New Hampshire: Sugar Hill – Polly’s Pancake Parlor (Eatery Review)

It is a bit odd how some memories stick with you. During our 2007 year-long road trip around the United States, one of the most enduring memories is when we visited Polly’s Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire. On the leg of that tour that took us to Sugar Hill, Karen had had to return to the UK for the funeral of her mum – so it was just me, Jack and Emily who had the chance to try out the delicious pancakes at Polly’s and the memory of that mixed stack of pancakes stuck with me. The odd thing is that I am not a big fan of pancakes, but these were so good!

So, coming back through the area some 14-years later I had decided to take Karen to Polly’s to experience what she had missed! Since my last visit, we had both switched to a plant-based diet but we do occasionally suspend this for something vegetarian that is delicious or special. I thought that Polly’s pancakes fitted into this beautifully.

Polly’s is a little off the beaten track but well worth the effort of getting there and our GPS had no problem finding it.
Things had changed quite a bit since we last visited. The restaurant had moved into a larger less rickety building which means business must have been good in the intervening years since we last headed here. I was concerned perhaps that was not all that had changed – were the pancakes as good or had was I viewing my last visit through rose-tinted spectacles?

We had arrived later in the day, an hour or so before closing (they shut at 2 pm) and the place was buzzing with people despite this being out in the ‘Boonies’ and in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. That said this is a slick operation with a limited menu so it was not too long before we were sitting down and ordering. There are different batter mixes; wholemeal, pumpkin etc so we decided to get a mixture. The only other decision was to have a half-stack or a full-stack … we opted for the full-stack. When everything arrived there was a huge amount of food and we began to think we might have over-estimated the capacity of our stomachs! The pancakes also came with a homemade sauce, which was delicious. We made our best efforts to eat our way through the stack and it was a struggle. Finally, we gave up, paid and wobbled our way back to the car.

We loved our trip to Polly’s. The food is wholesome, definitely filling and it is well worth taking a detour to visit the pancake parlour.