Brunch on Saturday: Where to find the best pancakes and how to make healthy omelettes

This week on Brunch on Saturday, we visit a Dutch-inspired pancake house and make healthy omlettes at home

The 100 baby greens pancakes are made with spring onions, spinach, cumin, green chilli for a health kick

Brunching in...

You might think you’ve had pancakes and that’s ticked them off your list, but Patricia Trijbits at Where the Pancakes are has revolutionised everything you knew to be true about them. Step into the newly created Flat Iron Square hub of food, which sits beneath the Shard in London Bridge, where jazz music hums and head to the café which came to life in September after a successful stint as a pop-up.

Inside is rather cosy Scandi-inspired interior, decked out with light-coloured wood. It’s mixed with a minimalist industrial style, where exposed pipes sit above pendant Edison light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

The ground floor of the newly opened Where the Pancakes are in Flat Iron Square

There’s a small upstairs, called the “garden level”, with large terrariums overhanging with fern and ivy. You can either sit on tables for two, or across the bench-style seating overlooking the rest of the restaurant below.

The menu has your classic lemon and sugar, and sweet Dutch baby pancakes and everything in between, mixing traditional baking with current food trend toppings of eggs, smashed avocado and salmon and re-invents American pancakes as you might know them. The pancakes are separated into savoury and sweet on the menu, where each plate comes with two or three pancakes and the option to add items including bacon, mushroom and eggs. It may sound daunting, but it’s really not.

But they are serious about their pancakes. So much so, they take pains to explain how the buttermilk pancakes are made on site with buckwheat flour to make them healthier. They are also conscious of the vegans and coeliacs among us and plan to have pancakes to suit both diets.

The Dutch baby pancake dusted with icing sugar

I wanted the best of both worlds: my brunch favourites of eggs and salmon on pancakes. Two fluffy pancakes, with hollandaise sauce topped with fresh tarragon, a generous amount of salmon and a side of mashed avocado and lemon arrive. The perfect combination of two classics with plenty of colour.

But for something more nouveau try the 100 baby greens pancakes, which are packed full of greens and spiced with cumin, green chilli and spring onions with lime coriander butter and served on a huge bed of green leaves for a super-injection of health.

Puzzled by what a Spanish latte was, I tried one. It’s a sweet coffee that’s popular in California that actually has nothing to do with Spain but would be a great pick-me-up for someone after a few drinks the night before. Along with the ususal hot and soft drinks are organic ciders, European beers and red, white and sparkling wine.

In a breath of fresh air for small and rather edgy venues, you can actually book tables here, but there are still tables free for walk-ins too. It’s exciting, fun with a real love of the white fluffy things at its core. A must for pancake fans and people searching for something new to fill up on.

Where The Pancakes Are; Flat Iron Square, 85a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 1NQ; 0207 407 8404; info@wherethepancakesare.com

Brunching out...

Thin herby omelette with feta and coriander

Serves 4

110g fresh herbs, such as dill, parsley, chives, coriander (cilantro) and tarragon
5 eggs
1tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
100ml  water
4tsps olive oil
100g  feta
Handful of coriander leaves

If your herb garden or window box is growing at full throttle, this is a great omelette to create and use up some of those fresh herbs. Taught to me by a fantastic Belgian chef, these omelettes can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours, ready to warm up for whenever you need a quick feed.

Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F/Gas 1). Chop your herbs, except for the coriander, as finely as you can; a mezzaluna is quite handy here to get a good chopping action going. Crack all the eggs into a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and add the water. Give it a good whisk. Add the herbs and stir to combine. Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a non-stick frying pan and imagine you are going to make a lovely thin crêpe. I find that by visualising this process it helps you get what you want.

Add about 2 tablespoons of the mixture, or enough to coat the bottom of the pan evenly. A good size to aim for is 15 cm (6 in). Cook undisturbed until the edges start to brown and the egg is just cooked through. You won’t need to flip these as they are so thin. Carefully slide the omelette from the pan on to a baking sheet, crumble over some feta, add a few torn coriander leaves and roll up. Keep the omelettes warm in the oven until you are ready to serve. I like to eat these with a simple fresh tomato salad.

Breakfast Morning, Noon and Night, by Fern Green. Published by Hardie Grant, £18.99