When were were in the U.S. for Thanksgiving, we watched the Amsterdam episode of Anthony Bourdain’s old Travel Channel show The Layover with Scott’s parents. It was the first time we had watched a travel show about Amsterdam since we moved here, and it was fun to be able to point out places familiar to us on television and critique how our new hometown was presented before the cameras. For the most part, I’d say he gave a fairly accurate view of Amsterdam, albeit as accurate as you can get in a layover.
One of the restaurants featured on the Amsterdam Anthony Bourdain Layover show was called The Upstairs Pancake House, and after a few false starts due to them having very limited opening hours we got around to trying it recently.
The Upstairs Pancake House Amsterdam is, as the name would suggest, located upstairs in one of Amsterdam’s famous tall, skinny buildings. And, it sells pancakes. Now when they say “upstairs”, they mean it – the steps to reach the dining room are about as steep as steep can get. They are so steep that after we ascended the staircase, the group of girls leaving ahead of us decided going down the regular way was so daunting for them that they descended backwards like they were going down a ladder.
We were told they wouldn’t have a table ready for us for 30 minutes, which wasn’t a surprise, because the Upstairs Pancake House is only home to 4-5 tables. This can be seen as a negative or part of its quirky charm.
We chose to go with the quirky charm one.
Furthermore, in addition to being, shall we say “intimate”, the Upstairs Pancake House is home to a cozy cupboard-style atmosphere that would probably be familiar to many a Dutch grandmother. The walls and roof at Upstairs Pancake House are adorned with colorful teapots, Delft Blue trinkets, and portraits of the Dutch royal family.
So, how were the pancakes?
Well, they were soft, warm, and buttery. The pancakes were pretty much the ideal version of these large Dutch specialties. I ordered chocolate and coconut and even though they accidentally forgot the coconut, I thoroughly enjoyed it (I was only charged for the regular chocolate pancake, so I’ll assume that the waiter just misheard my order). Every pancake comes with a little dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry as decoration, which I was glad of to break up the sticky sweetness of the chocolate sauce. Scott stuck with the classic version of a Dutch pancake that is simply covered with powdered sugar.
Bottom Line: Can you get pancakes as good as this in other places in Amsterdam? Absolutely! But can you get them in the same atmosphere of the Upstairs Pancake House? Not a chance, so for that reason, I am glad we went. I also have to say that the prices were very competitive compared to other pancake restaurants we’ve tried in the city centre.
- Grimburgwal 2
- Open Wed – Sat 12pm – 6pm and Sun 12pm – 5pm
- www.upstairspannenkoeken.nl
I am curious: What makes Dutch pancakes so special? How do they differ from French crêpes or the pancakes one finds in North America?
They use a similar batter to French crepes, but are much bigger and usually the toppings are cooked into the batter in the pan. There’s no baking powder in the batter like you often get in the States to make them fat and fluffy but the small pancakes (poffertjes) are made with yeast which makes them light and “puffy”.