They say this restaurant is a Winnipeg icon; they say that most people have been here once, if residing in Winnipeg. I guess it took me 18 years for me until I actually got to visit this place. Let me tell you, I was intrigued, because every time I passed Pembina Highway, I would wonder how it was there. Being Asian, my parents are really biased against white food—especially my father, who would not even let me go near a “white restaurant”. It was at the wake of my parent’s divorce is when I finally got to taste “white food”. One of the restaurants my mom took me to was Pancake House near Polo Park.
[flickr style=” border:none; padding:4px; border:1px solid #BDBDBD; float:right; margin-left:5px;”]photo:3775236651[/flickr]I didn’t know what to expect upon coming here. Was it just pancakes? Would it be crap like my dad said? I don’t know, but I went in anyway, after just waking up, my mom enthusiastically told me we were going to pancake house. Even my mother, it took her 14 years upon arriving in Canada to taste Pancake House.
It was packed, even at 7:30 am in the morning. It was mostly older folk, though. But I won’t let the diner demographic cloud my judgement. As the waitresses passed by, I saw humongous pancakes the size of a plate.
When we were seated, I looked through the menu—thankfully, it wasn’t just pancakes. I wasn’t in the mood for dessert early in the morning, plus, I wasn’t a “sweets” type of person. After 20 minutes flipping through the menu, I found a dish I would like: eggs Benedict. My mother and brother just got simple bacon, eggs, sausage and pancake type of breakfasts. I wanted something different, so I opted for this.
[flickr style=”border:none; padding:4px; border:1px solid #BDBDBD; float:right; margin-left:5px;”]photo:3776044896[/flickr]Let me tell you, it was delicious. It looked so small on the plate, but it was filling. The hollandaise sauce wasn’t as overpowering as I anticipated (I didn’t even think that was hollandaise sauce because it was so white) and the potatoes were okay, I gave them to my little brother because I do not like potatoes. On top of THAT, I got a stack of 3 pancakes—which I was unable to successfully finish.
My mom and brothers dishes were a-ok. They were a standard breakfast, but at an unbeatable value of around only 6 dollars for their dish. Mine was a bit steeper at 8-something, I vaguely remember the price, but the food was good. We also got tea and coffee, which was generously filled by our friendly server. The tea was very good, actually.
Pancake house, I’ll have fond memories of this place as it was one of the first “white restaurants” I tried. Next time I’ll bite the bullet and order “dessert for breakfast.”
Location:
Pancake House
1445 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3G 3P4
(204) 775-9035
All photographs in this article is taken by Gazel Ma, and products are from the respective restaurant(s) mentioned.
