Happiness between Two Waffles

One recent rainy Vancouver morning, I had picked up a new friend from out of town from the Langara 49^th Canada Line stop and was heading down Cambie looking for a place to grab breakfast. I saw The Dutch Wooden Shoe Café to my right and felt the urge to park. I’ve visited The Dutch Wooden Shoe once over a year ago and remember enjoying my meal. This pannekoek house is located on Cambie Street (near West 17th) serving up and extensive menu of breakfast and lunch dishes. The restaurant is similar in concept and menu items to the De Dutch Pannekoek House chain, but prices are cheaper at TDWSC.

What is is a Pannekoek? Originating in the Netherlands, pannekoeks are a genuine Dutch pancakes served for lunch and supper, but less commonly for breakfast. Pannekoeks are larger than American pancakes and can sometimes be up to a foot in diameter! They’re also thinner than American pancakes but thicker than French style crepes. Toppings vary from savory meats and cheeses to sweet syrups, yogurt, fruit, whipped cream, and ice cream. The customary Dutch way of eating a pannekoek is to roll it up, cut into bite size pieces, and enjoy!

This restaurant is kitchsy and home-y. It’s got wood paneling, mis-matched mugs and quirky knickknacks. You kind of feel like you are dining at a Dutch grandma’s home atmosphere. Even though it’s a pannokeok house, my mind was made up when I saw the Waffle BLT (I believe this was around $8) on the menu. I was really excited when they let me add a medium fried egg to the mix.

The waffle was fluffy, soft, light and a subtle sweetness. The bacon was “spek”, Dutch style bacon, cooked thin and chewy with a slight crisp and nice salty flavour. The runny egg yolk added a nice ooey gooey richness and the green leaf lettuce and thick tomato slices added a bit of bright fresh flavour to the combination. I added a heathy dollop of their chili garlic sauce which took things to another level. When I come to order this again, I’d add the egg again and get them to leave off the mayo and cheddar to make it a bit lighter and save some calories. The side hashbrowns and side salad where pretty underwhelming (frozen and hashbrowns) but rounded out the plate just fine.