Egg waffles, or gai daan jai, stand as a quintessential Hong Kong snack deeply embedded in the memories of both locals and expats. Online recommendations suggested that Mammy Pancake not only excelled at preserving the crispiness of the egg waffle, but also offers a range of contemporary flavours for their egg waffles. We visited their store inside the trendy Central Market.

Mammy Pancake preserves the crispiness by not only allowing the egg waffle to cool after removing it from the hot griddle but also by serving it to the customer in a well-ventilated, perforated cardboard carry bag. This ensured ample air circulation, maintaining the warm and satisfying crispiness of the egg waffle, and avoiding sogginess at all costs.

Sea Salt Seaweed Sweet Corn (37 HKD/7.4 AUD)

Egg waffles experienced their peak popularity in Sydney during the 2010s, but even then, the availability of savory egg waffles was limited, making the savory options at Mammy particularly enticing. The abundance of corn kernels and seaweed was delightful, providing a satisfying combination of crunchy sweetness and savory umami that harmonized with the audible crispiness of the egg waffle’s exterior and its tender interior. In many bites, there was actually more corn and seaweed than batter, a fact that we didn’t mind in the least.

Organic Chestnut (36 HKD/7.2 AUD).

Once again, the exterior of the egg waffle exhibited crispy perfection, while the interior remained tender and fluffy. Similar to the previous egg waffle, this one also had a generous filling, with at least half of the ‘bubbles’ featuring whole chestnuts to the exclusion of any other filling. This provided an enjoyable contrast in textures when biting through the crisp exterior into the fluffy batter or the denser nuttiness of the chestnuts. However, overall, we found ourselves leaning towards the previous egg waffle, as the abundance of chestnuts in this version tended to become somewhat dry on the palate after a few too many bites.

Our experience with Mammy Pancake’s egg waffles was immensely satisfying. The perfect crispiness of the exterior, coupled with the tender interior and the unmatched generosity of fillings, solidified Mammy Pancake as a place we would undoubtedly revisit given the opportunity.

The Malaysian touch in the English on the sign also brought a smile to our faces.

Mammy Pancake is located at Shop 242B, Central Market, 93 Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong.