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.
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