Dudley's Pancake House

poxy

It deserves a thread all of its own...

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2598785631" target="qwerty">Dudley's Pancake House Appreciation Society</a>

My cat is called Dudley. Do you think he qualifies for free food?

And, seeing as how it's truffle season do you think we can persuade them to do a truffle pancake special? In our house a "Dudley Truffle" is not something anyone would want to eat.

Four Eyes

Looks like it's open for business tonight but hard to tell with no customers...?

It looks like Symposium but even brighter with neon tubes on the wall and floor to ceiling glass on the front, kind of like greenhouse meets sunbed.

Personally I think they're doomed. Anyone fancy a pancake with pizza topping, when you can get a 'normal' pizza next door? I'll give 'em 6 months max...but you never know I might be proved wrong and have to eat my <s>hat</s> pancake?

unaesthetic

it is bloody ugly in there, isn't it? they should move in next to chapter one…

andy

come on people, don't knock it til you've tried it. Can someone go and do us a review?

katiejane

I'll go! Can I expense it to SG.org?

andy

go for your life, we pay in pageviews.

David

A pancake with pizza topping might be the solution to all the local pizza joints that can't seem to get the base right. It'd definitely collapse.

andy

This seemed pretty full when I went past just now. Anyone sampled it yet? The idea of a full english breakfast pancake struck me as a piece of genius.

poxy

OK. Been there, done that, won't be going back.

So, we all know the decor is odd. The food and the service are even odder. Six of us went for a late lunch just to see what it's like. The youngest of the six is seven months old and didn't have anything to eat. (This is important for later!)

We ordered four pancakes (two savoury and two sweet) and a slew of coffees and milkshakes. The pancakes all seemed to have the same slightly sweet, paper-thin bases, which didn't really suit the savoury toppings. The sweet pancakes appeared to have had cold, sliced Mars bars sprinkled over the cooked bases, melted chocolate would have been better.

The milkshakes were OK and were served in what looked like dirty old cocktail shakers. The coffees got a big thumbs-up, particularly the boozy ones.

The bill came to £52. A bit steep for what was a light lunch for five. It wasn't until we had left that we realised that the service charge (12.5%) added to bills for six people or more had been added to the bill when only five of us had actually eaten. More than a bit cheeky.

The pancakes, I've been told, are nothing like the Dutch style pancakes of My Old Dutch of Holborn. Dudley's is a strange old place serving strange food. I can't ever imagining being in the mood for slightly sweet savoury pancakes when there's the pizzas of Papagone's and La Porchetta so close by. We won't be going back.

katiejane

@ rainbow carnage

Okay - have had another blinding eggs f today, courtesy of...

the instore cafe at Lakeland at Brent Cross!

It was £4.95 for eggs f (two eggs, perfect just wilted bright green spinach and lovely hollandaise) and for a paltry 30p more, two bloody great big grilled field mushrooms between the muffin & spinach and the eggs. Wonderful.

Can't comment on their coffee - didn't have any, but blimey - their food rocks.

David

Tried Dudleys last night. Our savoury pancakes were savoury. We liked them. For dessert we shared a take on Banoffi with toffee sauce on a waffle. Which we also liked. We drank wine. I'm no fan of big coloured neon decor but it strangley didn't feel so garish once sitting in there and we actually felt the atmosphere was suitably relaxed. The staff are friendly too. I think one girl is actually the same waitress from Symposium but I could be wrong. Our savoury pancakes were really good. Can't fault them. Looking at the sweet menu, among other options they do serve a couple of pancakes with chopped up chocolate bars - one Crunchie, one Mars and I think one other - but at the bottom of the sweet menu you can order homemade chocolate sauce with anything _(along with a couple of other options)_ so while I didn't have it, I'd say if you wanted chocolate sauce on your pancake its there to be had and perhaps just ask for it. The pancakes if anything are a bit more substantial than at Old Dutch but I wouldn't say better or worse, they're pancake houses - it's pancakes with stuff in/on and shouldn't be over analysed in my view. Seeing as they're not that busy they probably should have let it slide but if you take up a table for six then order for four I'd say the service charge is all the more appropriate and most places in London would do the same. Anyway, its the sort of place we'd quickly stop off in via shopping or even for a coffee and something in the morning. It's not a serious restaurant and I think if not taken as such delivers a nice little alternative for SGR. We will go back.

andy

Two big proper reviews. Wow. Can you have a pancake main followed by a pancake dessert? Or is that not done? The vagaries of pancake house etiquette are new to me.

Colette

In La France, it's perfectly normal to have savoury pancake followed by dessert pancake. Except the French will serve you a "galette" made from buckwheat flour for your savoury crepe, so I suppose it doesn't feel so much like you're just eating the same thing twice, once with cheese, once with nutella...

katiejane

mmmm - with a lovely bol of cidre to boot.

cheekychum

Dudley's...lol. The Starship Enterprise has landed!! Looks cool.. I'm gonna give it a try later (can't help myself!)

princess

Yum, Yum & YUM!! I popped in for something to eat at the weekend and nearly couldn't tear myself away!!!

My pancake & milshake was luuuurvelyy...the restaurant was really busy so there was a nice buzz, and i'm loving the london skyline behind the bar. Thumbs up from me!

Deffo going back soon :-)

princess

PS quick note to foureyes..if you want a traditional pizza, then go to a pizza restaurant...but similarly, their desserts/pancakes won't be as good as Dudleys because they do not specialise in desserts!?!

In fact the savoury menu come with chilli con carne & hoi sin duck toppings, which don't usually come on a pizza...so I don't think they are trying to compete with Papagonne's (which is yum too).

I think this makes a great change from the norm and i'm certainly not stuck in my ways or over-analytical..

Alison13

Hi, I'm new to the site. In fact I only came across the site looking for reviews of Dudleys and I only joined because I wanted to write my own review as I saw you didn't have many and I wanted to give my opinion!

So my boyfriend and I went to Dudley's on Sunday and we LOVED it! There is so much choice, we really couldn't decide! I had BBQ chicken on my pancake, which I wasn't sure about at first, but it was delicious. He had four cheeses which I tasted and it was good, though he thought it could have done with a sauce or something on it. For dessert (yes, we had savoury pancakes followed by sweet pancakes!) we shared a banana, chocolate sauce, baileys cream and ice cream pancake. It was also delicious.

The bill came to just under £30 (I had a coke and he had brandy coffee) which I thought was pretty reasonable. I was a bit worried that pancakes wouldn't be that filling but we were both stuffed! We are definitely going to go again, there are so many toppings I want to try, and I'll be introducing all my friends to the place as well! Plus I actually quite like the décor, it's trendy.

tosscat

If you hadn't've put the line about 'could have done with a sauce', I'd be even more suspicious than I am already.

James

You're probably one of those over-analytical types.

tosscat

Maybe, I've got previous on that front.

andy

Me too. But I am going to have to try it for myself.

granville

hmmmm... slightly suspicious...

Ian

All those apostrophes says PR job to me. I'll change my not impressed face when I've read Alison13's reviews of three other Stroud Green Road restaurants she can't contain herself but to write given the lack of other critics.

verga

I love it when people take the time to put the acute accent on decor. I have no idea how to do that.

Ian

That would be Ctrl+Alt+e éééééééé ....

Mia

Haven't tried this place out for my self but my flat mate has.

She really enjoyed their sweet pancakes on 2 occasions. (They do take away by the way).

I don't think any of us in the house would seriously consider sitting in at this place because of the slightly scary decor.

I guess I can't rule it out completely but there are many restaurants in the area with a slightly friendlier/more relaxed interior and menu.

Peter

Ian... but not on a Mac where it's Alt-e followed by e. These things are sent to confuse us.

katiejane

Just don't get that takeaway pancake thing. They're the easiest things to make.

verga

Thanks Pétér. How do you do a grave accent? And a circumflex please.

wisteria53

I love typing ƒö®èîgñ çhärã©tërš.... You shouldn't blame those of us who know where apostrophes go - the nuns beat it into me.