Mac 'n' cheese pancakes at Morning Glass

Mac 'n' cheese pancakes? At first it sounded like one of those things I just had to try because it sounded absurd, but I was pretty sure it would be terrible, a case of two rights making a horrible wrong.

In the end, I was the one who was wrong. Mac 'n' cheese pancakes? Best thing ever. The mac 'n' cheese creates a gooey, creamy, savory filling, and you know those crispy edges you get on a good pancake? You get that, courtesy of the pancake batter, plus the sort of crust that happens when cheese from a grilled cheese sandwich oozes out and crisps up in the pan. As if that weren't enough, it comes with bacon and maple syrup.

The crowd for Morning Glass' night breakfast.

The mac 'n' cheese pancakes debuted at Morning Glass's night breakfast (another winning concept), but has proved so popular that owner Eric Rose now offers it on the weekend breakfast menu. On the pancakes, Rose says, "I'd gotten the idea a couple years ago reading about Shopsin's, a small but famous/infamous restaurant in New York. Calvin Trillin wrote a good piece on them (in The New Yorker), and there's a cool documentary on them called I Like to Kill Flies. I always loved the idea but never played with it until our first night breakfast, where it seemed a natural. We even  called it "An ode to Shopsin's" on that first menu. Played with batters and cheeses till we found what we liked, and the rest, as they say, is history."

(As I counted down the days until I could get the mac 'n' cheese pancakes next, I read the New Yorker piece on Shopsin's (subscription required). Shopsin's a trip: an eccentric owner who will call you a "scumbag b—-" and a menu with hundreds of items, including Hanoi Hopping John, Postmodern Pancakes (pancakes with chopped pancakes in the batter) and peanut butter Slutty Cakes.)

Morning Glass, 2955 E Manoa Rd., 673-0065
Breakfast on weekends only. Night breakfast is once a month—check the Morning Glass Facebook page for the upcoming date.