Jingumae: RAINBOW PANCAKE (レインボーパンケーキ)
My company has a day once every few months
whereby we can choose to telework, so I leaped at the chance to visit cafes I
typically would not be able to go on that day. I invited a couple of friends,
and drew up a (mostly) pancakes tour schedule for the day.
One of the cafes on my list was RAINBOW PANCAKE, located in Tokyo’s unofficial
pancake district (Omotesando/Harajuku).
RAINBOW PANCAKE was opened in October 2011 by a couple
that used to live in Hawaii. They decided to name their café RAINBOW PANCAKE because they feel that
rainbows and pancakes are a symbol of happiness. They started their café with
the simple mission of bringing smiles to all who eat their pancakes.
RAINBOW PANCAKE is available for reservations only at
10am, so we woke up bright and early for our morning reservation.
While 10am might be too early for some
people, I reckon it is waaay better than standing in line for 1~2 hours just to
enter the café.
It was also very close to café gram, another pancake café I was
itching to go, so I quickly grabbed a ticket at café gram before heading to RAINBOW PANCAKE. (More details on my cafe gram review!)
RAINBOW PANCAKE is housed on the 1st and 2nd floor of ARES GARDEN OMOTESANDO.
The first floor of RAINBOW PANCAKE is used for private events, and is usually not in use unless there is a booking for the private room.
The private room can be reserved for 2000yen an hour, and can fit about 8 people.
It also has its private-room only exclusive menu, so I hope to try it someday.
The actual cafe is actually on the second floor.
My reservation coincided with their opening time, so my friend and I were one of the first few customers to enter the restaurant.
I was quite surprised that the owner of the cafe was able to accurately identify me as the person who made the reservation as he called me by my name.
The interior of Rainbow Pancakes was airy with lots of natural lighting, and rainbow-coloured wallpapers and simplistic decor added to its modern, minimalist feel.
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| even the fire extinguisher is rainbowfied |
The seats at the cafe quickly filled up, and the cafe was at fully occupied within 5~10 minutes of opening.
If I am not wrong, they only have about 6 two-seater tables, so capacity is limited here.
I was really glad that I made a reservation before coming!
To keep their pancakes healthy, they use
low fat milk, and do not add any butter to their batter. They also use fresh
HACCP certified eggs from Iwate prefecture.
We decided to order one of the
recommendations of this shop - their much lauded macadamia nut sauce pancake (1250yen).
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| water infused with kiwi and lemon |
After about 30 minutes of waiting, our pancakes came.
The pancakes were very soft and thick – we
cut into it and softly savoured the pancakes.
ERMAHGERD - definitely one of the best pancakes I have ever had!
I have had a lot of pancakes in my life, but this one definitely takes the cake! (HAHA)
The texture was moist, slightly mochi-like and dense, and it had a very rich flavour from the eggs they used.
The chopped macadamia nuts and macadamia nut sauce generously slathered all over the pancakes was thick and creamy, and surprisingly
not too sweet, and it gave the pancakes an amazing nutty aroma – I can see why
this Hawaiian influenced pancakes is one of their bestsellers.
I thought it was cute that their pancakes came
together with a pair of cute rusk cookies in the shape of a fork and knife.
Between 10am to 3pm, their dessert pancakes comes with a drink.
I got a standard coffee.
I thought their coffee was really good - no need for sugar because it was brewed perfectly.
(I did add milk though - I can't drink coffee black!)
We also ordered their Salmon & Avocado Pancake (1350yen) from their savoury pancakes menu.
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| salmon & avocado pancake 1350yen |
Their Salmon & Avocado Pancake is one
of the most popular item among the savoury pancakes. It is topped with smoked
salmon, avocados, lettuce and onion slices and served with a blob of herb cream cheese.
The batter used for the savoury pancakes is
different to their dessert pancakes – it is made using a blend of plain flour,
rye flour and wholewheat flour.
To be honest, I thought their presentation was a little plain - maybe its the dull green-ness of the lettuce. It is said that a good food presentation should have three colours - green, red and yellow.
I think adding a wedge of lemon would elevate the entire presentation of this dish.
Tastewise, I have absolutely nothing to pick on.
Vegetables were fresh, and it was the perfect, creamy avocado.
The pancake was different from its dessert pancakes, and had a more 'wheat-like' taste and aroma.
It was not as thick and fluffy as its sweeter counterpart, but the pancake was moist and had a nice chewy texture.
I thought it went really well with its savoury toppings.
All savoury pancakes come with a small potato salad, mini dessert and drink.
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| tea |
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| cute utensils! |
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| potato salad |
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| coffee jelly |
At the end of my meal, the owner came up to us and chatted with us about his cafe and asked us about what we did.
I felt that he genuinely had an interest in his customers, and really enjoyed running his cafe business.
By the way, you might have noticed in some of my photos that the rainbow colours in this cafe only has 6 colours. I asked the owner about it, and he told me that in Hawaii, the rainbow is seen to have 6 colours instead of 7.
You learn something new every day.
RAINBOW PANCAKE is a definite must visit for pancake fanatics.
I promise you won't be disappointed! Definitely one of the best places for pancakes in Tokyo!
bills is my to-go for ricotta hotcakes, but for good ol` flapper-jacks, I am definitely coming here!
I might even reserve their private room for a special event some day!
Address: 4-28-4 Jingumae Shibuya Tokyo
東京都 渋谷区 神宮前 4-28-4 ARES GARDEN OMOTESANDO 2F
Phone: 03-6434-0466
Hours: Wed - Mon 10am - 6pm
Closed on Tuesdays
Website: http://www.rainbowpancake.net/
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