10 of the best places in Dublin for a big stack of pancakes

Katy Thornton

When you just want someone to make the Matilda style pancakes for you.

Sure, if you opt to dine out, you won’t be able to control if “Send Me On My Way” is playing in the background, but you can release the stress of flipping failures and uncooked pancakes by heading out for your stack.

Pancake Tuesday is upon us once more, and we thought the people of Dublin could do with a fresh round up of the best places for a hefty stack in the city. Whether you’re looking for a classic lemon and sugar or a hearty bacon and maple syrup accompaniment, there’ll be something for you on this round-up.

10. One Society

Gardiner Street Lower, Dublin 1

One Society has a brunch menu that follows an excellent formula of familiarity with a side of imagination. Pancake fans can opt for the “simple” or the “full on” versions and while the full-on has the usual suspects like bacon and maple syrup listed, curious eaters can venture further from the mainstream and sample the house-made pineapple, cinnamon and vanilla compote with whipped cream. They also have something called the ‘Hangover stack’ which sounds just like the cure you need after a heavy night, a plate of pancakes topped with bacon, ricotta cheese, and an ambitious mixture of spicy tabasco and sweet maple syrup – a fried egg on top completes this life-saving plate.

9. Pineapple Pink

Malahide

Morning and afternoon, Pineapple Pink is there for you with a proper plate of protein pancakes (alliteration for days). This café may be a health conscious space, but they also have fun with their creations, and the pancake stack is no exception. Add all the Nutella, strawbs, chocolate chips – whatever it is that will give you that warm gooey feeling inside, don’t be shy about being very clear about it.

8. Vanilla Pod Eatery

Multiple locations

Another walk-in only eatery is the Vanilla Pod, of which you’ll find four in South Dublin, so on any given day you try to nab a table, you’ll likely be waiting a wee while, but the pancakes warrant that time anxiously checking your watch, and wondering if another group has been seated before you. They take the term stack seriously, and their toppings even moreso, with the choice of the ever-classic, ever delicious bacon, maple syrup, and cinnamon, or the extravagant peanut mascarpone, berry compote, chargrilled pineapple, toasted almonds, lime infused maple syrup, and cinnamon sugar – talk about OTT in the best way.

7. Lemon Crêpe & Coffee Co

South William Street, Dublin 2

At the heart of the city centre you’ll find Lemon, historically one of the best places in Dublin for a spot of people-watching and deliciously thin, French-style crepes with a massive selection of toppings. While most of the pancake stacks on this list are of the thicc with two cs variety, that’s not everyone’s thing, and the best place to go for the crepe in our fair city has got to be Lemon, which has been welcoming people into its bright orange space since 1999.

While there are many toppings to choose from, the classic lemon and sugar suits these thin bois best.

6. Kakilang

Bachelors Walk, Dublin 1 & Charlestown Shopping Centre, Dublin 11

If you’re a true lover of pancakes, you’ll be looking to try them in their many forms, and if you haven’t manage to tuck into the soufflé editions from Kakilang, then you have got to rectify that immediately. This Asian street food fave have perfected this wobbly recipe, serving their stacks that sway like a jenga tower with fresh fruit, bacon and maple syrup, or their signature cheese foam – I mean, it’s got to be tried, hasn’t it?

5. South Bank Café

Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6

If you want your doggo to join in with the pancake festivities too, (and why the hell not) canal-side spot South Bank is your only man. Their pancakes are more on the cake side than pan, deliciously thick with your choice of traditional bacon and syrup or fresh seasonal fruit and brownie crumb as toppings. South Bank does their pancake stacks light and fluffy, small and uniquely space saucer in shape, only making it all the easier to tuck into.

4. Metro Café

South William Street, Dublin 2

Open almost 30 years, Metro Café is a part of the Dublin landscape now, the red and white striped awning as recognisable as the Spire (and older too), or the statue of Molly Malone selling her cockles and mussels, and falling victim to breast fondling and graffiti. It’s a go-to breakfast location, and what makes their pancakes special is the Denny’s-style feast it is served with. A trip to the bistro is wasted if you are not ordering their Metro Special, a plate of two buttermilk pancakes served alongside streaky bacon, scrambled eggs, and roast cherry tomatoes – all that’s missing are some hash browns, or grits. If that’s a bit much for you, then their classic stack, topped with your choice between melting honey butter, Nutella, or berry compote, won’t disappoint you either.

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3. Póg

Multiple locations

While your pancakes looking Instagrammable isn’t all that matters, it certainly is a factor, and some of the most photogenic stacks can be found in any of Póg’s five locations across Dublin. Póg is nothing if not versatile, and how you want your pancakes is entirely up to you – if you’re vegan, you can opt for dairy free, if you’re a gym bro or gal, get yours infused with protein, and if you just love a stack topped as high as Matilda’s, then by god, you can add on an extra layer if you so choose.

2. Alma

Portobello, Dublin 8

This Dublin 8 spot boasts some of the most inventively-topped stacks you’ll come across in this city, whether it’s sweet or savoury your heart desires. Their Dulce de Leche pancakes with brandy and orange mascarpone and toasted nuts are the Rolls Royce of the batter world and the Smokey West Corkey offering with West Cork salmon, goats cheese cream and poached eggs is ideal if you’re looking to make more of a meal out of it. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

1. Ian’s Kitchen

Kimmage, Dublin 12

Every once in a while, a truly special food offering crops up in Dublin that blows everything else in its genre out of the water, and in the 11 months Ian’s Kitchen has been in operation, it has certainly done that. Never without a queue out the door, the Cluck Chicken owners have excelled in this brunch spot, and their impressive towers of meringue sitting atop their pancake stacks are consistently featured on Instagram stories every Saturday and Sunday. Don’t be scared off by the likely waiting period; once you chomp into those frothy pancakes, you’ll forget all about it.