Fuwa Fuwa - University District — Restaurant in Calgary

Land of the Rising Sun meets European decadent confectionary artistry. An American breakfast staple, the pancake, gets an East Asian makeover and a European cultural exchange. The Good Simple yet exciting interior decor. Warm welcoming environment. Clean washroom (only 1). Soufflé textured pancakes with a hint of sweetness and soft on the tongue. Creative combinations to give unique flavour profiles for whatever your sweet tooth desires. A coffee shop and bubble tea cafe all in one. The appetizing smell of a fresh community bakery lingers in the air. Reasonable prices. The Bad Very popular restaurant so wait times to place your order and to receive your food can be quite long. Very few tables available to dine in, less than 10 tables. Restaurant located on University campus so lots of foot traffic to watch out and yield to when driving to this place. Plenty of parking available (first 2 hours free in a nearby parlance) but it can be hard to find a spot during the lunch and dinner rush hours. Restaurant near a shopping mall and hospital so car traffic can be stubborn to both enter and leave the University campus. Please give this place a try especially if you want to know how a soufflé feels and tastes in pancake form. Oh and they have Swiss rolled cakes with flavoured filling, French macarons, Belgium waffles (crouffles),...

I've been meaning to try Fuwa Fuwa for so long and finally went! I've had fluffy Japanese pancakes IN Japan before so I think my high expectations put me off for a while. If I were to compare these pancakes to the ones I had in Japan, they're really not the same. But as separate pancakes not being compared to each other, these pancakes are great. Let me explain.

The pancakes I had at Benizuru in Tokyo were fluffy, jiggly, but had a density to them that was satiating and the texture was quite moist. Those pancakes could've been a whole meal.

At Fuwa Fuwa, the pancakes are very light and fluffy, rather airy. They're not as moist, but they make a very satisfying dessert. Despite how big the pancakes end up looking because they're fluffy, they wouldn't satiate you as if you had a meal. The taste is not too sweet so that's already a thumbs up from me.

So honestly I don't think it's fair to compare Fuwa Fuwa to fluffy Japanese pancakes in Japan. They're just too different to me. That being said I still liked my pancake order at Fuwa Fuwa.

I like the variety in their drink menu! I tried the strawberry matcha oolong? Actually I can't remember if it was matcha or some other green thing but it's an interesting flavour that I wouldn't recommend to someone who is not a tea lover. I did like it but the flavour was unusual and...

I've wanted to try Japanese style souffle pancakes for some time as they always look so good in photos!

They have a variety of espresso based drinks that are available hot and cold. I had the salted caramel iced latte which after a good stir was tasty and rich (tasted like there was condensed milk in it). My wife had the Nutella hazelnut latte hot which was nice and foamy but could have had a stronger flavor. They use local Fratello for coffee and espresso which was nice to see.

I had the Tiramisu pancakes which looked both pretty and empty on the plate. The coffee syrup was the highlight. My wife had the Raspberry caramelized banana which were good flavor combos. We both were underwhelmed as the souffle pancakes were just so-so (needed all the flavors as didn't taste much on there own) and weren't the most filling.

It was a nicely finished/decorated restaurant but it got cold quickly whenever the door was opened on a cold day. It took nearly 30 minutes to get our food even though there was 1 order in...