Pikelets at The European

January 9, 2012

The European
161 Spring Street Melbourne VIC 3000
03 9654 0811
Open: Mon – Fri 7am til late; Sat – Sun 7:30am til late
Website

The European is one of Melbourne’s iconic restaurants – run by one of Melbourne’s greatest chefs, Ian Curley. Alas – I have never been there for dinner, only ever managing to get there for breakfast, which is what this post is reporting on – but must put it on my wish list for dinner. Especially if you’re a proponent of nose to tail eating (of which I am not so much, but great friend R is), or great steaks, or hearty European food – it looks to be a brilliant night out!

On this day – I was enjoying a pre-Christmas breakfast with most glamorous friend K – who doesn’t work very far from Spring Street. Today we both ordered the pikelets – naturally.  I was still on my relentless search for great pancakes in the CBD.

Pikelets, clotted cream and maple syrup

These are definitely the most beautiful pikelets I think I’ve ever seen – look at that lovely swirl! The batter must be piped or nozzled onto the hotplate. They look very sexy. On the plus side they were a good size, very pretty, and a little bit crispy on the outside – but on the minus side, I found them to be a little bland and dry on the inside.

I’m not a huge fan of maple syrup – so I asked if we could have an accompaniment of the berry compote – which they were more than happy to accommodate. In the end, a mixture of the berry compote and the maple syrup worked well in complementing the pikelets and the clotted cream.

Berry compote

Overall, I have to say the pikelets were disappointing for me – just too dry. However, I do have to say, I’ve had breakfast here on other occasions and I remember a beautiful Eggs Atlantic with a side of perfect avocado – so the menu does have its merits. I guess I’m just going to have to search for pancake nirvana elsewhere… any suggestions very welcome…

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