The Pancake Bakery
- October 29, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
barbara from Atlanta, Georgia
I had read several reviews on IgoUgo about the Pancake Bakery that made it sound fabulous, so this is where we chose to eat lunch after a morning visit to the Anne Frank House. The first thing to notice is that its location near this museum can't be beaten. The restaurant opens at 12, so it's a perfect spot for a midday meal with kids.
If you didn't know, the pancake is a Dutch creation. You can find pancake houses all over the Netherlands. Americans will discover these pancakes are more like crepes than the flapjacks served in the US because they are very thin. However, everyone will enjoy the marvelous ways Dutch pancakes are served. I never knew there were so many choices!
At our table in the warm brick dining area, we ordered a banana and rum pancake, a Brazilian, which consisted of ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce, and a dish of "mini" pancakes, which would be good for little fingers to pick up and plop into little mouths. My son also had a ham and cheese omelet. (Where do boys put all that food?!?)
Everything was absolutely delicious and reasonably priced. The pancakes range in cost depending on the ingredients, but they seemed to average around €8 each. The service was friendly and fast. The menus were in English, which was helpful. This also tipped us off that this is perhaps a bit of a "tourist" restaurant. Sooo, we made a point of finding another pancake house later on that had a menu exclusively in Dutch. (There's one near Dam Square that has a bright interior decorated with old movie posters.) This was great, too, but the Pancake Bakery held up. Touristy or not, the food is excellent.
It should be mentioned that not all pancakes are sweet. While I didn't try one of the non-sweet options, you can get pancakes cooked with everything from artichokes to ham.
Enjoy!
From journal G-rated Amsterdam
Editor Pick
Pancake Bakery
- April 24, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Red Mezz from Inverness, Scotland
There were several places recommended to me before I headed towards Amsterdam, but The Pancake Bakery came up again and again as somewhere you had to go to experience Amsterdam properly… and I felt I should pass that tradition on.The Pancake Bakery is a special little place, filled with well satisfied locals and interested tourists. If you don't know what you're looking for, you could easily walk right past it. The only thing to let you know you're there is a small sign over a sunken doorway next to one of the canals, (about two minutes from the Anne Frank house) and a small wooden frame door you have to step down into.But once inside the Pancake Bakery you can smell all the reasons that you're friends advised you to come. It is not an expensive place, but I was on the last day of a very budgeted trip to Amsterdam and was actually out of food money. I was hoping to make it the day with nothing but a coffee and my flight home; but could not leave the city without a stop into this cafe. I had intended to just see the place and enjoy a coffee, but the atmosphere pulled me and before long I was thinking of wiring home for enough money to buy one of the gorgeous stacks of pancakes the waiters were bringing to the customers around me. The Pancake Bakery makes all manner of breakfasts, and though I can't attest to them all, not one didn't look amazing. My friend I was travelling with forked out the last of his cash for one of their famous pancakes, and I made do with out a coffee and a soup of the day. Which, even with my growling stomach and the intense smell of baking pancakes was very nice. (Though it must be said, not as nice as my friend's pancake.)The atmosphere is excellent… you feel as if you're in someone's kitchen who is happily baking away a grand breakfast for their friends. Big jars of thick black molasses sit on the tables, and the menus are full of options and offers dozens of options for pancakes or omelets. It's cozy and relaxed and smells unbelievable. Make this a place you stop in Amsterdam… it's food and atmosphere is a perfect sampling of what the city has to offer.
From journal January in Amsterdam