Pancake Manor, Westfield Garden City, Upper Mt Gravatt, Brisbane

October 09, 2016

Continuing its success from the CBD branch since 1979 having the Cathedral as a home has made it to be one of Brisbane's Icon. What has always been great was that they would be open 24 hours allowing everyone to be able to have food from day to night and don't have to worry about the closing hours when those tummy of ours grumbles at 1am in the morning.. since we know that they will be open. For the Garden City brand unfortunately, they did try to create that old world charm however having a contemporary feel and another bad thing was that they aren't open for 24 hours. So for those of you who want pancakes or burgers, or a milkshake in the middle of the night, then you would just need to drive over to the city for them.

'Hot 'n Troppo' (AUD$12.95) was two buttermilk pancakes served with roasted walnuts, grilled banana, cream, chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce. If you'd prefer Vanilla ice cream compared to Chocolate, then the waiter would simply just change it for you no hassle. The buttermilk pancakes were warm, causing the chocolate ice cream to melt quicker than we would have liked. The amount of roasted walnuts was very generous accompanied with one grilled banana sliced in half, placed on either side of the pancakes.

The grilled bananas however were not that great as it tasted as it was just a normal banana without being grilled. It would have been nice if it was grilled maybe a tad longer showing off their grilling marks and having that smoky flavour to it. The chocolate sauce was drizzled all over and around the pancakes and the roasted walnuts giving it a balanced and a way for you not to have to wonder why there isn't much sauce. The chocolate sauce was subtle and not too strong and blending in with the chocolate ice cream, you start to think of your Sunday breakfast in a way. Waking up to those not so perfect round pancakes and having a dollop of jam or cream, even just with butter on top would just do the trick.

The roasted walnuts were a perfect combination for the grilled bananas however same goes with the bananas not being grilled enough, the walnuts seemed to be better having that roasted smoky flavour. Somehow, having chocolate and nuts as well as bananas always goes together nicely either for a snack or a dessert.

'Caesar Salad' (AUD$14.50) is always great to order when wanting some healthy option. Although being a pancake restaurant, sometimes you just don't feel like having too much pancakes even if it would be great. Having various dishes other than pancakes such as savoury crepes, salads or burgers and so on, everyone can dine here any time of any day without having to worry.

The usual elements of Caesar salad applies, lettuce, bacon, parmesan cheese and their own special Caesar dressing with their big house-made cheesy croutons. A salad this big is always great to order especially when you're here with a group of people allowing the salad to be easily shared around. The salad was filled with slightly charred bacon and big thin slices of parmesan cheese which seems very generous. The caesar dressing was not very acidic which I quite enjoyed and mixing it all together may be a challenge for some without having to spill some of the salad out of the plate.

The house-made cheesy croutons was just alright but it would have been great if there were a bit more rather than just of what seemed to be a half sliced. It was also a bit soggy on the crust and outer parts of the bread however, you could taste a tad of cheese around the middle. The terms 'big' that they used maybe meant literally not being in small cube slices but instead just a knife through the middle.