For someone who has never visited a Pancake House store, one
would assume that this restaurant only serves Pancakes and other types of
desserts to its customers. But in
reality, Pancake house is more than just pancakes and waffles and one might be
surprised by the amount of variety that these restaurant has in terms of the
food they serve.
So when my friends and I visited one of their branches, we
were just as surprised to see that they have a lot of dishes to offer. However,
having a diverse menu isn’t everything when you’re looking for the best dining
experience. So to justify whether or not Pancake House makes the cut as one of
the best places to eat in the city, here’s a quick review of our dining experience.
AMBIANCE
The environment inside Pancake House’s store is very typical
of most restaurant and fast food chains in the country. It’s not that fancy but
it doesn’t look cheap either. The walls are colored orange making the dining
experience quite lively and energetic. Customers can choose if they want to sit
on couches or the usual metal chairs.
Lighting inside the store is also quite good. The branch we
visited employed soft and warm lighting as opposed to the bright lights used by
most fast food chains, which gives the place a very cosy and relaxing feel.
Most of the time, there is also music playing in the background that adds to
the place’s homy vibe.
FOOD
As stated earlier, Pancake House offers more than just
pancakes and other pastries. A close look at their menu, one can find an
assortment of pasta, rice meals and sandwiches. Serving size for pasta is
adequate given the prize of each meal. For sandwiches, on the other hand are
also quite generously served and are served warm to touch.
The taste of the food is also okay. And when I say okay, I
mean the taste of the food is good enough to satisfy your hunger but it’s not
the kind of unforgettable food you would want to order again and again each
time you eat at that restaurant.
Of course, there’s a reason why the restaurant is named
Pancake House. And this is because the star of their menu – their pancakes are
superb. The pancake dishes on their menu are served hot probably straight from
the pans they were cooked on. They have a healthy serving of 2-3 pieces of
pancakes per order and is drizzled with the syrup of your choice topped with a
scoop of ice cream.
SERVICE
Customer service for Pancake House can be rated as average.
The serving time of most of their dishes are at par with the serving time of
other restaurants at the same price level. There weren’t any issues we
encountered when we ate there. The tableware that the restaurant uses was all
clean and are in good condition.
Tables and chairs were clean and are cleared a few minutes
after a customer leaves. The store’s restroom is also surprisingly well
maintained. The only thing that I wish would have been improved is the staff’s
lack of initiative to pay close attention to their customer’s needs. During our
visit at their branch in SM Megamall, we had to call the staff’s attention
twice before they approached us to see what we need.
In my opinion, a restaurant that charges their customers at
the rate the same as Pancake House should see the needs of their customers in a
timelier manner in contrast to other restaurants that charge cheaper.
VERDICT
In general, our
Pancake House dining experience was really good. There weren’t a lot of
negative instances that made us unhappy. However, there weren’t also a lot of
good things that we saw that made our visit exceptionally pleasant. Instead it
was quite okay – hmmm, just okay.
With all points taken, I can recommend Pancake house to
those looking for that dining experience with a western flavour. If you’re a
fan of pasta, club sandwiches and pastries, this restaurant is your best bet in
getting all your favourite dishes in one roof with a budget of under P1,000 for
two people. So if you’re tired of eating at Pizza Hut, S’barro or Banaple, you
might want to try Pancake House for a change J
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