dinner - tuesday, december 22th, 7.30 or 8pm

we might be having a guest from santa monica, so the time won't be set until we decide on the restaurant.

roy's restaurant - hawaiian fusion (8pm?)
321 west katella ave, anaheim 92802
suggested: beef short ribs, chocolate souffle, pineapple upside-down cake

president thai cafe - thai (7.30pm?)
9340 whittier blvd, pico rivera 90660
suggested: green tea ice cream, pad see ew

the original pancake house

Typically, I’m not looking to eat much food two days after Thanksgiving. In fact, the thought of plowing through another gorging meal sounded like a dangerous venture for my already overinflated spare tire. But as soon as we pulled up to the Original Pancake House in Anaheim (1418 East Lincoln Avenue), those thoughts quickly melted away.

If you’re in a rush this isn’t the place to go, but the line is always out the door for a reason. Our table of eight was seated rather quickly given the crowd and there are plenty of places to sit around while waiting.

The menu offers a wide selection that would please even the most distinguished of breakfast connoisseurs. The restaurant specializes in pancakes, as the name implies, but they also have some omelets and waffles for those that aren’t feeling the pancakes.

The service was quick. Given how crowded the restaurant was I fully expected to wait a bit for the food, but the operation seems well run. In no time at all we had hot plates of Swedish, potato, pecan, and blueberry pancakes sitting in front of us.

I got the Swedish pancakes, which are essentially crepes with nothing wrapped inside of them. It came with a side of exotic imported berries. I quickly dumped them on top of the hotcakes with the two basted eggs that I ordered separately. Two popped yolks and a gallon of syrup later, I was in heavenly bliss.

I also tried the pecan, potato, and blueberry pancakes, which were all delicious. I thought the pecan pancakes were the real stand out of the crowd, however. There was also a “Dutch Baby”— an oven baked pancake that comes with lots of lemon – and a very impressive omelet ordered. I didn’t get a chance to partake in those impressive masterpieces, but they looked great and those that did eat them looked very pleased.

All of this great food sat amongst the interior of the building, which is full of hideous wood paneling and orange benches, what a perfect setting for a Saturday morning breakfast.

In sum, you shouldn’t go to the OG Pancake House if you are in a hurry, but the food truly is worth any wait. And, you can get a party of eight out the door for under a hundred bucks, which is an impressive feat these days (even for breakfast).

4.5/5 Stars…

(review courtesy of kevin e)

brunch - saturday, november 28th, 10.30am

original pancake house - homemade breakfast (german/scandinavian background)
1418 e lincoln ave, anaheim 92805
suggested: apple pancake, dutch baby, corned beef hash

break of dawn - semi-gourmet breakfast (vietnemese fusion)

24351 avenida de la carlota, laguna hills 92653
suggested: creme brulee french toast, poached eggs

costa mesa omelette parlor - full menu (mid-west american)
179 e 17th street ste a, costa mesa 92627
suggested: omelets (ehringer's irish answer, south coast finest)

senor big ed

Senor Ed is a happy combination of both Puerto Rican and Mexican food. Looks like most patrons come here for to-go entrees, but there's a spacious dining room to the left of the entrance.

Our server was friendly and gracious about making recommendations. We tried bistec encebollado (stir-fried flank steak and onions), pollo en fricase (chicken fricasee-stewed), carne gulsada (stewed beef Puerto Rican-style), and canoa de platano maduro (open yellow plantain filled with ground beef, topped with melted cheese).

Most of the dishes came with heaps of rice and deep fried plantains, both yellow and green. The yellow ones were sweet, the green ones had the texture of dry hash browns and required some ketchup. ;)

Even though we expected the pollo en fricase to be the star of the show, parts of it ended up being dry. The bistec was decent steak, especially with onions. The stewed beef was tasty and the sauce made the rice easier to down. My favorite dish was the plantain with beef and cheese, although it leaves you feeling heavy with no room for the rice.

I thought their horchata was especially yummy, or maybe I was just really thirsty. They even have fun sodas like sparkling apple juice. An overall good experience if you're into meat and rice dishes. A pretty solid restaurant for a fairly competitive area for Mexican food!

3.5/5 stars

(review courtesy of annie)

dinner - wednesday, october 21st, 6.30pm

eating on the cheap, and in your own backyard!

senor big ed - puerto rican
5490 lincoln ave, cypress 90630
suggested: mofongo, pollo en fricase

steam city grill - american fast food
16480 norwalk blvd, cerritos 90703
suggested: steamies" (steamed hot dogs) for 69 cents each, gyros

yves' bistro

Tucked in amongst other randomite stores on the far east side of Anaheim, you will find Yve's Bistro. The seating is cute, and at dusk, they open up their patio doors so that the crisp air rolls in. It's a nice touch.

The bread brought to the table was really bad, I felt like I could have found a more appetizing loaf at Ralph's, and luckily it wasn't indicative of the food they serve there. For appetizers, the Stuffed Mushrooms and Tuscan Palm Sandwiches were tasty enough, though the smaller-than-palm size left a person wanting. The mushrooms themselves could have used more seasoning, but the stuffing was delicious. The Endive salad was also delicious, however this time quantity was an issue as the entire salad only included four pieces of endive.

On to entrees. The Linguini Puttanesca was not too bad, tho bordered on being too sour. Perhaps more toppings could have balanced that issue out. The Spicy Chicken Pasta was decent, but came off a little too oily, besides the fact that the bacon, which was included on the menu, was curiously lacking in the actual dish. The Mushroom Ravioli was very tasty, itself, but the sauce was very oily for a Mushroom Ravioli, and it seemed as though the missing bacon from the Spicy Chicken Pasta somehow found itself in the Ravioli. All entrees were in decent sized portions except for the ravioli which is usually smaller, no matter where you go.

Grand finale--the souffle. The souffle was beautiful and good. We ordered the Chocolate Raspberry Souffle and were satisfied with the tastiness of the entire thing. The sauce was quite tasty, but the entire thing could have used more ice cream. I have to say, I have had much better souffles.

Overall, it was a decent meal, but nothing that would really call me back another day to drive out that far for a meal. It should also be noted that we waited a long time for our food, our waiter almost forgot to bring grated cheese, and the service wasn't spectacular.

3 1/2 (of five) stars

(review courtesy of ting)

dinner - monday, july 13th, 7pm

oaxaca mio - mexican

1169 e 10th st, long beach 90813
"best oaxacan food i've had outside of oaxaca" (yelp reviewer)

suggested: mole (four types!)

yves' bistro - french / italian
5753-a east santa ana canyon rd, anaheim 92807

"the best part about this restaurant ~ Dessert~ Not just any kind of dessert, but 6 different kinds of Souffles!!" (yelp reviewer)

suggested: endive salad, stuffed mushrooms, souffles (seven types!)