Amsterdam: The Pancake Bakery

Denise de Castro

14 years ago

In Amsterdam, you’ll find a handful of pancake houses. One highly recommended restaurant is The Pancake Bakery located near the Anne Frank house.

Established in 1973, the restaurant had a simple menu. Changes came about in 1980 when the owner modified the menu, making it the famous pancake house that it’s known for today.

The Pancake Bakery serves over 75 variations of pancakes and omelets. These pancakes aren’t the big and fluffy kinds you’ll find in America but rather thin, large discs filled with assorted ingredients. Some combinations include:

Ham and Cheese
Apple and Grand Marnier
Banana and Nutella
Cheese and Ginger

Interesting huh?

One version that caught my eye on the menu was the Banana and Bacon Pancake, 9,95€. What a weird combination you might think, but actually the mix of sweet and salty is excellent, especially for my palette.

On every table is a bottle of syrup. Syrup is optional.

If you want to take a trip around the world, try their international pancakes. Here are a few interesting pancakes:

Egyptian – Pancake filled with slices of lamb, paprika, garlic sauce and a salad
Thai – Pancake filled with chicken in a spicy Thai red curry with bamboo and vegetables, served with a salad
Hawaiian – Pancake with banana, pineapple, vanilla ice cream, Pisang Ambon and whipped cream

The traditional Dutch pea soup, 5,75€ was also a great item that I tried. It is served with smoked sausage, smoked Dutch-style bacon, and Rye bread on the side. This is also known as Erwtensoep, and often served with the sausage already in the soup.

Not here for a full meal, they’ve also got Desserts on their menu as well. So if you’re in the area, I highly recommend you stop by. Not that hungry? Just share your pancake with someone.