The Case of Pancakes

This is The Pancake House I've always known:

Orange interiors, warm lighting, comfort food

For our non-Filipino readers, this is Pancake House in Manila. It serves mouthwatering plain and flavored pancakes and waffles. They're also the best in my book for comfort food. I long for their chicken, spaghetti, and taco combo we used to have for lunch in the old work place. When I received bad news in 2009, I remembered sitting in Pancake House, Pasong Tamo and munching on chocolate chip pancakes to tide away the sadness. It is the ultimate comfort food place!

I was overjoyed when I heard Pancake House is opening in Riyadh. The joy proved to be short-lived because it wasn't the Pancake House I was expecting. It was a different Pancake House but since it still serves pancakes, my friends and I decided to give it a try. We might discover another wonderful brunch place!

This is The Pancake House in Riyadh...
(disclaimer: it's NOT related to Pancake House in Manila)

Soft-hued walls, bright natural lighting, comfort food

Just a reminder before I go on: the entrance of the family section is at the back. It's not the door beside the entrance to the bachelor's. That's the door to the kitchen. I know because I made the mistake of opening it and coming face-to-face with the stunned chef and kitchen staff. LOL.

I love the simple and elegant scheme in this restaurant's interiors. Our welcome committee of enticing photos did not help our hunger... just look at that pancakes smeared with chocolate! How could you give us tooth ache just by looking at you?! Haha. We were surprised to find The Pancake House full in the morning. We nearly fought our way to a table that was already reserved to us but someone claimed as hers. Being the nice people that we are, we just gave way. We didn't want to ruin our morning for because of people who didn't know what a reservation is. Anyway, the glass walls that welcomed sun rays in the morning creating this very homey, sunny vibe helped in making us giddy and happy again. The well-lit dining place was perfect for my food photos! 

Natural lighting FTW!

The decorations are not that frivolous. The soft light blue wall and chair cushions contrast nicely with the browns and whites.

On to the food... a good thing is they serve breakfast all day long and they serve their non-breakfast items all day long too! All their dishes are available all day long! So, we got the following:

Stack 'em!

Of course, this is the pancake house so we ordered... pancakes! We expected more from this because well, this is the Pancake House. However, we were disappointed. The stack is fluffy and ample but they actually don't taste like buttermilk pancakes. Did our taste buds go wrong? It tasted more like bread. No amount of butter and maple syrup salvaged this. So we went to the next dish...

LOADED!

I can't finish an omelet by myself. I tend to share but since eating a piece of this omelet, I wanted to snatch this away from my friends and keep it. Yes, talk about being a generous friend. Haha. My friends didn't seem to mind because they were contemplating on ordering another one. The omelet was savory and had a serious amount of steak bits, unlike other omelets we've tried where the eggs took the center stage and back. This omelet is loaded with ingredients bursting the thin layer of fried egg wrapping it.

Mr. Smiley, I need to eat you. Sorrrrry!

How cute is this? If you have this smiling back at you, are you still willing to eat it? Do you have the heart to wolf it down? We did. Unfortunately, it's still food so we cut it up and took hearty bites (sorry smiley!). This waffle is thin, crispy, and light. It's not the usual waffle I know. I kindda thought waffles use the same batter of pancakes but are shaped differently, haha. It's good but I'm not really fond of airy waffles. And please, I want more bacon with this. :)

We wanted to try a non-breakfast food so we ordered their sampler consisting of quesadillas, onion rings, and calamari. 

Crunchy, saucy, lovely.

Our favorites!

We like everything on this plate. The rings are crispy and tasty; the quesadilla was savory.

A wonder-full cup of cappuccino.

Overall, I like the food and setting in The Pancake House. I wish it doesn't get too filled with people though so I can enjoy a quiet morning. (This is my selfish side speaking so please ignore.) I also wish they improve their pancakes after all, it is The Pancake House. (I just have to point out the obvious redundantly, haha!) It's nothing near Pancake House in Manila but it's all right. I think I can live with this version. Besides, I have yet to try a lot of items in the menu.And I want to take more photos. Their natural lighting is beautiful, did I tell you that already? :D

The Pancake House

King Fahd Road

(near NCB and Kingdom Tower)

T: 01-2016816

§undrenched