#15: How original...back to the Original Pancake House

Celebrating Yuken's one-month birthday, we set off for the Original Pancake House.  We brought along Nana Carol, and met up with our regular Jack and Jill pals, Tama, Howard, Shoshana and Liora.  This was our largest PKJJ crowd, but we got to the 'cake house early enough that getting a table was no problem. Being a Monday helped, too.  The kids went straight for the chocolate chip pancakes and couldn't be bothered with the other ample choices...blueberry, apple, coconut, etc.  I went for a half stack of coconut, as did Nana.  Mai went for a a regular mixed breakfast, which proved to be a little overcooked...a bit too much grill time on the 'taters.  All in all it was a good time, tasty as usual, though with the 1/2 stack I didn't have leftovers. 

#14 Scandinavian Donut Heaven: Larson's Bakery

Growing up, one of my favorite places to grab a Saturday morning treat in downtown Bemidji was the Blackforest Bakery.  Long shuttered, I've longed for the taste of a nice, old-school cream-filled bismark of my childhood.  In this day and age, when the rage is $5 cupcakes and $3 organic donuts, I've often yearned for those simpler times.  Glad was I to find that an old-school bakery still exists, no pretension or designer prices, right in my own neighborhood.  Larson's Bakery sits at the top of the Ballard neighborhood north of downtown Seattle.  With a long glass case full of refined sugar, bleach flour, and butter-soaked treats, this has become an inexpensive break from our monthly quest for great pancakes.  Rarely does a full meal break $10, and everyone is so sugared up that it makes the walk home pass in a jiffy.  Issei's donut of choice is usually the sugar-coated rings, while Pacifica has been trying pretty much everything in the case.  My favorite is definitely the sticky caramel roll, but the danishes are quite good as well.  Coffee is better than church coffee, which is fine, and the milk case is always paced with fresh pink cartons of skim for the little ones. Yum. 

 

The Rest of 2010...April, May, June, July, etc

Well, 2010...where did you go? Seems like yesterday but already a year since the last blog post.  The good news is that the Pancake Jack and Jill tradition continues, and we've had some excellent breakfasts, most with pancakes, but a couple without.  Other good news is that there is another 'Jack' in the mix, Yuken Paz, who we welcomed on December 17th.  Here are the catch-up highlights of our best three dining adventures from April-Dec.

May: Twin Peaks

Walking into Cindy's I half expected to see David Lynch smoking a hookah with a dwarf.  This fine establishment sits in the heart of Aurora Avenue's strip of broken-down hotels, streetwalkers, and adult book stores, and for the past year or so has been wavering on the verge of a shut down...the proposed replacement is a gentleman's club, which of course would do so much for the area.  As of writing, Cindy's is still open for business, though I'm not too keen on going back...the food was not so bad, but the setting was so surreal it made the pancakes taste strange.  First off was the color red--everywhere, carpet, walls, booths.  Then the high-backed chairs at the bar--set so that you could eat in a cocoon? Then the fish tanks behind the bar, scum-coated and green....the only contrast.  The waitstaff was friendly enough, the food simple and what you'd pretty much expect at any diner, the price, just fine.  Good luck Cindy.

June: Spoons and Soccer In the midst of the 2010 World Cup, Pacifica and Issei and I picked the perfect venue for a Sunday morning meal: our new local diner called the Four Spoons Cafe.  Four Spoons sits in a little old building about a block away from our first apartment in Seattle, so it feels like home.  Inside I recall one TV showing one of the World Cup games.  I think it must not have been England as they did so poorly...it probably was Spain.  Anyways, the TV did not interfere with our meal as Pacifica picked a table that kept it out of our sight.  I went for the English breakfast...a couple of eggs, bangers, roast veggies, beans, a biscuit and potatoes.  The kids went straight for their staple, pancakes, which came out piping hot and with plenty of fluffed butter and syrup.  The folks at Three Spoons were extra friendly, and I can't wait to go back.

August: Fish and Eagles

Aside from innumerable Denny's, Japan is not known for its breakfast pancakes, so we opted to go with the local specialty: sushi.  Pacifica, Issei, Mai and Grandma Koko headed out from our hotel in Ginza strolled down to the Tsukiji Fishmarket, a lovely, boisterous place where you can purchase a kilo of tuna, a stuffed bald eagle, or a fancy kitchen knife.  I picked up a hand-forged steel vegetable splitter for about 10,000 yen...not a bad price had it not been for the terrible exchange rate. I think the eagle was 7,800,000, so I guess I will have to save up. After much browsing and peeking into the various hole-in-the-wall sushi joints--which looked fantastic--we settled on the most kid friendly place, a clean and air-conditioned sushi-go-round joint, the deal sweetened by a dude handing out free plastic fans. 

We five saddled up to the bar and started on our favorites...the kids of course went for tuna mayonnaise, fried chicken, and the like, while Mai and I went for the taro, uni, and other treats.  Most delicious was a $8 plate of three cuts of tuna...extra fatty.  Too bad for Mai, being pregnant and all, that she was a bit more concerned about mercury than usual...so I got the fattiest pieces.  I washed it all down with green tea and figure that will keep me healthy, as will a steady few months of pancake breakfasts.