Happy Canada Day.

This weekend our Canadian friends had invited a few of us for pancakes and deserts to celebrate the Canadian independence day.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Day)
The venue was Flapjacks, located in the Rawdah district. Sharp at 7.00pm when we arrived, most of the guests were already there. A big table for the twenty odd guests was set on the first floor meant for families. Our host had managed to get some Canadian flags to set the mood right for the evening.

The venue was good, although a tad too dim for my liking. The menu cards were superimposed on the table. But as I said it was so dim that most of us had trouble deciding on our food. After struggling with our mobile phones that doubled up as torches to illuminate the table/menu, all of us finally managed to order our drinks and food. The menu consists of mostly pancakes, broken down into regular and sweet, waffles, sandwiches and salads.
The server’s discomfort highlighted the fact that they were not ready to handle such a big group. But we were in the mood for celebration and were in good company, so we did not let this bother us. It was quite chaotic though; imagine twenty people ordering more than twenty different things with their own permutation and combinations. I ordered a shisha to initiate the proceedings as did a couple of other friends.
Wife decided to order the veggie pancake, which the menu said consisted of green pepper, mushrooms, tomatoes and onion. I decided to order the white chocolate pancake, which was supposed to have a filling of white chocolate with fresh strawberry pieces and some berry syrup. Wife ordered a peach iced tea while I was good with some sparkling water. By the time the food arrived, our initial fears were confirmed. One bite into her veggie pancake and wife realized something was wrong. A bite by another of our friend confirmed that it was indeed chicken and not veggie as requested. Wife was pretty upset with this and although the server apologized a million times by the time we left, all she had for the remaining of the evening was her iced tea. I had to eat most of the replacement veggie pancake that they got us after a good 15-20 mins ( which I did quite happily.)
The replaced veggie pancake
yummmmm...
The white chocolate pancake was the hit of the day. It was so well made that everyone who had a bite loved it. It had a faint hint of white chocolate and the correct amount of sweetness to it. The 3 decent sized pancakes were over in a jiffy. The whole table looked like a cornucopia of different dishes with vivid colors and textures. Everyone loved the food, although some of us were not overtly happy with the service and the delays in getting our food and drinks.
While we finished eating, our Canadian friend Bev got out the highlight of the evening. She had taken the trouble of preparing a traditional Canadian desert; Nanaimo bars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanaimo_bar) that tasted divine. One layer of coconut cream covered by two layers of absolutely sweet and lovely chocolate. Wife loved it so much that we packed a couple from the leftovers to have it the next day.
Nanaimo bars

All in all, a wonderful evening. Some great company, some great discussions and some good food. By the end of it we were ready to forgive Flapjacks for the sloppy service. One thing is for sure, even if we decide to visit this place again, it will never be in a group bigger than 4 people.

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