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| - You know a place must be special when you have people waiting outside (twenty, thirty minutes!) in the Charlotte heat just to eat breakfast. Once you enter, you realize it's not for the ambience, as the interior is unmemorable with dated food photos on the walls and tables packed into every inch of floorspace. But if you ask this girl, Original Pancake House, or "O-HOP" as my friends and I have always called it, is all about the food and is definitely worth the wait!
I feel like you can always tell the quality of a breakfast spot by the coffee. And O-HOP has great coffee! Smooth, strong but not bitter, always piping hot and fresh and brought out with the old-school little metal pitchers of real cream.
Both my boyfriend and I were feeling adventurous that day, and the risks paid off big time. He ordered the Apple Cinnamon Nut French Toast. Before long a heaping plate arrived with large pieces of French bread, coated in almonds, with gobs of REAL whipped cream and homemade apple nectar syrup. I would have been jealous, except I ordered the Apple Pancake at the suggestion of our waitress, and that pancake was the star of the show.
O-HOP's Apple Pancakes reportedly take an hour to make, but they have one cooking during brunch at all times because it's always being ordered so it is not an extra wait. Even if it were, again, it would be worth it! The Apple Pancake is a soft baked pillow of deliciousness, coated in thinly-sliced, sweet and tart Granny Smith apples that have been caramelized and glazed in cinnamon and sugar. I wish I had the words to better describe this extraordinary experience. This is a CAN'T MISS DISH!
All of O-HOP's items are cooked with clarified butter (ghee) and peanut oil. They use real preserves. Batters are made from scratch, and some mixes take days to develop. It's a true testament to the importance of details, because their food is truly divine. Don't let the ho-hum digs fool you, Original Pancake House is a real diamond in the rough.
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