In this “food fight,” senior writer Grace Rehaut tries Oreo pancakes at both PJ’s Pancake House and CheeburgerCheeburger. Though the review may be complete, the battle between the pancake stalwart and pancake upstart has only just begun.
Here in Princeton, PJ’s Pancake House is iconic for its constant supply of pancakes and its one-of-a-kind web domain; fortunately, the hype surrounding this local breakfast (and all-day!) favorite is fully deserved. On a rainy Tuesday night, drowning in work, I put my books aside and stopped by PJ’s cozy Nassau Street headquarters to give its most recent and most infamous concoction a try: Oreo pancakes. Though my expectations were not particularly high, these pancakes did not disappoint.
On paper, Oreo pancakes sound like an over-sweetened culinary disaster. Pancakes are already sugary enough, and I have more than once found myself wondering why the Oreos that make these pancakes so special could not just be substituted for classic (and far more dependable) chocolate chips. Even more pressingly, Oreos and pancakes seem to me to be very respectable foods on their own — why would they need to be mixed? As I would discover, however, Oreo pancakes are no paradox — they are perfectly sinful, and PJ’s gets them perfectly right.
Light and fluffy, chock-full of soft Oreo chunks, these pancakes are the stuff of every student’s late-night comfort-food fantasies. I ordered the half size, which got me three large pancakes for the fair price of $7.95. Soft and chewy, they absolutely hit the spot. PJ’s pancakes are what pancakes are meant to be, and with the addition of small Oreo bits, these ones are a culinary marvel. Though this sugary meal is not for the faint of heart, it makes a perfect dish for the stressed-out Princeton student in search of some ideally mind-numbing comfort food.
Princeton’s own Cheeburger Cheeburger restaurant on Nassau Street has gained a strong reputation as a retro-chic distributor of greasy cheeseburgers and sugary shakes, but in its culinary ventures into breakfast foods, it has found less success. Taking on the daring task of creating Oreo pancakes, Cheeburger Cheeburger has floundered where others have found more luck.
Though Cheeburger’s adaptation of Oreo pancakes is still worth a try, it simply does not match up to PJ’s pancake-making prowess. Dark and smaller, bordering on being slightly burnt, my pancakes from Cheeburger were not as sweet, light or fluffy as those from PJ’s. Even more concerning, though the display of the Cheeburger pancakes was far superior, featuring scattered Oreo bits and strawberries atop the pancakes, the Oreo concentration inside the Cheeburger pancakes was far lower than that of the PJ’s pancakes.
As we all know, when it comes to Oreos, more is always better; jot this down as a fatal flaw for Cheeburger’s young breakfast career. Perhaps this Princeton staple should stick to what it does best — (chee)burgers.
Winner: PJ’s Pancake House
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