Westchester Breakfast Club

:a_Top:

 

 

493 U.S. 6  

Mahopac, NY 10541 (Map)

(845) 803-8420

http://www.countrysidekitchen.biz/

 

 

 

Attendees: :jump_to_Sylvia:, :jump_to_Jeff:, :jump_to_Reid:

 

:a_Sylvia:

Mahopac is far.  So far, it’s really in Putnam County.  But there were pancakes to be had, hopefully worth the journey.

They were.

We arrived to the house on the side of the road that was the Countryside Kitchen.  Due to a couple of large parties taking their sweet time, there was a bit of a wait.  45 minutes to be exact.  We waited…and waited…and finally were seated.  First at the counter because we couldn’t wait any longer.  After a little banter with the cook, who turned out to be one of the owners of the joint, we asked the other owner (the woman who seated us) if we could move to one of the recently vacated tables outside on the deck.  No problem! The deck was nice, and had a kind of subtle tropical, Hawaiian theme going.

 

 

After staring at the menu for the past half hour (while we were waiting), I still had no idea what I wanted.  There was an extensive list of special pancakes, combination pancakes, and various egg-based dishes.  Did I want pancakes or did I want more eggs?

I ended up with iced coffee (very good), and asked if they could make peanut butter coconut pancakes.  That’s right…I went off menu!

The last time I made a pancake for myself post-run, I wanted to make my usual peanut butter banana pancakes but found myself with no bananas.  So, I threw in a handful of sweetened coconut flakes with the peanut butter.  A combination one would not really think of, but totally works.

The three pancakes were dinner plate sized and took up the whole plate it was served on.  I poured some maple syrup on top, but honestly, none was needed.

Countryside Kitchen makes excellent pancakes.  The coconut and peanut butter were kind of centered within the pancake, but you got coconut and peanut butter in every bite along with some pancake.

I also tried some of Jeffrey’s cannoli pancakes.  It definitely was more of a sharing dessert pancake.  The cannoli cream was excellent, but heavy along with the pancakes.

I also nabbed a French toast bite.  Even when cold, the fried bites of French toast were great.  The raspberry sauce was a good addition.

 

 

The czar says:  Worth the journey.  The other place that had so many novelty pancakes was Strawberry Place in South Nyack.  Between these two places, I would say Countryside Kitchen was better.  They make very good buttermilk pancakes and show good restraint on the additional ingredients.  By contrast, I felt that Strawberry Place’s emphasis is more on the sugary additions rather than the pancakes itself.  Plus at Countryside, I can go off menu.

:back_to_Top:
:a_Reid:

The Case: Countryside Kitchen v. the Westchester Breakfast Club

The Venue: The Side of the County, a.k.a. Rte 6 at the border of Putnam and Westchester Counties.

The Facts: Pancakes are good.  That is an undisputed and indisputable fact.  However, not all pancakes are equally good. So much depends on the texture, consistency, and freshness of ingredients.  Countryside Kitchen’s pancakes are exemplars on all three dimensions.  I got strawberry and chocolate chip pancakes.  The strawberries were totally fresh (without even that slightly unpleasant darkening that happens with strawberries after two or three days in the refrigerators) and the chips were exactly plentiful enough to make sure you got at least one or two in every forkful without overpowering the rest of the dish and creating that sort of “chocolate sludge” that often oozes out of chocolate chip pancakes.  In terms of texture, they were silky.  Consistency-wise they were fluffy while still being substantial, substantial without being rubbery.

 

 

The bacon was also pretty good.  The small plate had plenty of strips on it, very crispy, though perhaps slightly on the too-salty side. The iced-tea was fine, but nothing to write home about.

The Verdict:  It’s a schlep, and we had to wait for too long, but I’d definitely come back here on a nice and otherwise-lazy day.  I’d strongly suggest though, if you get the cannoli pancake, to split it among 5 or 50 people, because that sucker gets very sweet, very fast.

:back_to_Top:

 

:a_Jeff:

What can be said about countryside kitchen?  Well, they have really good pancakes!  Probably some of the best I’ve had in a while. The owner mans the griddle and interacts with the customers, which is nice to see.  Aside from the wait, which really can’t be helped, my experience was good.  Yes, it’s in Putnam, but it’s worth at least one trip.  My advice if you’re going with a group, get the signature cannoli pancake for the table. It’s good, but maybe not as an individual meal it can be a bit overwhelming.

:back_to_Top: