The café only had eight tables.

When I walked in and joined the clump of patrons pooling around the doorway, I was instructed to put my name on the clipboard.

I saw two twenty-something waitresses wearing black jeans and pink tipped hair, bustling about with stainless steel coffee pots pouring refills.  I saw a juicing machine seemingly swallow perfectly round oranges whole at the top and dispensing golden nectar, sans pulp, in slow drips from a spout in its undercarriage, a restaurant tool I would not expect a place so small would feature.

There was a poster on the wall with an explanation of their specialty, pannenkoecken, and a smaller sign that called attention to itself by using all caps, reading CASH ONY.

Pannenkoecken Café – Famous Dutch Pancake Huis.  I never knew the Dutch were famous for their pancakes.

I have done my share of Internet searching, looking for great breakfast joints in the ‘hood.  I have seen reviews on Yelp.  While it’s easy to miss its sign on Western Avenue, only steps away from Garcia’s and Payless Shoes, it’s hard to miss them in an online search.

A lot of people on this side of town have gone there and have liked the experience enough to write a review.

The narrow café opened in 2007, a few years after the owner took a trip to the Netherlands and decided to apprentice with a master pannenkoecken maker.  While they have broadened their menu over the years to include other popular morning staples, the main attraction is the pannenkoecken, a large diameter, very thin pancake, crispy at the edges and filled with either  sweet fruit, like apples or berries, or a savory like ham and cheese.

I went with the apple, their biggest seller.  Perfectly cut crescents of apple were baked in to the light pancake batter that filled what I guessed to be a 10” plate. Slightly sweet and crunchy,  golden brown and curling up at the edges, it was topped with a few scoops of homemade cream.  The waitress brought me Dutch maple syrup to try.

Although curious – would Dutch syrup taste any different than Canadian – I decided it would be crazy to ruin the perfection of this all-natural, premium ingredient breakfast treat by showering it with something that came out of a bottle.

While I felt compelled not to dawdle, as tables were in demand, I didn’t feel rushed.  Everything is made to order.  It probably took 20 minutes from between placing my order to the moment I got to witness my little spheres of cream melting over my Dutch pancake.

In an almost meditative state, I contentedly witnessed the neighboring tables fill and empty and fill again.  I found myself mesmerized by the orange juice machine.

IHOP – it’s not.

I don’t know why it’s embarrassing when a waitress or busboy comes to take your plate, and it’s clean, completely empty of foodstuff from end to end.

There was no need for my waitress to ask me, Are you finished?   We smiled at each other.

I watched another single diner, a college-aged student, get ready to pay his bill, taking out his favorite piece of plastic.  His waitress pointed to the sign as she explained their payment policy in accented but perfectly understandable English.

CASH ONLY.

She went on to instruct him on the location of the closest cash station.  He left his coat at his seat to demonstrate his plans to return.  No worries.  The waitress didn’t seem concerned that he was going to skip out on the check. There was a great sense of intimacy and trust between the eight tables, the small window to the kitchen and the clipboard near the front door.

After all, we’re FAMILY.  We belong to the family of pancake lovers.

Knowing that Dutch apple pancakes for breakfast (at Pannenkoeken Café), or Vietnamese sandwiches for lunch (at Nhu Lan Bakery), or lechon and yuca frita – Cuban style – for dinner at 90 Miles walk-up café is only a walk a short bus ride away makes me happy.

Having a little cash in my pocket, so I can feast on pannenkoecken Is no small thing.