The Original Pancake House

It seems that Slappy Cakes isn't the only Portland pancake shop to come to Tokyo this year. On June 4, the Oregon-born Original Pancake House chain made its debut here, with the opening of a branch on the ground floor of Kichijoji's Marui department store. American readers will probably be familiar with the oh-so-homey franchise, which has expanded to more than 100 branches around the US since Les Highet and Erma Hueneke opened the first restaurant in Portland in 1953. You can expect to find all the familiar Original Pancake House staples on the menu at the Kichijoji restaurant, including the oven-baked 'Dutch Baby' (pictured) and cinnamon-glazed Apple Pancake, plus crêpes, waffles, omelettes and more.