Even if you’re not ordinarily a very artistic person, we bet you get a spark of inspiration when you’ve got a pancake on your plate. Who hasn’t drawn a doodle or sketched a smiley face in maple syrup, or at least initialed their flapjacks with the sticky, tasty condiment?

After all, tasty as they may be, pancakes look pretty dull if you don’t add any decoration…unless you’re dining at this restaurant in Japan where the pancakes come pre-decorated with images of Pikachu, Mario, and dozens of other anime and video game characters.

La Ricetta is an Italian restaurant located in the city of Zama in Kanagawa, the prefecture bordering Tokyo to the south. For the most part, La Ricetta seems to be committed to preparing classic Italian dishes in the traditional way, so it’s a little surprising to see pancakes on the menu.

But these aren’t just any pancakes, but pancake art.

The restaurant’s Twitter account is packed with pictures of its carbohydrate creations. And if you’re impressed by the time-lapse photo series, like these for Nintendo’s Mario and Darth Vader…

…wait until you see the videos of the chef in action!

▼ Kirito and Asuna from Sword Art Online

▼ “It’s a-me, Pancake Mario!”

▼ Many would argue this is a more satisfying portrayal of the birth of Vader than the Star Wars prequels.

As a matter of fact, the chef’s artistic talent is only matched by his versatility. Take a look at just a sample of the characters who’ve been immortalized as pancakes (at least until the customers ate them).

▼ We spot Snoopy, multiple You-Kai Watch spirits, Pokémon’s Team Rocket, Gundam’s Char Aznable, Creamy Mami, Garfield, Danmachi’s Hestia, and Dragon Ball’s Goku and Kame-sennin.

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The inclusion of Hesita should serve as a hint that La Ricetta’s pancake art isn’t limited to just characters who are popular in the mainstream. Joining the string-sporting goddess are such otaku and fujoshi favorites as the star of Himouto! Umaru-chan…

…and characters from samurai-swords-as-pretty-boys extravaganza Touken Rambu.

Oh, and if you’re more into realistic animals than fictional characters, La Ricetta is happy to oblige.

But with so many characters being cooked up, can you be sure you’ll be served one you like? Worry not, because the restaurant’s pancake art is only available by making a reservation at least a day in advance, at which time you’ll be asked what character you’d like to request the chef use as the subject of your pancake art. While it’s unclear just how much English the staff speaks, the restaurant itself seems very welcoming of foreign customers, judging from the extensive amount of English used on the top page of its website.

At 800 yen (US$6.70), it’s not the cheapest pancake you’ll ever have, but it just might be the coolest, and it does come with a scoop of gelato on the side. Oh, by the way, that 800 yen is only if you’re a grown-up, since pancake art is free for kids eating at the restaurant.

As a matter of fact, La Ricetta is so generous about spreading pancake art that it occasionally even holds classes in which it teaches students how to make their own. But if you’d rather leave that in the chef’s very capable hands, we doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Restaurant information
La Ricetta /ラ・リチェッタ
Address: Kanagawa-ken, Zama-shi, Sobudai 1-6063-1
神奈川県座間市相武台1-6063-1
Open Tuesday-Sunday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Website
Map

Related: La Ricetta Twitter
Source: Artist Database
Top image: Twitter/@LaRicetta99 (1, 2, 3, 4) (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert image: Twitter/@LaRicetta99