The Pancake Parlour

Stopped here for breakfast on a Sunday morning, place was slow. I was seated immediately, there were 3 other tables around me who sat after I did and had their orders taken and no one ever came to greet me, take order nothing! After 20 minutes I finally walked out. I seriously think I was treated so poorly because I am an American.

I had been craving pancakes for some time when I saw the sign for the Pancake Parlour, remembering how good the use to be I decided to call in for a bite. Sadly much has changed since the last time I had visited a Pancake Parlour, for one, the size of the pancakes had shrunk considerably, where they use to be large now they are quiet small.
I ordered a small stack and a chocolate milk, the pancakes were nice, even if they were a bit on the small side, the chocolate milk was quiet rich and hard to drink.
What shocked me the most was the price, everything on the menu is quiet expensive for what you get, definitely not value for money.
If you want pancakes there are certainly better options.

My aunt took me here and it seemed harmless enough. She gave me a $ 50 voucher she had won so I came back with my gf. This place bamboozled me like The Scream; it’s an extraordinarily entertaining place.
With booths as far as the eye can see, and contraptions that look like gold mining shaft winches, you have entered another world when you go down the escalator. After being seated for 10 seconds, you will be asked if you are ready to order. You will be asked if you want to hear the specials and will feel you are out at a day of the races with an overexcited commentator howling in your ear.
Having almost become bankrupt ordering chocolate milk and warm apple juice straight out of a generic brand 4 litre bottle, you will receive a plate of eggs benedict that looks like a broken ostrich egg. You will eat another hour’s labour in two minutes as you can’t bare to eat such disgusting food. The one pancake you receive will be burnt.
You will want to leave now after your extremely comical experience. Luckily I had the $ 50 voucher so my total came to $ 2.30.
I’m not gonna be going clear anytime soon, but will steer clear of this madhouse, no love taken away.

More like craperie, amirite?
*FYI* I was quite drunk when I wrote the draft, but I feel it really represents the vibe of the venue.

I know I said in my tip that this place was clear competition for Pancakes on the Rocks… I recant that statement.
There’s nothing wrong with The Pancake Parlour. It’s décor is cute and old timey and the service is actually brilliant, in that way it beats POTR hands down. But really for what you’re ordering it really is terribly overpriced. The chocolate pancakes at POTR set you back about $ 16, at The Pancake Parlour you’d be out of pocket $ 28. It’s really expensive and for what seems to be such a family oriented restaurant I would expect much cheaper prices.

The Pancake Parlour is such a mixed bag of experiences — it’s tough to know how to accurately rate the venue without wanting to subdivide the ratings on each aspect of the visit, from greeting to departure…
Having said that, let’s start with the good stuff: The pancakes. Light, fluffy, consistent. Never a complaint here — they have their recipe and they seem to have nailed it.
I’ll also say that whenever I’ve had their bacon, it’s been cooked perfectly, tastes great and is everything that bacon should be (only the most ideal food ever, right?)…
But it tends to get wobbly from there. I love their cheese kransky, but getting it to the right temperature for serving seems to be a mixed bag. Sometimes it’s perfect, sometimes one of the two kranskies (kranskys?) is perfect, the other tepid… sometimes they’re both a bit on the warm, but not hot, side… it’s just not consistent, and that’s the frustration. Flavour: great! No issues here!
Eggs? I was actually impressed by their scrambled eggs recently, light & fluffy without being runny, but the fried eggs seem to often be flat, broken yolks, overly cooked.
And the coffee? NO. Just, NO. I drink it because it’s, well, there. But, that’s about all it is. Liquid, mostly hot, but otherwise, nope… can you BYO? Never asked.
My wife and I are transplants to Australia, and I suspect that much of the staff of Pancake Parlour (especially on Bourke St) are temporary student jobs; customer service isn’t great, staff turnover is high, and there’s not a lot of flexibility (wife wanted a kransky instead of bacon on something, they said it couldn’t be done. Of course it can. Just offer to do it for a price… we’d have paid, but saying it *can’t* be done is wrong).
The prices are very high for what it is, but if you’re in the mood for some pancakes and you’re nearby, it’s a reasonable option. You’ve been warned about the coffee though…