Slept in on a Sunday morning, so I was surprised to find a restaurant/cafe nearby that’s actually opened at late noon, since most shops are closed on Sundays. Stokers is a hidden gem located on Clarendon Street that operates every day. Apparently, it’s still opened until late at night from Tuesday to Sunday as well, which is really convenient. Even though the portion here is small, I was thoroughly fascinated by its signature pancake chips. Definitely returning again to try out the different savory, sweet, and exotic sweet pancakes!
– General Review –
- Service: 9.5/10
Friendly staff, and they made us feel at ease. There weren’t a lot of food choices for lunch (apart from savory pancakes), but Stokers offered a diverse range of pancakes. There’s a small section of merchandise, such as tea, for sale as well. I thought the drinks here were more expensive, and the portion of the dishes were generally smaller.
- Servicescape: 7.9/10
On the outside, the cafe didn’t look very impressive, painted with a bright color that didn’t match the interior. But inside, the cafe was small and homey, and there’s some seats outside as well. The place was also bright with plenty of wooden furnishing, which made it feel warm and inviting.
- Non-smoking area: Yes, seats are indoors and smoke-free.
- Vegetarian dishes: Yes, vegetarian dishes available.
- Price range: $$ (AU$9 – $16 for most main dishes.)
Overall Rating: 8.6/10
– Food Experience –
1) Croque-Madame:
The Croque-Madame was really good! I loved the cheese, although it was a little messy to eat. The dish also came with ham, topped with a fried egg (runny yolk!), and some rocket salad on the side. The portion was pretty small, but the quality was great.
Croque-Madame ($9.50)
2) Egg and Bacon Pancake Wrap:
I liked the Egg and Bacon Pancake Wrap as well, but the portion was too small, so I thought it was overpriced. Aside from that, the pancake was thin (reminded me of crepes), eggs were well-made (not too dry), and the bacon was great (you can’t go too wrong with bacon).
Egg and Bacon Pancake Wrap ($8.50)
** 20/11/14: Came back again recently and I was so delighted to find that the portion has significantly increased! Definitely worth the $8.50 and the quality’s still as good.
Egg & Bacon Pancake Wrap – updated
3) Stokers Pancake Chips (Large):
Loved it! I honestly didn’t know pancakes could be made into such savory chips until I tried Stokers’s pancake chips. I chose the garlic parsley mayo dipping sauce, which went really well with it. The rosemary also made the dish really fragrant, and the chips weren’t too crispy, but just nice. Even though I ordered a large, the portion’s still pretty small, but give it a try!
Stokers Pancake Chips – Large ($5.50)
4) Chicken Parma:
The parma was great – the chicken’s super tender and the portion was pretty big as well. The Chicken Parma came with the savoury pancake chips and dipping sauce, and it was a really generous serving as well! An absolute delight!
Chicken Parma ($18)
5) Hot Jam Doughnut:
The Hot Jam Doughnut was a sweet pancake served with vanilla cream, slices of bananas, cinnamon sugar, and incredibly sweet strawberry jam filling. I repeat – Incredibly. Sweet. I have a sweet tooth and I still thought it was too sweet. But aside from that, the pancake was still pretty delicious anyway. Extremely happy with the portion that was served as well.
Hot Jam Doughnut ($11.50)
Location: 231 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne – VIC, Australia (3205)
Contact number: +61 3 9682 8403
Facebook: Stokers South Melbourne
Operating hours: Mon: 9am – 3pm
Tue – Fri: 9am – 3pm; 6pm-12am
Sat – Sun: 8am – 4pm; 6pm – 12am
Posted by: V
