Josie’s Winchester

Winchester in Hampshire has become popular for being another foodie destination outside of London. The train ride from Waterloo station to Winchester takes just under 2 hours to get to. Visiting my friend and their family we wandered around the town centre, the gothic cathedral and Christmas markets filled with families, children’s laughter and dogs on leashes. After the walk, we decided to go to Josie’s for brunch.  

Josie’s Christmas specials 

Josie’s has been established since 2011 and is owned by a group of independent family run business. Josie’s is well known for its spectacular pancake stacks, homely food and fantastic coffee. On the menu, you find many English classics, full English breakfast, toasties, and breakfast bowls. Make sure you check the blackboard for specials. In our case visiting in the December months, the Christmas specials were all over the board.  

Instead of my usual eggs royale, I decided on one of the Christmas specials pigs in blanket benedict. S ordered the Christmas sandwich club consisting of turkey, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce. K had bubble and squeak cakes and a babycino.  

Mains were simple and tasty, good quality sausages, homemade hollandaise and cranberry sauces drizzle on the poached eggs. The portion size is slightly on the smaller side, and I highly recommend ordering pancakes for desserts. 

Pancakes

Now, onto the main event. Josie’s pancakes are sinful, it’s all about the batter they use. It’s made with three simple ingredients, eggs, milk and flour. One stack was enough for me, a super thick circle, dripping in thick sticky caramel sauce, warm griddled banana and airy whipped cream to finish. The pancakes reminded of Higherground hot cakes in Melbourne, a dense cake-like buttery mixture, moist in the middle and crispy outside. There’s a hole in the middle with an ice cream cone holding the cream.