Swedish Pancakes

I’ve heard about the Millbrae Pancake House for quite some time now but haven’t really considered going to the San Bruno area to try it. Good thing one of my aunts, who had tried it before, invited us.

It was really a smart idea to go there on a Monday at around 11 am as we were able to avoid any long line that other people have experienced. Even without the line, I have to say that the place was quite full – around 80% full.

As the four of us got seated in the cozy Millbrae Pancake House, we hurriedly looked at the menu because we were starving! The waitress didn’t take that long for her to take our orders as my aunt knew what to get. We basically got 2 orders of their omelets.

One was the California Old Fashioned Omelet, which had bacon, onions, tomato, avocado, jack and cheddar cheese and the other Omelet was the Linguica, which had Portuguese sausage with jack and cheddar cheese. All omelets are made with three extra large eggs and served with hash browns and your choice of toast, two buttermilk pancakes or two swedish pancakes.

Linguica Old Fashioned Omelet

It wasn’t as fluffy as the normal buttermilk pancakes and I can associate it more closely to a crepe. It’s not meant to be as thick as the “flap jacks” but if you appreciate crepes, you’ll love this one too. When I tried the pancakes, I was already satisfied with the sweetness that the lingonberry (with strawberries) butter and the powdered sugar had but I was used to having syrup with it so I had to put a little..or maybe a little bit more.

As for the omelets, I liked the California Old Fashioned Omelet over the Linguica. They both had hash browns, which I don’t really have any comment since I’m not a big fan of those. As for the eggs, they were done right, just the way I want it. But what differentiated them was that the Portugese sausage of the Linguica omelet was just too spicy for me. But my dad ate a lot of it!

California Old Fashioned Omelet

I’m not a big fan of eating spicy foods together with my coffee, it just destroys my coffee experience. Speaking of coffee, my aunt suggested that their coffee was a little bit overpriced (even for a refillable) as the taste wasn’t that good so we bought coffee from another overpriced but more popular place before going there. Good thing the Millbrae Pancake House staff didn’t mind. Thanks guys!

So what we finished was California (USA) omelet, a Linguica (Portugese) Omelet and some Swedish pancakes. I wonder where the coffee is known or came from. Well, I guess we had an International breakfast. And speaking of that, if international is what you want, I’m going with Millbrae Pancake House over International House of Pancakes (IHOP).

I am not saying I won’t eat at IHOP anymore, it’s just that the food and the experience in Millbrae Pancake House were better. I just wish there was a branch near downtown San Francisco. And one last thing, they don’t take reservations, so go there early!

Have you tried eating at MPH? Tell us what you think. Thanks!

Millbrae Pancake House details:
Address: 1301 El Camino Real
Millbrae, CA 94030
Telephone Number: (650) 589-2080

Where: Sebastian’s Ice Cream Studio

What: Insanely delicious ice cream…creamy goodness!

Why: It’s the summer here in the Philippines and it’s hot! Seriously it’s hot and you need ice cream. But after summer, you’ll still be craving for these I’m sure.

Everyone knows that eating ice cream is just a very good excuse to beat the summer heat right? I agree with that so it was really hot the other day so where’d I go to get some yummy and creamy ice cream? I went to Sebastian’s Ice Cream in Trinoma.

Well, I didn’t go there exactly to get my ice cream since there’s one much nearer in The Podium but I was there and I had to get me some of that creamy goodness. Good thing I was there at that time since that branch in Trinoma had more flavors that the one in The Podium and I didn’t want to go all the way to Alabang Town Center to get some ice cream.

Once I got there I really wanted to try the other flavors like the:

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough – Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream loaded with gobs of unbaked chocolate chip cookie dough and walnuts.
• Chocolate Toffee Crunch – Rich chocolate ice cream loaded with chunks of chocolate butter toffee.
• Butter Pecan – Crunchy butter roasted pecans in rich buttery ice cream! An American classic!
• Mango Sansrival – Cashew-buttercream ice cream garnished with cashews, wafer pieces and a luscious Mango ribbon made with REAL mangoes.

There were more flavors there and some even were sugar free ice cream but as adventurous in food as I am, I couldn’t help going back to my favorite – the one and only Macadamia White.

So what is it?

It’s a delicate white chocolate ice cream garnished with roasted macadamia nuts.

Ok, so it doesn’t sound as tempting as the others but once you’ve tasted it, you’ll know what I mean. Still don’t believe it? Well, dessertcomesfirstlikes this too so it’s really good.

Maclovin' this Macadamia white ice cream

This is my fourth scoop since December (which is a shame since I’m a little late to the party as this ice cream place opened in 2006), and I have ordered this flavor three times while the other one I tried was the Brownie Batter Chilly Burger, which is walnut brownie cookies filled with vanilla ice cream and an unbaked brownie batter center & rolled in brownie crumbs.

Brownie Batter Burger

This time my brother, John, tried it for himself. I liked it very much and he was convinced but again, me and Macadamia White has a little something going on…:)

Macadamia white..that's right

Before I say my verdict (which is quite obvious already), we have to talk about the price. I really hate over priced things, food or whatever that’s why I’m loving this sop more because of how they price their stuff. Their single scoop for Sebastian’s super premium ice cream is priced at P95 while the double scoop is priced at P150 and the pint, which is around 4-5 scoops (according to the one serving), is at P280. The Chilly Burger, however, has only one size and it’s priced at P120. They just increased their prices last March but it’s still all good as it’s worth every cent…trust me.

Here’s a tip I’d like to share with you, if you and your friend are getting one scoop each, why not just order the double scoop and split it in two. You just pay P10 for the extra cup and you saved P15 each. (P95 x 2 = P190 as opposed to P150 + P10 = P160). Not bad for the extra money for the parking right?

So what do I think of this ice cream?

Come on! I’ve been drooling here and wanting to eat one right now but I’m just conscious of my weight. But that ice cream makes me not want to care anymore so I’m probably getting one by the weekend. Hope you get to try it soon!

Where: Flapjacks’ Greenbelt 2 (Greenhills also)

What: P1 pancakes!!! April 13-17 from 1-5 PM ONLY (Hurry now!) Btw, it’s max of 3 pieces per table.

Why: Simple. Because of their P1 pancakes, which I wasn’t able to avail:( When we went there it was already 8 PM and we didn’t know the promo was only from 1-5. Nevertheless, I still ordered their fluffy and nice Double Blueberry pancakes since I was just craving for them.

I got the 3 stacks for P345, which wasn’t bad since it was only P344 more than the P1 promo. Oh and there was still tax so…argh!! But it was all good.

I just love how their blueberry topping tastes just right and it doesn’t over power the whole order. I’m not a big fan of butter so I just used half of it even if their whipped butter version looked tempting. Their syrup was served in a shot glass and I didn’t finish the whole thing since I didn’t want my blueberries tasting like syrup but I guess for most, you’d want to “drown” your pancakes with it so go ahead. The good thing about Flapjacks is that they’re generous with their syrup. Just ask and you will receive.

They’re smart too. Since they only serve it in a shot glass, they can control the consumption of the customers – avoiding excessive use (What’s takaw tingin in english?).

As for the coffee, I just love it! Why? Because it’s unlimited for P75 only. I know you won’t go past maybe 3 cups but you can share right? Just to let you know that if you share you won’t be able to refill your thermal carafe/pot. It’s still ok though, if you can get 5 cups from it, it’s worth it.

This brings us to their price, which is affordable especially for a restaurant in Greenbelt. Their prices range from P145 – P495 on a wide range of choices from omelettes, french toasts, Filipino breakfast, International breakfast. If you go go steaks you’d have to increase your budget to around P800. You and your family or date can just share a platter or go for the 5 stacks of pancake. You’re good with that.

The only negative in Flapjacks is that they changed their menu that’s why I’m missing my old favorite, the Egg Benedicts or something like that. So I’m hoping that a manager of The Bistro Group reads this and brings my favorite back. Please!!! So that everyone can taste what I’m talking about. Thank you in advance.

Overall, I really like this restaurant because of its ambiance and fun dining experience. I also love the service their since they’ve got a friendly staff. Oh, and their food is also good for sharing. I do have a big appetite and I get full here so I suggest if you just want to eat right, you just might want to share especially the platters. Hope you enjoy it there just like how I do.

For everyone who doesn’t like blueberry pancakes you can order others I’ve tried:

Pancakes (P145) – Seriously, you might not like blueberries right? So go for the plain ones and enjoy the syrup. You may also try the toffee or the chocolate with strawberry but I haven’t tried those yet.
Flapjacks Platter (P325)- It has 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 sausages, 2 bacon strips and 2 hash browns. Share!
Chocolate and Cream Waffles (P205) – The first time I tried this, it was free since we answered their survey but it was good and filling too. What more can you say about something that’s free lol

So what do you think of Flapjacks? I’d love to hear what you have to say.

That's me in the background getting ready to attack the pancake

I got mine today so me and Ada headed straight to Krispy Kreme Bonifacio Hightstreet to claim our Chocolate Karnival and coffee. We couldn’t wait even though we knew this promotion would end in April 30 – a whole month.

Honestly, I’ve been trying to lose some weight but this was so tempting – a free Krispy Kreme donut and coffee. You’ve got to have strong will power, something I don’t exactly have with donuts. Anyway, it was worth everything. The chocolate glazed on the donut was just right and I didn’t find it too sweet compared with their other donuts. It was just a perfect combination with their coffee.

Speaking of coffee..We all know that they’re known for their donuts but I must say that their coffee is really good. Go for the smooth one because on one weird day before I did try their decaf and it just wasn’t too good for me. Should I say, it wasn’t my cup of “coffee”?

I’m sure you can’t wait to get yours in your nearest Krispy Kreme store here in Manila so I won’t bore you anymore with too much text. So go ahead and follow this link and that will lead you to Krispy Kreme’s chocolate karnival site. Enjoy!

You should receive something that looks like this:

Free Krispy Kreme Donuts Philippines

Oh yeah and before I forget here are some of their rules:

Print your gift coupon with the email and surrender to the cashier with one valid ID.

For ultimate chocolate indulgence, try it HOT in these stores:
Bonifacio High Street,
SM Megamall,
Greenhills,
SM Mall of Asia (Drive-thru)
Mondays thru Sundays, 5pm to 6:30pm

Other Krispy Kreme Manila stores:
Trinoma,
Jaka Bldg Ayala,
Robinsons Galleria,
Gateway Mall,
Glorietta,
SM Mall of Asia (Main mall)
Mondays thru Sundays, 11am to 2pm

One coupon per person.

Coupon is non-transferrable, not convertable to cash, valid for one time use only.

Valid for dine-in only until April 30 or until supplies last.

In case you missed it, here’s the link.