Being on vacation has its perks. It means I’m able to get around to try places I haven’t yet gotten to. As a lover of all things breakfast and brunch, first up on my list: The Original Pancake House. This place has been open in Itaewon for awhile now. I’ve heard a mix of good and bad from my friends and so finally to be able to go myself had my stomach rumbling in anticipation. So with friends in tow I headed out to see what The Original Pancake House had to offer.
First, for the chic fifties vibe they’ve got going on they scored points from me. I love a throwback theme and they’re doing it right with the shiny chrome, red vinyl seats and black and white checkered floor. The dining area is open and airy. The place seems capable of seating close to a hundred hungry folks so you shouldn’t have to worry to much about snagging a table. The uniforms of the staff are simple: clean white shirts and blue aprons. I didn’t even mind the odd early 90’s music mix they had clashing with the decor. It worked.
After our group was promptly seated and each handed a menu (still a bizarrely rare occurrence in Korea) I began to flip through page after page of options. I should start with the two specialties that I didn’t opt for but looked amazing. The Dutch baby is a huge German style pancake that can be ordered with whipped butter & lemon, seasonal fruits & whipped cream or ice cream with all of the above. The apple pancake with crumbly cinnamon top for all intents and purposes resembled an apple pie. The thought of either seemed too rich for me so I moved on to more traditional options. The pancakes come in a wide variety. Everything from plain buttermilk pancakes to potato pancakes can be ordered, including blueberry, banana, chocolate chip, bacon, coconut or Georgia pecan pancakes! You can even choose half and half if the choices just get to be too much. Also on hand is French Toast and pigs in a blanket ( sausages wrapped in buttermilk pancakes). There’s also crepes and waffles with just as many options as the pancakes.
Overwhelmed, I moved on again this time to check out the egg options. Breakfast isn’t breakfast without eggs even after a friend almost ruined them for me by showing me this video. Sorry, I couldn’t resist sharing the horror. Still, if you’re like me it won’t slow you down from going back to eggs. At The Original Pancake House the omelette reigns supreme with choices like Italian, ham & cheese, jalapeno & bacon, Irish, Denver and of course Florentine. You can also add extra ingredients if you want to jazz up your omelette. There’s also the standard bacon & egg, sausage & egg, waffle & egg, and ham & egg options. The menu didn’t stop there. On came the hashes. They cook up their very own salami, jalapeno & bacon or potato hash with onions served with eggs and pancakes. Fried chicken and burgers round out the menu. You can get either country fried chicken or chicken with waffles or a pointless burger. Why serve a burger at a breakfast joint?
For our meal we ordered up the bacon and eggs with pancakes, the country fried chicken, and the jalapeno and bacon hash. The bacon turned out to be thick meaty slices of crispiness. I ordered my eggs over easy and they were perfect. The side of pancakes were fine. They were truly a side of mini pancakes not the big fluffy ones that I saw other diners eating. Still, they were okay. The country fried chicken proved to be too much for my friend. She didn’t expect the meaty gravy that southern Americans are used to. The whole dish was too overwhelming but that means she had plenty to take home. I thought the gravy was perfect though my arteries might disagree. The chicken though while possessing the crispy skin I like proved to be just a tad dry. The third our merry trio ordered the jalapeno hash with cheese. The flavors meshed well and the cheese, while not part of the dish, should be mandatory. For three people our impromptu breakfast came out to 50,000 KRW. Not too shabby once you throw in a couple coffees and an order of fries.
The Good:
Opens at Eight am which is music to my ears. Also the breakfast was yummy although I can throw down a mean breakkie myself at home for much less. Well, except for the pancakes. I haven’t mastered those yet.
The Bad:
No hash browns. Yeah, they serve fries and hash but I want hash browns dammit!
The Weird:
Silver Dollar pancakes… that’s weird right?
Price:
25,000 KRW and lower
Hours:
8 am to 10 pm Mon to Sun last call 9 pm
Delivery:
You can order Delivery from Original Pancake House via Shuttle (셔틀). The prep time is 15 to 35 minutes.
Phone:
02-795-7481
Address:
172-2 Itaewon 1(il)-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Directions:
Take the subway to Itaewon Station (Line 6) and depart from Exit 1. Walk about 200 meter and its on your left.
