Here’s the stitch with food writers: every article starts with something deep and meaningful. Never not one time do they dive in, straight away to the task at hand. They tell us about their childhood trauma, the current up or down in their love life or how the greater political climate weaves into their restaurant choice. Ugh.
So, without any further ado, let’s begin. This week, I’m starting with childhood. No trauma though.
I had a very happy childhood and, unsurprisingly, a lot of my favourite memories are pinpointed by food. My mother was a big fan of eating dinner as a family but breakfast was usually a solitary affair. No one, bar my father, is a morning person and it was often unusual to see my sister and me before midday. This changed, however, on the mornings my mother decided that she would whip up some pancakes. These were a Saturday treat whilst my father was at work and for some reason, my sister and I were awake/at home at the same time. We would sit in the kitchen watching her whisk up a batter then spray a hot frying pan with non-stick and ladle a spoonful of the mixture in, tilting the pan so it formed a perfect circle. We waited until she deemed one side done and then we could take the pan, with both hands, steady ourselves, and flip the pancake. The joy, THE ECSTASY, of flipping it onto the other side perfectly on the first try was unmatched. If it were an Olympic sport, my mother would be a gold medalist. I would be dead last – the 5-second rule was bent often on these mornings.
Unfortunately, at Nowhere Man you don’t get to flip your own, but the lost joy is made up by their deliciously triumphant pancakes. My mother was a fan of a crepe-like consistency that we would roll up with golden syrup and cheddar cheese (it’s good, don’t judge). But Nowhere Man’s expertise lies in the stacked, American style pancakes that you see on sitcoms where nobody is eating. So easy to make and so easy to ruin. Their three-tier pancakes are fluffy with no hint of density and come in an array of flavours including maple syrup and bacon, strawberries n cream and bananas with chocolate chips. The latter two are my firm favourites. There’s always a concern (for myself anyway) that the pancake to topping ratio can be way off — which by the way, is a legit first world problem. Nowhere Man has got it down-pat. It looks like they’d be too many chocolate chips or you’ll never get through the snow-capped mountain of cream but actually, it’s manageable. The loading of the fork with various toppings alongside the pancake itself might seem ridiculous and yes, you’ll have to open wide to get it all in but, it feels like there’s a balance. You have every flavour bursting in your mouth, simply because there is so much of it and tbh, that’s what I want in a pancake. I want to be able to sit back afterwards, put my hands on my stomach and announce “I’m stuffed” with a smug grin.
Personally, I recommend the strawberries and cream or blueberry stack as the banana and chocolate can become sickly towards the end. If pancakes on a whole aren’t for you (why are you reading this post?) then they have a great selection of bagels as well. The falloumi with falafel, halloumi, sweet chilli chutney and rocket is to die for. Anywhere that cuts their halloumi thick and cooks it so it doesn’t taste like rubber is a win from me. I also love how the sweetness of the chutney cuts through the salt of the halloumi and you’ve got some greenery to make you feel healthy – heavenly. For all the vegan and gluten-free babes don’t worry, anything can be made to adhere to your dietary requirements.
Pancakes, sign me up every Saturday, My future children better love ‘em.
– E x