The drive up to Portland from SF was long (10hrs!), but beautiful. We passed some pretty towns and lots of sheeps farms. Did you know that there are truly a few black sheep? I just thought that was an expression.
After settling into the apartment (which is nicer and more spacious than expected), K, J and I headed downtown for dinner. Note to everyone: downtown Portland is DEAD at night. There are lots of teens wearing bushy ski hats sitting on the corners asking for money, but otherwise, it's pretty darn quiet. We wandered around and after consulting Yelp (iphones are ever so handy), ate some pasta at Roma Restaurant. It was adequate, but not deserving of its good reviews.
The next morning we decided to try The Original Pancake House, based on B's hearty rec. Even better, it's only a few blocks away from our apt. We bundled up (it was COOOOLD) and got there before 10am only to discover a HUGE waiting line already. Hey, that's a good sign, right?
But guess what. Turns out, there are Original Pancake Houses in Cali! And I've already been to one. Oh well, no matter. We waited anyway because....this is the ORIGINAL Original Pancake House. The one that started it all! That fact in itself would have cinched our decision, but what tipped the scale was the menu. Check it out:
That's right. BACON PANCAKES. Side story: the weekend before moving to Portland, JS philosophized that a restaurant should just mix the two into one batter and sell it. So seeing it on the menu was like a sign. I had to try it, especially after making the bacon chocolate cupcakes the week before.
Ta-dah. Here's my big-ass plate of bacon pancakes:
In whose world is that a regular size order? Anyway, I am very sad to report that they sucked. The bacon was too crispy and frankly a little burnt. They didn't match well with buttery pancake batter. J and K (hee hee, I didn't even realize they're right next to each other in the alphabet til now) said their breakfasts were good, so I probably just ordered the wrong thing.
But would I go back? Nah. It's a BTDT ("Been There Done That"). Still, the place has a nice cozy vibe so it was a nice cozy way to start our Portland adventures. And when we left, it all of a sudden turned sunny and warm!
4 comments:
The idea of bacon pancakes are good though! I had Bacon Waffles in SD and they were fantastic! But yes, the bacon was not crispy - more like ham, flavoring the batter. Thanks for reminding me that I wanted to try making them at home!
I'm sorry to hear the bacon pancakes weren't tasty. Maybe I'll try Stack's take--bacon waffles--since both textures will be crunchy.
The menu actually had bacon waffles too, but I think they'll still fry the bacon too much before putting it into the batter. :(
I tried making bacon waffles a few years ago but I feel like the bacon flavor is too dilute. It might work better if you grease the waffle iron with bacon fat before cooking the waffle. The bacon was there in name only - you can see it but the taste isn't there.
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