Crème Brûlée Pancakes in Kowloon, Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, pancakes are reaching new culinary heights, far beyond the usual blueberry-studded or lemon-and-sugar-topped options. Here, you can tuck into fluffy pancakes served with a crunchy, golden-brown crème brûlée topping and soft-scoop ice cream on the side, making for a snack that mixes sugary richness with an appealingly light, airy texture.

The am.pm booth is bright yellow and located in Hong Kong’s Kowloon. The pancakes are made fresh while you wait, with the gooey batter squeezed out onto a hotplate. They crisp up into puffy, fat disks, ready to be garnished with sweet toppings and popped onto a plate.

Crème brûlée is am.pm’s best-known topping. It features two pancakes laid one on top of the other and held together with a dollop of syrup. The resulting miniature tower is coated with a thick layer of custard and doused in sugar, before the top is blow-torched for that classic crisp, caramelised finish. Crack your fork through the top, and the warm custard oozes out over the wobbly pancakes. It’s a substantial serving – if you’re feeling hungry, you’ll want one to yourself, but otherwise you might prefer to share this jiggly sugar stack with a friend.

The crème brûlée pancake – served with soft-scoop ice cream – may be the main event, but there’s a changing menu of other styles, and options might include tiramisu pancakes, berry-topped pancakes and matcha and white chocolate lava bombs, as well as various teas, shakes and assorted ice-cream flavours.

Fans of nominative determinism will be disappointed : am.pm is closed in the mornings. Located at Grand Place, 560 Nathan Road, Kowloon, this innovative dessert stall is open 1pm–11pm every day of the week, and is busiest in the evenings.