Honey Butter, Fried Chicken and Cornbread Waffles Special ($11.95)
If you’ve made it through January a few pounds lighter, with your New Year’s resolutions intact, congratulations! You’ve done a fine job sticking to your diet. The rest of us are happily headed to Pancakes & Waffles B.L.D.
Savvy locals who live or work in or around City Square Shopping Center already know that Pancakes & Waffles’ Kalihi location has reopened for business. After being closed for renovations for much of 2018, the awesome local-style diner is back, open every day from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. — and bigger and better than ever.
Sourdough Bread Bowl ($8.95)
“We took over the store next door and added about 1,000 feet,” says Juli Sung, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Jason. “Everything is brand-new.”
With gleaming tile, plenty of natural wood, simple yet stylish new seating, and fun graphics and posters in complementary shades, Pancakes & Waffles is bright, modern and comfortable.
And that’s perfect because this place is all about comfort food. The restaurant’s menu may have been handsomely updated, but its delicious contents are still much the same, and they are now available for breakfast, lunch and dinner (B.L.D.).
Apple Caramel pancakes ($8.95 short stack of three, $10.25 full stack of five)
The mouthwatering possibilities begin with more than two-dozen varieties of pancakes, waffles, crepes and French toast. Waffle options include Churro (cinnamon sugar), Mac Nut and Bacon (“whole strips baked inside”). For pancakes, choices include Mac Nut & Chocolate, Strawberries & Cream and Apple Caramel ($8.95 short stack of three, $10.25 full stack of five) — scrumptious buttermilk pancakes topped with apples, graham crackers and caramel sauce.
Other selections include a dozen different omelets, creative Loco Mocos like Roast Pork and Corned Beef Hash, kalbi, steak with country gravy, tempting burgers, sandwiches and plate lunches. An inspired selection of eggs Benedict presentations include crab cake, chorizo, Florentine and Waffle.
Though the menu already has three different chicken and waffle options, Honey Butter, Fried Chicken and Cornbread Waffles Special ($11.95) is already a huge hit.
“It’s not on our regular menu, but we’ve been having it consistently because people like it,” says Sung.
Korean Fried Chicken Salad ($9.95)
The plate comes with two huge fried chicken thighs and three mini cornbread waffles, crunchy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside, topped with house-made honey butter.
There’s nothing more satisfying on a blustery Oahu day than soup, and Pancakes & Waffles’ Sourdough Bread Bowl ($8.95) with clam chowder hits the spot. On the lighter side, Korean Fried Chicken Salad ($9.95) is a blend of spring mix, Romaine hearts, sliced tomato, spring onions and the restaurant’s popular boneless Korean chicken.
The restaurant’s larger kitchen now includes a dishwasher, which has helped Pancakes & Waffles expand its catering operations and eliminate disposable plates and cutlery for dine-in customers.
“Better than eating on plastic plates with plastic forks and knives, especially when you’re trying to cut up a steak,” says Jason Sung. “And we still have over-the-counter service. We’re still casual.”
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