London’s Instagrammable Cafes: CA Japanese Pancakes Review

A local’s review of CA Japanese Pancakes in Victoria, one of the most instagrammable pink cafes in the city with souffle pancakes and colorful lattes!

I’m always attracted to cute cafes and bakeries – I’ve literally lost track of how many rustic bakeries, pink and floral coffee shops I’ve mentioned and reviewed on the blog.

Today, I want to share a few different instagrammable cafes I’ve been to and hadn’t gotten round to reviewing – the first one is CA Japanese Pancakes in Victoria.

I’ll also be publishing my Press Coffee Co review closer to the historic Fleet Street, and my review of Feya Cafe in posh and beautiful Marylebone, less rustic, and more floral than Press Coffee Co.

London’s Instagrammable Cafes: CA Japanese Pancakes Review

CA Japanese Pancakes currently has two branches in London, one in Victoria I’ll be reviewing, and one in Chiswick.

The cafe was born from a trip to Japan; founders Nina and Marco fell in love with Japanese cafe culture and decided to bring its aesthetic to London.

CA Japanese Pancakes is one of the brightest pink cafes you’ll find in London; neon signs, flower walls, and instagrammable souffle pancakes make it a perfect photo spot.

Seating is very limited and places fill up fast – I’d recommend booking, as I did myself before visiting: I did well; less than 20 minutes later, there started to be a queue in front of the coffee shop!

London’s CA Japanese Pancakes Review – Inside the Cafe and Menu

London’s CA Japanese Pancakes Review – What I Ordered

I visited CA Japanese Pancakes with a friend and we ordered:

• a pot of tea Good+Proper
• the Red Fruit and Cream souffle pancakes
• a Butterfly Matcha Latte
• a Ruby Rose Latte

I felt the presentation was almost immaculate at CA Japanese Pancakes – I would have liked for the colorful lattes to be absolutely perfect, especially since I’m one to like sharing pictures on the blog and want the most aesthetic photos.

The Ruby Rose latte (beetroot, rose syrup and rose petals – no petals on mine) and the Butterfly Matcha latte (Butterfly Pea Flowers antioxidant drink) were really beautiful, though.

As were the souffle pancakes – they came with some vanilla ice cream and a pinkish cream that read very instagrammable.

Now, did I enjoy my experience at CA Japanese Pancakes, Victoria branch?

I’m going to be honest and say I loved the colorful lattes, even if they were both for me and added up as a very sugary drink in the end.

Priced at around 5 pounds, they’re along the lines of the London coffee shop prices, so I didn’t mind.

When it comes to the souffle pancakes, it appears we visited CA Japanese Pancakes on a day when lots of people had already ordered when my friend and I arrived – which is strange since I’d booked for the opening time.

Beyond lots of waiting time (easily 15/20 minutes), the pancakes tasted like plain eggs and the cream on top was not sweet at all; the raspberries lifted up the taste a little bit, as did the vanilla ice cream.

But, not enough for me not to regret paying over 12 pounds per plate for the few little bites we each took off our pancakes.

London’s Instagrammable Cafes: CA Japanese Pancakes Review

Over time, I’ve come to know there are lots of instagrammable cafes, independently of the city, that lean in heavily into their aesthetic decor, prioritizing it more than the taste of the food.

Did I like CA Japanese Pancakes? Not enough to visit again – the pancakes were sadly bland and their price, far from being justified.

They did make for gorgeous pictures, though, didn’t they?

And anyway, should you be looking for cute cafes to just have a drink, I’d still recommend the cafe for their blue and pink lattes; I really enjoyed these!