Which are you choosing? Pancakes, Waffles, or French Toast?
Me? I’m choosing pancakes. I like waffles, and french toast, and I’ve never felt disappointed ordering those.
But pancakes have an emotional resonance for me that waffles and french toast do not. Happy vacations, IHOP with my parents. Even sad events. I found out Bob Crane was dead while eating pancakes.
Plus I feel pancakes give you more bang for the buck. I’m not sure why. Maybe they’re more filling?
Waffles. But I do agree restaurants are stingier with their portions and pricier when it comes to waffles compared to pancakes which basically have the same ingredients. I guess making waffles is more costly in time, labor, and specialized equipment.
Years (decades, actually) ago, I was staying at a hotel in San Francisco. The restaurant in the hotel was “Fournou’s Ovens.” I went down for breakfast, and had their scratch-made Current bread French toast. It was delicious beyond description! I could hardly wait until the next morning so that I could go have it again - an amazing experience.
Similar to that, I grew up on those frozen toaster waffles, which really aren’t very good. But a couple of years after college, a friend invited me to the Sunday brunch buffet at a country club and there was a chef making fresh Belgian waffles. I still remember how good that one was. I’ve never liked French toast and liked pancakes, but without a lot of syrup, they can be kind of dry.
I find that pancakes can end up in any of a number of different textures and qualities, and I can’t seem to get my preferred results at home.
And waffles? 'Dunno, just never got into them. And now I associate them with those dried out toaster varieties, and with those cheap hotel breakfast buffet stations where grubby kids with their messy hair and pajama bottoms on are making their own.