Uncle Pancakes

It does seem that there have been quite a number of recently-opened establishments around the island serving up Min Jiang Kueh that has taken an influence after what Munchi Pancakes are offering. Whilst Ottie Pancakes is one of those establishments that had been pretty aggressive in its expansion plans all across the island, we have found yet another new brand that had recently appeared at Haji Lane serving up similar offerings. Taking up the ground floor of the shophouse unit situated at 78 Haji Lane, Uncle Pancakes (not to be confused with Uncle Pancake that is located at Marsiling Lane Food Centre) is one of the few new F&B tenants that had moved into the neighbourhood. Decked in an orange facade, Uncle Pancakes shouldn’t be too difficult to spot considering its rather bright shopfront. As with most establishments serving up Min Jiang Kueh, Uncle Pancakes operates as a takeaway kiosk with no dining areas within the space itself; the store does come with a display case that prominent displays the various pancakes that are readily available. Just like Munchi Pancakes and other establishments attempting to replicate the offerings that Munchi has to offer, the food menu at Uncle Pancakes is segmented into sections dedicated to Min Jiang Kueh, Mini Pancake and Pancake — the Mini Pancake and Pancake variants being pretty much the same as what Munchi Pancakes offers as their Mini Munchi and Munchi Pancake line-up.

Just like Munchi Pancakes, Uncle Pancakes also do offer their Min Jiang Kueh pancakes with batters coming in three (3) different variants — the Original skin that comes in a brown hue, a Charcoal skin that features a black hue and the Green Tea Skin that comes in a shade of green. Dropping by Uncle Pancakes during the evening on a weekend, we did notice that Uncle Pancakes does not have all variants of batters available for some of its flavours of Min Jiang Kueh. Noticing that our usual go-to fillings of Black Sesame and Kaya only had the Original skin in-stock, we went for the Original skin variant of the Black Sesame Min Jiang Kueh and the Original skin variant of the Kaya Min Jiang Kueh. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the Min Jiang Kueh were all left displayed in the display case for far too long, the edges of the Min Jiang Kueh do come across as a bit soft and limp and totally lacking of crispness; it is noted that the Min Jiang Kueh here at Uncle Pancakes also follows the same style as what is being adopted by Munchi Pancakes — the batter coming thicker and heftier than that of the traditional style where it carries a more substantial bite whilst still being soft and fluffy. The Black Sesame Min Jiang Kueh does come with black sesame filling that felt a little smoother than the ones served up by both Ottie Pancakes and Munchi Pancakes — there is still a roasty hint of sesame that runs through, though Uncle Pancakes’ variant of the Black Sesame Min Jiang Kueh is a wee bit sweeter. On the contrary, the Kaya Min Jiang Kueh does come with a Kaya spread that comes with a rather familiar consistency to that of what Munchi Pancakes and Ottie Pancakes also serves up; pretty dense and rich with an almost custard-like consistency. That being said, it is interesting to note that the Kaya filling that Uncle Pancakes uses is the least sweet of the lot. Uncle Pancakes’ appearance in the Kampong Glam neighbourhood is something that is worth applauding — after all, the Haji Lane area especially has been filled with more tourist-y F&B options that doesn’t quite represent the local fare of Singapore. That being said, the Min Jiang Kueh at Uncle Pancakes does feel like a weak link for the establishment; not sure if this due to us having their pancakes a little too late in the day — definitely some room for improvement that these folks can look into working on.