Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Original Pancake House, Milwaukee, WI

The Original Pancake House
2621 North Downer Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53211
http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/

In the spirit of full disclosure I must tell you I LOVE the Original
Pancake House. I would eat there everyday if my waist and wallet
could afford it. As it is, I have gone stretches where I have eaten
there twice a week and for more consecutive weekends than I care
to count. I have recommended the Original Pancake House to
several friends, family and acquaintances and it has become
their
breakfast place.

In a word, the food at the Original Pancake House is phenomenal.
For those of you who hate Spoilers please avert your eyes from
the page now because the food at the Original Pancake House is
way off the "It Makes My Mouth Happy" chart and receives my
first "So Good It Will Make You Slap Yo Mama!" rating.

What makes the food so good? Consistently fresh and high quality
ingredients. I have been there many times and have sampled
many different items and everything is uniformly excellent. I
mean every
thing: the thick strips of bacon, the homemade apple
sauce, the butter that tastes fresh-churned and, especially, the
maple syrup which is so good I poured an extra thimble of it that
I got in a take home order over a couple of Eggo waffles and it
made
those waffles sing in my mouth.

The Original Pancake House is known for their two Specialties of
the House. The first is the Apple Pancake, a plate sized
pancake
smothered with sautéed apples and cinnamon sugar baked to
perfection to create a deliciously rich cinnamon sugar glaze.

The second is the Dutch Baby an air filled delight oven baked to
golden perfection and served with lemon, whipped butter and
powdered sugar to create a mouthwatering blend. To call either
of these delicious souffles a "pancake" is a misnomer. They have
to be experienced to believed.

(One word of caution: both the Apple Pancake and the Dutch
Baby are oven-baked pancakes and take longer to prepare.
If you are with a party make sure to tell the waitress
not to hold
up everyone else's orders until your is done - or get there before
the rest of your party arrives and put your order in early).

Of the two, I am a die-hard devotee of the Dutch Baby. Served
with fresh lemon slices and powdered sugar, eating the Dutch
Baby is the definition of "It Made My Mouth Happy!"

That is, until you have the sublime experience of the French
Toast, four slices of perfectly grilled perfection. The combination
of the thick sliced bread, eggs, cinnamon, seasoning, butter and
syrup has to be tasted to be believed.

Nothing could be better than the french toast except for
the incredible omelettes served at the Original Pancake House.
These omelettes look like half a football on your plate yet
they are fluffy and flavorful. The omelettes come in seven
delicious varities and each comes with the choice of three
different cheeses - or all of them. I have sampled several
and have settled on a concoction of my own. I order a
Vegetarian Omelette with all three cheeses and then, to
make it healthy, I have the cook add fresh cooked chop-
ped bacon.

The omelettes come with pancakes or pan potatoes on
the side. I highly recommend ordering the pan potatoes.
They are perfectly crisped and flavorful.

(For the health conscious, the omelettes also can be
made with egg whites and the side of pancakes can be
had with sugar-free syrup but let's not ever speak of
this again).

If you are feeling adventurous please try the Potato
Pancakes. Like the pan potatoes, the thin flaky pancakes
are perfectly crisped and flavorful. I like mine with
butter and the wonderful maple syrup and they come
with a bowl of the excellent homemade applesauce.

I have it on good authority that the Banana Pancakes
are also excellent. (Extra! Extra! I have tried the
Banana Pancakes and they are delightful, a symphony
in the mouth).

Part of the pleasure of eating the Downer Avenue
location is the East Side Milwaukee ambiance. Tucked
into a tidy neighborhood of art house movie theatres,
trendy shops, restaurants and upscale grocery stores,
the area has a comfortable lived in feel and the denizens
of the neighborhood are so well-off and comfortable in
their skins that they ain't scared of no black people.

In fact, at first, it was a little disconcerting to be standing
in front of mailbox with another rather large and
intimidating looking black man and to have a little old
white lady step right between us to deposit her mail in
the mailbox without the least bit of fear or trepidation.

On sunny days it is not unusual to see people walking
their dogs, couples pushing their children in strollers,
people of all ages riding bicycles and artists and musicians
setting up their easels and music stands. And, inside the
restaurant the atmosphere is equally familial and
ecletic.

On the Eating While Black scale:

So good you'll slap yo' mama!
It made my mouth happy!
Aiight!
Better than dirt.


Service: Friendly and courteous
Comfortable for black people?: Yes
Recommend to your black and white friends: Yes
Recommend to just your black friends: N/A
Recommend to just your white friends: N/A







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