noelle’s posthaven

We carried on the family tradition and headed down to the Original Pancake
House in Honolulu. We ordered our favorite: Forty-niner flapjacks--thin,
gooey pancakes that cover the whole face of your plate. Mmmm.
 
We vary a bit in methodology. My dad and brother like to cut through the
stack of three. My brother douses in maple syrup; my dad lays on the coconut
syrup. For myself, I like to push each of the stretchy pancakes into a roll
and eat one at a time. I like biting through the many layers.
 
Since my godbrother is visiting from China, this called for a special
occasion: ordering a dutch baby. This fluffy pancake that takes 20-30
minutes to bake, so the trick is to order it as soon as you sit down. I like
mine with drizzled lemon and lots of powdered sugar.
 
There are tons of Original Pancake Houses everywhere (I think the Walker
Bros one in Wilmette, IL, claims to be the original?), but we went to the
one in Honolulu on Kapiolani Street. There's often a significant wait for a
table. My dad and brother have even started a log with what time they went
and how long it takes, in search of the optimal time to go--still no
conclusions. :-)
 
The Original Pancake House
http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/
1221 Kapiolani Blvd.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
808-596-8213
 
When I could bum a ride, I went to this one during college:
 
Walker Bros
153 Greenbay Road
Wilmette, Illinois 60091
847-251-6000

Ah yes, pad kee mao in a Thai place on El Camino in Redwood City.

And of course, Fraiche again. Natural yogurt ala raspberry preserves and
shaved dark chocolate. (Doesn't something about the picture make the yogurt look emo?)

Joe made this for me. He buttered both sides of the bread and then cut a
little square out and dropped an egg in. I put a slice of American cheese on
top. Delicious!!! I tried to replicate at home. It is not the same.

The last few dishes of ketchup rice were so good I wanted to try making it at home. I do recall a failed attempt in London which involved rice and ketchup in a pan. But this was different. We were going to do it this time.

Joseph and Wynne helped cook. We used chicken, spam (lite), peas, bean sprouts, frozen corn, green onions, garlic a bit of chicken broth, egg, and, of course, ketchup.

I decided to mix the egg in. It's too hard to make an omelet, and it makes eating more clumsy. So in it went.

SUCCESS! Oh, sweet, sweet success. We also mixed it some korean chili paste, which made it GREAT. Although I put in it too much and it made me cry.

Also splurged on a bit of these cherries. Joseph remembered he had some Baileys in the back of his refrigerator (I guess a previous roommate left it there?), and I muddled a cherry in there. It was good! Like sweet milk before sleep.

Food has always been my main expense, which is not to say that I am against
saving money. I am very much into saving money. Otherwise supermarket sales
would not give me that soaring feeling.

But I do like to make good stuff at home. Here we have a type of pasta, a
bit hastily thrown together, so we could go mini golfing for Erin's b-day.
Here we have soy sausage, onions, garlic and canned spaghetti sauce.

Also, a homemade gimlet (for me!) and Americano (campari, ew).

Which is apparently right near the Civic Center, where I had gone to an
opera dress rehearsal. I was quite upset when I learned what a bad area we
were in. Well, now I know.

Besides the danger, the food here wasn't bad. I got pad kee mao, which was
spicy and tasty. The seating was a bit, hmm, how do you say, ghetto. We got
seated at a table with a couple. Kind of weird. But not insurmountable in
the name of food.

Jumped in the car and made the long, stomach-churning trip to HMB for the
Pumpkin Festival. Traffic got us a bit down, so we arrived with only 20
minutes till closing! But just enough time to take a quick spin around the
art, pick up some free cereal and yogurt, and enjoy some pumpkin ale,
sausage, and pumpkin ice cream!

Adrian, Melissa and I split one pint of pumpkin ale. We all thought it was a
good ale, but it didn't taste like pumpkin at all. The sausage was quite
tasty. It had some dollops of marinara sauce. Yum! And the pumpkin ice cream
was delightful in every way. Light, fluffy, creamy and, best of all, very
pumpkiny.

On Jennifer's suggestion, we went to Café Bermoni, which is in Menlo Center,
on El Camino in Menlo Park. The food was gourmet and affordable. I had a
lovely soy latte and an egg scramble with spinach and feta. I also couldn't
help myself and got a cold glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Yummmm.

Thanks for the tip, Jennifer!

Sebastien and Joseph put in helping hands when I lost my student ID down a
crevice in my car! Oh no! But luckily, with Joseph's car training, and
Sebastien's adeptness, we got it out. Whew.

Then had a pleasant dinner at this Japanese restaurant in Redwood City.
Round tables were sprawled in the middle of the floor, like a café, and we
sat at a booth against the wall. There was a Japanese guy singing jazz by
the front door. The owner said the place was new, and they are working on
putting up a full bar in the future.

The food was a good deal. I got a whole tray (seen in the picture) for only
$8. And Josh was able to find vegetarian options, which is usually difficult
at Japanese restaurants. It's not quite a super authentic place, but a fun
place nonetheless. I'd go back.

Yummm. Seafood spicy tofu soup at tofu house! Accompanied by a strange salty
pink soup at the end. Not bad, not bad.

Aaaand, after small group, we went to this Chinese restaurant that gives you
bubble tea for FREE. You sit down, and they put a glass right in front of
you! Given, the pearls a little old and the tea isn't that flavorful. But
it's free! What a novelty.

At that place I got the omelet rice. It was sooo yummmyyy.