dry side — he would have preferred some kind of sauce to go with it. He did, however, thoroughly enjoy the cheese grits and fried green tomatoes — both novelties to an Aussie.

So are they the best pancakes in New York? I’m afraid I can’t say as I don’t really eat pancakes often enough to be able to rank them! I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed mine and would absolutely go back for more.

Last bite: How can you resist trying some of NYC’s best pancakes? Be prepared for the wait and you’ll enjoy a really great breakfast.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: No.
Easy access: Yes
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: No.

Clinton St Baking Co & Restaurant
4 Clinton St.
New York, NY
Phone: (646) 602 6263
Prices: $
Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, 4pm-5pm (pastries/ coffee to go only), dinner 6pm to 11pm; Sat 8am-9am (pastry & coffee to go only), 9am-4pm, dinner 6pm-11pm; Sun 8am-9am (pastry & coffee to go only), 9am-6pm.
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Pancakes On The Rocks: Kid-Friendly Darling Harbour, Sydney

August 25, 2014 / CBD, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Sydney Food / 0 comment

If you are a Sydneysider, you probably grew up with Pancakes On The Rocks. The first Pancakes opened on Hickson Road, at The Rocks in Sydney on 17th August, 1975. The restaurant was inspired by a road trip the founders took around America in the late 1950s. They noticed the popularity of pancakes on American menus and wanted to bring that love of pancakes to Australia. The company has since also focussed on creating a casual dining atmosphere and a menu that has something for everyone on it.

We dropped by specifically for a pancake breakfast on our way to the nearby Powerhouse Museum. Miss E requested pancakes, so pancakes it was!

Upon being seated, our very friendly waitress very quickly delivered E a cup filled with new crayons and a big colouring sheet. Missy E has just started to enjoying colouring in, so this was a big hit.

We also ordered her a babyccino and a coffee for Alec, which he described as “very good”. High praise from the coffee addict.

As you’d expect from a family restaurant, Pancakes features a great kids’ menu, with cute items such as The Butterfly ($6.95): Three mini pancakes with strawberry jam, chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream, and 100’s & 1000’s. Adorable. Since E usually only picks at food we rarely buy her her own dish. This time however, I found myself regretting not ordering her a kid’s meal, as she ate an entire one of my adult-sized pancakes.

Between the three of us, we ordered a side of scrambled egg ($1.95), sausage ($3), the Strawberry Patch ($13.95; Buttermilk pancakes with fresh strawberries, cream, vanilla ice cream and strawberry coulis) and the Bananarama ($12.95; Buttermilk pancakes with grilled banana and home made butterscotch sauce, topped with cream and vanilla ice cream).

The pancakes are amazing. Perfectly fluffy and light, and covered in fruit plus a drizzle of sauce and dollop of ice cream. I love my pancakes heavy on the fruit, and their fruit distribution was huge, so I was very happy. The egg was potentially microwaved and next time I think I would skip it, but it still tasted ok. The star dishes were, of course, the pancakes, which is the way it should be at a restaurant called Pancakes!

Last bite: A stress-free meal with kids. The pancakes are perfecto!

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: Yes.
Kids’ menu: Yes.

Pancakes On The Rocks
Harbourside Shopping Centre,
Darling Harbour,
227/229-230 Darling Dr
Sydney NSW
Phone: (02) 9280 3791
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-8pm Sun 10am-6pm
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Pancakes & Waffles: Bay Vista Dessert Bar, Brighton-Le-Sand

August 25, 2014 / Brighton-Le-Sands, Southern Sydney, Sydney, Sydney Food / 0 comment

When meeting friends who lived in opposite corners of Sydney, the most central place to meet with our three children was Brighton-Le-Sands. Bay Vista was chosen for our venue due to the delectable menu — desserts galore. We met for breakfast on one glorious winter’s day, on a quiet Tuesday morning.

Bay Vista opened in Brighton-Le-Sands in 1991 by Bill Mougios, a restauranteur who dreamed of creating a restaurant where young and old could enjoy simple treats in a casual environment. The cafe is now famous for their dessert menu, featuring ice cream, pancakes, sweet crêpes, waffles and a huge selection of cakes.

On our visit, we ordered the Strawbana Pancakes (two buttermilk pancakes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, strawberries, banana and your choice of sauce – I chose butterscotch), Strawberry Waffles, and the Traditional Cinnamon Scroll with Canadian maple syrup. The pancakes were light and fluffy, with a huge amount of fruit. The kids shared our dishes, plus a Kids Strawberry Milkshake and Babyccino. The milkshake was a great size for kids, serves with a large straw for easier drinking. The babyccino came with two (!) marshmallow and looked like a perfect tiny coffee. Cute!

After breakfast, we took the kids right across the road to the beach. Miss E happily played in the sand for about an hour and a half with no other toy than a few sea shells and a stick. A successful outing for us all!

Last bite: A dessert heaven made for kids and adults alike. Take kids to the beach afterwards to run off their sugar-high.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: Yes.
Kids’ menu: Yes.

Bay Vista
83 The Grand Parade
Brighton-Le-Sands, NSW
Phone: (02) 9556 1727
Hours: Sun-Fri 10am-1am Sat 10am-3am