Where to find Melbourne’s best pancakes this Shrove Tuesday

Located across the road from Melbourne’s Town Hall, it’s the smell of La Petite Crêperie (LPC) that will attract you to the Swanston Street kiosk.

Decadent or straightforward, choose your own adventure by customising flavours and ingredients. If you’re after savoury, you can’t beat a classic ham and cheese combo. On the sweet side, get fired up with the Calvados-flambeed apple, plum and cinnamon jam crêpe. Add whipped cream, just because you can.

Then, with crêpe in hand, make everyone jealous as you wander the streets of the CBD with LPC’s instantly recognisable red and white crêpe box.

Dish Cult’s top pick: Classic lemon and sugar crepe ($7.50)

The French wait staff, decor and music of Roule Galette might take you to the cobblestoned laneways of Paris, but the traditional buckwheat galettes are just like they make them in Brittany.

Try the signature galette with Camembert de Normandie, homemade onion chutney, sliced fresh apple, black truffle oil and green salad with pecan nuts. Then, make like a native of Brittany, by washing it down with a bottle of French cider.

You’ll be left with a cosy and romantic feeling at this French-inspired eatery which also offers many gluten-free and vegan options, and is often buzzing with people and the odd puppy outside.

Dish Cult’s top pick: Complete a la Roule Galette ($17)

The latest food craze from Japan, Soufflé pancakes burst onto the Melbourne food scene during Covid and they show no signs of disappearing any time soon.

At Fresh Air Pancake, you can get delicious Asian-inspired flavour combos including matcha, durian and Thai milk tea with boba. These pancakes are airy, light, melt in your mouth, and well worth the 15 minute cook time. If you haven’t tried them yet, why not?

Dish Cult’s top pick: Thai milk tea x boba ($20)

From Japan to Eastern Europe, when you want to fill that late-night sugar void look no further than Stokers Fine Pancakes.

These guys are open late and specialise in palatschinke, crepe-like pancakes that you can order in a multitude of sweet and savoury ways.

But if you find yourself not being able to choose between pancakes and chips, Stokers solves the problem with pancake chips, strips of pancake batter made crunchy by deep frying and savoury by adding salt, pepper and herbs. I bet you’ve never had that before!

Open late, Stokers can get busy after 9pm on weekends, but the staff are very good at getting people in and out, so no one misses out.

Dish Cult’s top pick: Banana Flambé (Dessert: $16/Main: $22)

After you’ve binged on pancake chips, you might want to consider something a little healthier. That’s where Seratonin Dealer comes in.

This café in Burnley serves up serious happy vibes. The ingredients are sourced from Victorian producers and they create harmonious and somewhat soothing dishes, brimming with nutrition.

Serotonin Dealer’s signature dish is the sweetly named positive pancakes. It uses banana flour and banana nice cream to create a deliciously healthy option that is vegan, gluten and lactose friendly. A good one when you’ve gone a little too nuts with the other entries on this list!

Dish Cult’s top pick: Positive pancakes ($25)