Benet’s Café, 21 King’s Parade
First Class

Benet’s Café sits proudly opposite King’s, its sister café on St. Benet’s Street having closed only a few months ago.

I’ve read some reviews. It’s close enough to my department. I’m not expecting much. I’m wrong.

There is snow outside and the café is cosy yet airy, and not too full. The staff are relaxed and friendly. They offer a wide range of crêpe fillings, savoury and sweet, as well as American-style fluffy pancakes and gluten free options, so there’s a wide selection to choose from.

A lifelong lemon and sugar fan – the vanilla of the pancake world – I opt for an apple and cinnamon crêpe with caramel syrup.

It arrives looking splendid, dusted with icing sugar and drizzled with dark, rich caramel. The crêpe is thin but still soft. The diced apple, suitably tart, plays off the sweet caramel fantastically. It’s not at all sickly, just truly satisfying.

Another customer walks past me as I focus on the food with my camera. “Instagram?” he laughs. “Something like that,” I reply. While a little steep at £6.75, Benet’s has something of a restorative atmosphere, on the day I visit at least. I sit at the window.

There are magazines and a potted plant. There is table service. I feel like a goddamn princess. By the time I’ve demolished the crêpe, I realise that I actually did forget to take a photograph for my Instagram. High praise indeed. 

Cambridge Crêpes, Sidney Street
First Class

A student and tourist favourite already (with a review page on their website so glowing it could blind you), Cambridge Crêpes are doing something right. Or make that everything. Despite the bright and breezy weather, dissertation work is taking its toll, not to mention a vague feeling of pancake fatigue. I opt for Nutella – because Nutella – with some banana thrown in for good measure at £3.30, and am told this has been an unusually popular choice this morning. I note my newly discovered career option of pancake trend prediction; although I would probably have had to apply for an internship by now. The two owners are wonderfully friendly, and several regulars turn up for a chat.

Operating from a van, Cambridge Crêpes had the best café atmosphere I’d encountered so far, and it wasn’t even a café. I begin to feel like an extra in a sitcom, desperate to become a recurring character. It all depends on the pancake. Watching it being made is a thrill and a torture. I’ve forgotten about pancake fatigue. I’m salivating. I’m handed a hot parcel of firm pancake enclosing gooey Nutella and perfectly ripe banana. The van, embellished with the numerous fillings available for your delectation, promises “a classy pancake”. While I looked far from classy traipsing round Market Square with Nutella all over my face – as anyone unabashedly enjoying a treat on the go should – from the service to the taste, Cambridge Crêpes is a class act. 

Crêpe Affaire, 66 Bridge Street
Solid 2:1

Fairly new on the Cambridge scene is Crêpe Affaire, a company established in 2004, growing rapidly, and with an already solid clientele. The café is heaving as I slip through the door on a freezing cold evening, glasses steaming up. Again, this crêperie offers a decent selection of savoury and sweet fillings, and the pesto, mushroom and cheese combo persuades my otherwise conventionally sweet tooth.

The décor is simple with sunny touches – sunflowers adorn a back wall – and after grabbing some cutlery, I huddle in a small booth. After a small wait, I collect my pancake, a solid-looking brown triangular parcel stuffed with filling. It’s big, it’s ugly and it’s really flavoursome. The mushrooms are succulent and the cheese seems good quality. When I locate a scrap of pancake not smothered in gooey goodness, it’s a little hard, but it barely seems to matter – this is a real meal, and for little more than dinner in college at £4.40, not bad value, either. And with the promise of decent coffee, free Wi-Fi and freshly squeezed orange juice from a charming bright orange machine, Crêpe Affaire might be worthy of a second trip.

Do it yourself: American-style Pancakes

1. Melt the butter, then leave to cool slightly

2. Sift all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder) together into a large bowl, before creating a well in the centre

3. Beat the egg in a separate bowl, before adding the milk and mixing well. Add the butter and whisk with a fork to combine

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and whisk again until all ingredients are incorporated and lumps removed

5. Add a generous handful of raspberries to the mixture, gently crushing them with your fingers as you go. Fold them into the mixture until evenly distributed. Leave to stand for a few minutes

6. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat – don’t be tempted to turn the heat up any higher – and add a knob of butter or oil

7. Place a generous spoonful of mixture into the pan, using the back of the spoon to spread the mixture into a small circle

8. Wait until the pancake begins to blister and bubble before gently flipping it to allow the other side to cook – this should take a further minute or so

9. Repeat, stacking the cooked pancakes on a cool plate away from the frying pan and heat. Add a handful of the left over raspberries, a drizzle of maple syrup, and tuck in!