Paddington House of Pancakes

From Sungei Petani, we decided to spend a day in Penang before heading home. We left SP shortly after noon and took about 30 minutes to reach the island. By then we were hungry. As before, we took a left turn after the bridge and headed towards the Queensbay Mall to look for food and to walk around. I suggested a simple fast food lunch like A&W or KFC. I was scorned at for the mundane choice. Somebody suggested the Paddington House of Pancakes. Pancakes for lunch? It was my turn to scorn. But I was assured that they did serve decent meals. So, Paddington it was.

I had heard of the PHOP, but I had never been into one. One good reason was because I never really fancied pancakes. I have always considered them 3rd choice food. Their outlet at the Queensbay is quite big. They have tables inside their store and they also occupy a large area outside it. I wondered why they needed such a big area. Are pancakes really that popular and are they really that good? In any case, most of the tables inside and out, were vacant at the time of our visit.

I perused the menu to look for a decent meal. Item 210 was "Lebanese chicken burger with spicy potato wedges". That looked decent enough. Quite in line with my original A&W or KFC suggestion.

 

It turned out looking anything but a burger. They was a piece of chicken sitting on top of 2 pieces of mini pancakes. Were the pancakes supposed to be the bun for the burger? But if that was so, why was the chicken on top of the pancakes and not between them? Anyway, the chicken was not bad. It had a herby alien taste. I guess that is Lebanese. But the pancakes were nonsense. The juices or perhaps sauce of the chicken made them so soggy that they were hardly edible. Thumbs down for the whole hare-brain concoction.

 

Crystal's choice was the "Mini pile of dollars". It was to be a salad dish with dollar (coin) size pancakes, mini franks, bacon bits, cherry tomatoes, capsicum and sun dried tomato dip.

But the dish turned out looking totally different. Maybe they brought her the wrong dish. I wonder if Crystal enjoyed it.

My two nephews ordered sweet pancakes. The first was with mango puree, strawberry ice-cream and nuts. This was a decent pancake. I think they got the right combination here. I believe this is how pancakes should to be eaten - with ice cream and syrup or puree. Not with chicken or salad.

The other sweet dish was a overdose of chocolate. It was the "3 oreos with melting marshmallows, fresh strawberries and choco sauce". It was served with some maple syrup. I had a taste of it and found to be to excessively sweet.

When it came to choice of drinks, all of us opted for the ice lemon tea. The friendly waiter suggested that instead of ordering individual glasses, why not order a jug? He said the jug would serve 4 to 5 persons. OK, give us a jug. Enough for 5 persons? Hardly. Each of us ended up with a tiny cup. Another jug please!

Besides the Queensbay in Penang, I believe the PHOP also have outlets in The Curve, 1Utama and The Gardens at Mid Valley in KL. But after this experience... they can have outlets in a million places. I would still prefer the A&W or KFC.