Egg on a Pancake

Better with scrambled eggs

This morning we went to breakfast with Anne’s godparents at the Portage Bay Cafe in Ballard. This is my favorite of the PB locations because even when packed the noise level isn’t too bad. Also, it is in Ballard, so bonus points for that.

We’ve been to Portage Bay a couple of times in the past few months, having brunch with different people. Each time, I’m faced with a terrible decision: egg on a pancake, or not egg on a pancake?

Egg on a pancake is a beautiful thing. One scrambled egg + one pancake = exactly the right balance between “now I don’t have to eat lunch” and “oh god, I’m never eating again.” Portage Bay is delicious, but their serving sizes are gross, even by American standards. The problem is that as much as I love egg on a pancake, items like eggs benedict on risotto cakes sometimes tempt me away. The last time I ate at PB, I had vegan banana pancakes with a chocolate hazelnut spread. Sounded great on the menu, tasted horrid in my mouth. The time before that, I went with plain french toast, and Anne’s food came out cold. Clearly, bad things happened if I strayed from egg on a pancake.

So today I ate egg on a pancake, and indeed, there were no breakfast-related mishaps. Anne’s godfather used the word “oriental” in reference to some fellow diners, but not even the power of egg on a pancake can counteract decades of social conditioning.