Saturday, June 23, 2007

Original Pancake House - Anaheim

I'll begin with two words: bacon waffle. And no, there's no punctuation error here. No comma, period, or the word "and" is needed. What I had at the Original Pancake House wasn't a waffle with some bacon on the side. What I had was a waffle with bacon in it.

Crumbled, fatty bacon, to be exact, was sprinkled into the batter and then cooked until the waffle turned golden. The finished product was freckled with the brown bits. I slathered on the whipped butter and drizzled the maple syrup until each one of its dimples glistened like pools. This was the next logical step in waffle advancement since Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, and the inventor is a genius of the highest order.

Each forkful was inevitably boosted by the salty, bacon-y bursts of the porky Pop Rocks. And the way it jived with the sweet syrup was nothing short of miraculous. Between bites, I took a sip of their freshly squeezed orange juice. The citrus tartness was required to cut through the richness and ready my palate for more.

But the waffles weren't the only miracles found here at the Original Pancake House, an outpost of the Pacific Northwest chain. The cooks, who wore those poofy chef's hats, also produced a mean plate of corned beef hash. It's served as a perfectly-formed patty, with a thin and crispy outer crust that led into a butter-soft interior so smooth (save for the occasional bit of gristle and chipped potato) it ate like pudding.

No visit would be complete without some of their namesake item: pancakes. An order of banana pancakes were fanned out on the plate like petals on a flower and was too much for a normal human being to consume. What we did manage to gobble up was ethereally fluffy, like it was blessed by the breath of angels.

Original Pancake House
(714) 535-9815
1418 E Lincoln Ave
Anaheim, CA 92805

26 Comments:

At 12:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Like the food here, but dont you find it really expensive for what you get (breakfast food)?

 
At 7:39 PM, Blogger Deb said...

YUM!!!!! My kids went to private grade school righ across the street from there. Thanks for the invite...lunch was wonderful!!

 
At 6:36 AM, Blogger elmomonster said...

Anon,

Now that I think about it, you're right it was kind of expensive for breakfast. The bill came out to about $10 to $12 per person. But since it was ten times better than Denny's or IHOP fare, I didn't mind so much.

Deb,

Glad you could make it! And thanks for the Lucca rec! That one's definitely on my list.

 
At 1:36 PM, Blogger J said...

I actually found the same thing here--that the pancakes were pretty good, but rather expensive. I think I had the Dutch Baby or something like that? It was like a pancake covered in powdered sugar that came, oddly enough, with a plate of lemons I think.

 
At 11:00 PM, Blogger Bill said...

Geesh one heart attack hash for me please with extra corn beef in it! ;-) I think I'm going to have to figure out how to make corn beef hash.

 
At 2:06 AM, Blogger joanh said...

wow! bacon waffle! i've never been to original pancake house (yet) but i've heard a lot about it. will have to try it next time!!! my favorite is stil banana pancakes

 
At 8:19 AM, Blogger christoofat said...

wow a Bacon Waffle! How ingenious is that? I will have to try making some this weekend, yum!

 
At 1:19 PM, Blogger Dancing Munchkin said...

question:

In my experience, waffles are usually slightly sweet, but does the bacon in it make it more savory now (and if so, does one add more salt into the batter or less sugar or do you keep it exactly the same and just add bacon?) or is it still considered a sweet food, despite the bacon? or is the bacon itself sweet as well?

thanx for the post elmo!

 
At 5:22 PM, Blogger elmomonster said...

jeanine,

I saw a few pancakes that looked like huge tostada shells. I completely forgot to ask someone what that was. Could've been those Dutch Baby's you had.

nhbilly,

I like corned beef hash more than I like corned beef. And yup, it would be worthwhile to know how to make it like OPH. OPH's plate was something like $3 or $4, IIRC.

Joanh,

It was quite crowded when we went. Surprisingly there was a great mix of people, I think half of the people in there were Asian. Weird!

christoofat,

Leftover Bacon (crumbled) + waffle batter + waffle iron = BACON WAFFLES! As easy as that! If I had a waffle iron, I'd have started on a few plates already.

Dancing Munchkin,

It's actually quite savory. Kind of like a quiche almost -- a really crunch quiche that you put lots of maple syrup on. YUM!

 
At 6:47 PM, Blogger Dancing Munchkin said...

hehe thanx! nothing as good as yours though

hmm.. there are some formatting weirdnesses going on and I don't know how to fix them because they only show up when i publish, not in any of the editting boxes.. @_@ any ideas how to fix it?

 
At 6:12 PM, Blogger Russkar said...

Best items on the Menu:
Apple Pancake
German Pancake
Cheese Omelete
Crisp Bacon
Fresh OJ

 
At 12:10 PM, Blogger MessyJessy said...

[drooling] I love corn beef hash especially with a few shakes of hot sauce (Texas Pete) and some rye toast. I'm almost ready to throw in the towel with the low carb diet I'm attempting in order to eat a few bites of the hash. Can't fight it...must resist the hash.

Aaaaarrrgggghhhhh!!!

 
At 2:19 PM, Blogger Melting Wok said...

I remembered seeing this place, one of the top rated pancake house in California..think it was on nine on the town show. I still haven't make my trip down there argh..oo, I love corn beef hashed too, yums !:)

 
At 8:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Elmo,

Speaking of chain restaurants, I am proud to announce that Century City is now home to a Pink Taco!!!

I know you are as excited about having one in SoCal as we are of letting you experience the joys of such a ... um... interesting establishment.

So, when will we see your review?

(Don't thank me now!)

/cackle

 
At 9:45 AM, Blogger elmomonster said...

dancing munchkin,

Sorry for the late reply. I see what's going on with your formatting, but haven't a clue what's causing it. Perhaps there's a problem with the template? Try using another template (but save your link info before you do) and see if it makes a difference.

russkar,

Next time I'm getting the German pancakes for sure. And another side of that corned beef hash.

messyjessy,

Resistance is futile.

Melting Wok,

Def one of those things you need to do before a day at Disneyland. The breakfast is better than those they put out at the Magic Kingdom, but the cost is probably just about the same.

Seth,

For pete's sake. Of all the chains to come out of Arizona, you'd think it could be one that serves cheese crisp. But if Pink Taco has it, I might just go and bite the bullet.

 
At 11:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

elmo,

Sadly, Pink Taco does not offer a cheese crisp. You still have to come to Phoenix for that delight.

But, I really think you should venture up to Century City and do a review. Then, I will arrange for the therapy.

 
At 9:49 AM, Blogger elmomonster said...

Seth,

LOL! Get the shrink couch all warmed up. First thing I'll try if I find myself in Century City will be a Pink Taco. I can't wait to try the product that inspired this quote from Ed Helms on the Daily Show segment about it.

Ed Helms: "...this Pink Taco tastes like a**"

 
At 10:16 AM, Blogger Jeannie said...

I went to the one in Redondo Beach but didn't recall bacon waffles on the menu! I'll definitely have to keep an eye out next time around.

 
At 10:56 PM, Blogger elmomonster said...

jeannie,

It's good! But then what which involves bacon isn't good?

 
At 11:25 PM, Blogger Chubbypanda said...

Great tongues drool alike. I've been collecting materials for a post about the Original Pancake House location in Cupertino (Northern California). This post takes the pressure off of me to knock that one out until a little later. =b

Now imagine topping that bacon waffle with fried chicken, Red Rooster Louisiana hot sauce, and syrup...

 
At 11:54 PM, Blogger elmomonster said...

Oh I did! That would be a waffle gone that would kill me and then send me straight to heaven.

 
At 1:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Food is great, but the waitress there was horrible, and there are no A/C. I will not go back there...You should go to Aliso Viejo one! Much better service and taste good!!!

 
At 10:27 AM, Blogger CallMeMochelle said...

I agree the Original Pancake house in Aliso Viejo/ Laguna area is much better.. bigger and cleaner!

The pancake staff in Anaheim isn't as friendly. It has gotten better now that the old lady (ie: pancake Nazi) is gone. She was rude!

The belgium waffle at Anaheim though is way better than Aliso. Otherwise, both places are great!

 
At 7:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree that the one in Laguna/Aliso Viejo is much better. They offer specials, such as Eggs Benedict and Eggs Michael (mushroom sherry sauce on poached eggs over an English muffin), that the Anaheim one doesn't and the service is much better.

 
At 6:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is also one in Yorba Linda, near corner of Yorba Linda Blvd and Imperial Highway. It's pricey but soooo good. Very busy, be prepared to wait on the weekends.

The German pancake (big) and Dutch baby (small) are the best, very eggy, baked in the oven, served wtih butter, powder sugar and lemon wedges to squeeze over the sugar. It makes a tart/sweet glaze!

 
At 4:43 AM, Anonymous Dazy said...

We don't go there regularly since it is not close to our place. I make it a point to come every time I'm in the neighborhood. We get filled up and usually have leftovers to take home.

 

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