We are really a terrible group to hang out with if you’re on a diet, trying to go low carb, low fat, low sugar, gluten free, Paleo, Atkins, or in any way trying to restrain yourself calorically.
Today’s Fat Tuesday outing was to House of Pancakes out on Taraval Street in San Francisco.  There are probably more good Chinese restaurants out on that street than in Chinatown in SF now.  House of Pancakes was favorably reviewed in SF Weekly Dining, and Grub Street,  which led to emailing, arrangement of dates between  travel, family emergencies, meetings, and house remodeling and finally a meeting time and pancakes.You have probably already surmised that we’re not talking about the International House of Pancakes here.  These are savory pancakes.  This is not the place for chocolate chip pancakes or buttermilk waffles.  These are made with dough- not batter, pan fried, filled with scallions and/or chicken, beef, pork, egg, and/or veggies.  (In case you’re too far away and are now craving a savory Asian pancake and feel like making some yourself, here’s my recipe: Green Onion or Scallion Pancakes 葱油饼 – A Recipe | piecedgoods)These are pancakes sold on the street and at night markets in Asia.  Salty, greasy, flaky goodness.  House of Pancakes is definitely upscaled from an Asian roadside stand, but it’s not fancy either.  There are about 10 tables.  It’s a small spare space.  We were thumbs up on every pancake, plus the tofu with salted greens (on the snack page – look on the back of the menu), and the zha jiang mein made with handpulled noodles.  If you’ve never had handpulled noodles, they’re awesome. Handpulled noodles take al dente to a different level.  (Ask for sciss0rs to help cut and serve the noodles if you’re sharing by the way. The scissors were also helpful for dividing the pancakes into smaller pieces for sampling.)

They have dumplings too but we didn’t try any of those. Next trip.  This round we had to focus our appetites on their key items.