3 ‘Flipping Brilliant’ Places to Eat Pancakes in MK this Shrove Tuesday

Pancake Day. Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras. Whatever you decide to call it, one thing is for sure – it’s a day of fun, festivities…and, most importantly, food! Here are some local gems that come HIGHLY recommended this pancake day.

French Affaire, Stony Stratford

One of my favourite brunch-time locations, French Affaire is a French-inspired restaurant, buried in the heart of Odell’s Yard in quaint Stony Stratford. Founded by Anca and Razvan Marcu, their intimate and elegant restaurant concept came to life from their love of French produce and their visits to family in the Campagne-Ardenne region.

Although in the evenings the restaurant serves up more French fine-dining options, breakfast and lunch is dedicated to some of my favourite French food – Croques and Crepes!

Their daytime menu, served until 4pm daily, consists of both sweet and savoury crepes that can all be adapted to be gluten free. There is a huge amount of pancake possibilities, but my savoury favourites have to be the ‘Eggs Benedict’ (consisting of ham, free-range poached egg, cheese and hollandaise) and ‘Le Chevre’ (a vegetarian option made up of roasted vegetables, goats cheese, cheddar, balsamic and parmesan). If you have a sweet tooth (or you fancy a crepe for dessert!) then the sweet pancake that, quite frankly, has my heart, is the ‘Biscoff Delight’ – Biscoff spread, strawberry or banana, salted caramel sauce, Biscoff crumb and whipped cream.

The Gamechanger Kitchen, Giffard Park

If you haven’t already heard of The Gamechanger Kitchen in Giffard Park, then you must get to know! This lovely café has recently undergone a fairly substantial expansion and certainly draws in a large crowd of fans – myself included! TGK was crowned as the ‘Best Coffee Business/Café’ at the prestigious MK Food and Leisure Awards last year.

The menu changes seasonally, but some of the highlights for me have to include the array of fresh smoothies, the hearty and healthy sweetcorn fritters and, of course, their mouth-watering, super-stacked pancakes.

On the menu at the moment you are able to choose from a plethora of pancake options: The Banoffee – served with banana, biscuit crumb, caramel, Chantilly cream and chocolate dusting; The Smoky Bacon and Maple Scotch – served with smoked bacon and TGK’s signature maple scotch syrup; Mixed Berry Crumble – served with berry compote, vanilla ice cream and crumble; and finally, my current favourite, Tiramisu – served with coffee, Kahlua, mascarpone cheese and cocoa powder.

Out of Office, Witan Gate

Out of Office coffee shops have now become a bit of a Milton Keynes institution. Their ethos is simple – ‘serve exceptionally tasty coffee, fresh baked goods alongside it and aim to have every customer leave slightly happier than when they arrived.’

Out of Office was founded in Milton Keynes in 2017 by Steven, Murat & Bennet who always had a passion for well brewed coffee. They travelled the world and were drawn to these cafes that became a part of the ‘daily ritual.’ Although coffee may be their ‘thing,’ the Witan Gate branch serves up some of my favourite American-style pancakes in the locality, with top-quality goods and ingredients made to order.

This pancake day, choose Out of Office for a well-priced stack of thick, warm and fluffy pancakes and opt for one of their three mouth-wateringly tasty options: Nutella and Banana, Biscoff and Ice Cream or Berries, Yoghurt and Granola.

And those on my pancake ‘bucket list!’

Although I can’t vouch for these options, if their social media accounts are anything to go by, these spots would make some ‘flippin’ incredible’ local alternatives to visit this pancake day.

 -The Whisk Kitchen and Bar, Woburn Sands

-The Grumpy Cook, Shenley Church End & Loughton

-Olney Pancake Parlour, Olney

-Kiki’s Café, Grafton Gate

-Lilly Café, Whitehouse