Sunday, November 6, 2011

The Griddle Cafe - Hollywood, CA



If you have never heard of or been to The Griddle... you are missing out on a total out of body experience, trust me!
It's not for everyone, as it takes lots of patience because the wait is loooonnggg. I saw many people upset about the wait time, even leaving the establishment blurring out a few "bad" words...
Once you get to actually sit, either at the bar, as we did, or at one of the tables, it becomes clear that #1: why the long wait, and #2: you better already know what you're having... because these waiters go a million miles an hr, and to get their attention might be difficult.  However, one you do get their attention, don't worry, they are very nice... they don't bite :)
I witnessed most of the breakfast crowd going solo on the pancakes and not as much sharing as I thought I would see... do these people not know about the pizza sized pancakes... or is it because its Sunday, and no one wants to cook dinner (you can count on left overs for lunch & dinner, trust me!)

Our excuse was the latter... well, that and the fact that it was our first time @ the Griddle, and we each wanted to sample something different.

Here's what we had:

 *A time to love: these were very tasty, really felt like a marriage between your best thanksgiving pumpkin pie and the best buttermilk pancakes. The moistness level was more that of a cake than pancakes, which I didn't mind, but if you are looking for the traditional texture of an original, this is not it. The pumpkin topping was a nice addition, thus no syrup was required.

*The Golden Ticket: My mom ordered these and I was so jelaous!... But of course she shared plenty, but I had my own battle to fight with my "cakes"... These were amazing! yummy banana & brown sugar baked into the pancakes with big walnut pieces with sweet caramel & the streusel giving it a nice additional texture. These feel more like what you would think of as "traditional" pancakes in terms of texture... but with the taste of banana nut bread.  Again, amazing! My favorite of all the ones we sampled.

*Peanut Bubba French Toast: Of course my peanut butter obsessed pre-teen boy had to order these... they were very good, awesome if you love peanut butter... but afterwards he cringed at the slight mention of "peanut butter" ... it was quite funny!

*French Press Coffee:  Both "adults" in the group had the Medium & Dark Roast Coffee respectively.  I think they mixed them up, because the one labeled "Dark Roast" did not taste as such... The Coffee was not as hot as I Like it... and got cold rather quicky.

*Coconut Hot Chocolate: In terms of taste, it was very good, you could really make out the coconut flavor in the hot chocolate... however I was disappointed with this drink as it was very cold at arrival, and beyond sweet. I would choose it again, only if they can remedy these two very important mistakes.


"A Time to Love" Pumpkin Pancake with Streusel, Butterscotch chips, caramel, powdered sugar & whipped cream


This is the "after" ... Hardly a dent!
"The Golden Ticket" Brown Sugar Baked Banana Pancakes with Caramel, Walnuts & Steusel. 


Another unsuccessful attempt to finish this huge Pancakes!
"Peanut Bubba" Yummy french toasts dipped in crunchy Peanut Butter and grilled.  Served with Powdered Sugar & Whipped Cream. (no after picture, but Matt was also unsuccessful at finishing these!)

Hash Browns - I know you must be thinking "are you crazy to order a "side" knowing the size of the main dish?... It was actually a nice change to have something savory to counterbalance the huge sugar rush we were experiencing.

The Griddle was definitely worth the wait, even with the weak coffee and overly sweet & cold Coconut Hot Chocolate... because the Pancakes are amazing!

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