Well, not really new — they opened in fall 2019 — but it took me this long to find an excuse to go, and my daughter’s friend from Boulder had heard of this relatively recent Japanese trend (it’s an Instagram fave) so we put it on the agenda for our touring this weekend. Boy did we pick the wrong day! The wait was two hours. But we had plenty to do in Soho in the meantime, and the Yelp system was seamless: they have an iPad in the foyer where you enter your name and number and it churns out the wait time without having to talk to a maître d’ (good thing, since the staff was running around to keep up).

I was expecting a tourist destination, and it clearly was, but I was pleasantly surprised by the place over all — it’s bright and airy and since the dining room is on the second floor and on a corner, there are great Soho views out of every window. It’s even fun to people-watch from up there. (If you are looking for other spots, there is also Taiyaki in Chinatown and Hi-Collar on East 9th.)

And the staff was exceptionally nice. We had three different servers at our table and everyone seemed happy to be there. It was almost shocking.

So to the pancakes: they are not sweet. The “sweet pancakes,” which are flat like the ones you make at home, are on a separate part of the menu. But their signature soufflé pancakes are two inches tall and beyond fluffy — more like jiggly and pillowy. The texture is surprising light, especially when your brain thinks it is about to eat “pancake.” It’s closer to a super fluffy omelette to me — well, a souffle! — but not eggy or savory. The toppings add the sweetness. NB: these are not diner prices. One order of two or three pancakes was $19.

The batter has a much higher ratio of egg to flour than regular pancakes, plus egg white meringue is folded in, which gives them the fluff. One of the waiters at Flipper’s explained that each pancake takes 16 minutes to cook: the batter is plopped on the griddle then covered for four minutes, then another lump of batter is added, covered again, then flipped and covered yet again and cooked for a good 8 minutes.

Definitely worth a visit at least once — especially if you are dining with the Instagram set.

Flipper’s
337 West Broadway at Grand
walk-in only
917-265-8292
Weekdays 10 to 4
Weekends 9 to 6