Sarah’s Pancake

The charcoal pancake from Sarah’s Pancake offers a delightful experience with its thick, fluffy texture.
Each bite is bursting with flavours from the generous fillings, making it a unique and satisfying treat.
Peanut filling: $1.60
Coconut filling: $1.60
Black Sesame filling: $2.50

Sarah’s Pancake has been one of those establishments which we had passed by quite a number of times whilst going around Clementi Town Centre. Located in the coffeeshop at Blk 449 Clementi Avenue 3, Sarah’s Pancake is actually neighbours with Brothers Rojak; a rather popular and well-known establishment that specialises in rojak. Sarah’s Pancake is a stall that is located around the exterior of the coffeeshop, with the view being perpendicular to that of where 321Clementi actually is — one would probably easily miss it if they were to search for the stall within the coffeeshop itself. Given how there is a huge signboard depicting a stack of Min Jiang Kueh that hangs right beside the shopfront, one should be able to find the stall rather easily from outside of the coffeeshop. All of the Min Jiang Kueh at Sarah’s Pancake that are available for the day are prominently displayed in the display case at the counter for all to view — some would find its offerings rather similar to that of another notable establishment serving up Min Jiang Kueh that starts with the alphabet “M” and operates multiple locations across the island (they had first started out at Yishun Park Hawker Centre however); the pancakes itself coming with a variety of flavours where it comes with to the fillings, though the pancake itself also comes in three (3) variations being Charcoal, Matchq and the Original.

Always felt that the combination of charcoal and sesame in a Min Jiang Kueh is one that is fairly intriguing due to its entirely black aesthetic from the pancake itself to the fillings. We were also thankful that they had given us a slice of the pancake that is around the corners so we do get a bit of that crust with the piece that was being served to us. While the pancake does seem to have been made for some time ahead of us placing our order since these were pretty much just picked off from the display case, the Charcoal Sesame Pancake does seem to come with a slightly crisp exterior as we would have expected — likely also the case considering how black sesame and charcoal also tends to absorb quite a fair bit of moisture in the dough during the preparation process in the batter as well. The texture did feel like it would be the most ideal when the pancake is eaten when warm; leaving it out for slightly longer might result in a slightly limp texture than what they seemed to have intended it to be. The sesame fillings really shine here considering how it is a combination of both black sesame paste and white sesame seeds; the latter immediately reveals when one takes a bite into the pancake itself where one can feel a crunch amidst the grainy black sesame paste as well.

In retrospect, the Original Kaya Pancake was one that was soft and aptly dense — definitely had a more moist texture than the Charcoal Sesame Pancake and would fit those whom prefer their pancakes to come a little fluffy with a bite. The Kaya filling does also seem to differ from what we had expected it to be; a little more molten, while also sweeter and with quite a prominent hint of Pandan that would work well with those who like heavier flavours in general. With prices of its pancakes being largely similar to the establishment that it is conceptually similar to, Sarah’s Pancake isn’t the establishment that serves the cheapest Min Jiang Kuehs around — the Original Kaya Pancake is priced at $1.60, while the Charcoal Sesame is priced at $2.50. That being said, the quality does seem to be fairly reasonable for the price — definitely a spot worth getting one’s Min Jiang Kueh cravings fixed if around the area.