Food Review: Pancakes At Carillon CBD, Perth

I think pancakes, or crepes are a universally eaten food. Every country has a different variation, with different fillings or toppings. It's probably because it's so versatile - and one of foods that can be cooked with a few core ingredients, then customised to any person. 

So I recently made a trip to Pancakes At Carillon. 

I think it's always been there - but I just haven't gotten around trying it out. I've always gone to Fast Eddy's whenever I have a pancake craving, and to be honest, Pancakes At Carillon is very easily missed, being a store tucked away in a corner of Carillon Arcade. So when me and my friends were trying to find a new place for lunch, we decided to try it out. 

Since it was a pancake party of three, and we each ordered one dish to share between us, two savoury crepes and one pancake dessert :

The Tandoori Temptation were two crepe parcels filled with tandoori chicken, seared with onions and coriander. I couldn't really taste the coriander or the onions, but I think it's because there was a lot of tandoori sauce in the crepe itself. It was lovely to have with the raita, but I personally didn't like the mango chutney. It had the texture of sauce, tasting like a fruit jam, which doesn't really make it a chutney to me. 

The Mexicana was almost like a burrito, the crepes rolled around beef chilli with layers of cheese and spicy sauce on top. This was actually more spicy than I expected, with a hint of tobasco, but it was offset with the cheese and a dollop of sour cream. I preferred this crepe, probably because I could really taste the beef and the almonds - plus I have a weakness for sour cream and mexican styled food. 

Our dessert was a stack of fluffy pancakes, with grilled bananas and drizzled with caramel sauce. It's very difficult to go wrong with pancakes as a dessert and this definitely delivered, with fresh strawberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The pancakes were lovely and fluffy, and did a lovely job soaking up the caramel and ice cream. 

Also, I decided to count the strawberries and the bananas into my required five servings of fruit a day. Does it really matter that I have my fruit with pancakes and sugar, as long as I had some fruit in my day? I don't think it does. 

Pancakes At Carillon is one of those places you go to when you have a serious pancake craving. Their service is fine, our waitress served the dessert at the same time as our main dishes but that was probably because we were not specific enough for her. I heard that it has been recently renovated, but it seemed to me that it needed a proper cleaning on the floors and chairs. Also, I had a slight issue with sitting right in front of the back-room, which had swing doors, meaning I could see and smell everything the staff placed in the sink. 

Also, if you noticed, yes, they served maple-flavoured syrup at their tables. If you check their manager's response on urbanspoon, you have the option of paying for real maple syrup if you want it. This is apparently standard practice since there are no commercial providers of proper maple syrup in Australia - but this is up to other customers to see whether it is really an issue for them. I don't really find that it matters to me when most pancake desserts already come served with plenty of toppings.

Would I go back to Pancakes At Carillon? If I was in the area and had a serious pancake craving. The food is pretty pricey, and there are other establishments in Perth that serve pancakes and crepes, so till I've tried those, I can't say that Pancakes At Carillon made a lasting impression.

Pancakes At Carillon can be found at:

Shop 66/67, L1, 

Carillon City, 

Hay Street Mall, 

Perth 6000

9322 6177