Friday, June 24, 2011

Aruba Eats: Linda's Pancake House And Taste Of Belgium

Linda's Pancake House and Taste of Belgium are two restaurants right near Playa Linda in Aruba. Taste of Belgium is actually just a short walk across the street, while Linda's Pancake House requires a quick drive.


The pancakes at Linda's Pancake House are not typical, fluffy pancakes. They are almost more crepe-like and can be made with sweet or savory ingredients. (I would love to know what's in the batter. All I can find are recipes for puffy Dutch pancakes though.)


Jeff went with one of the sweet pancakes, topped with strawberries and whipped cream. The strawberries were a little too mushy for his liking, and I thought they should have been sliced rather than simply halved and tossed on top. But it did come with quite a heap of whipped cream and the pancake itself was tasty.


I decided to make up my own pancake and ordered one with ham, tomato, and brie. The ham and tomatoes were finely chopped and dispersed throughout the pancake, and the brie was layered on top in thin slabs. I enjoyed the pancake with some butter. The best part was definitely the creamy brie.


My sister Lindsay got the bacon and apple pancake, which is one of the most popular pancakes there. I was surprised to see whole slices of bacon in there, given that my ham was chopped into such little bits. I didn't try any of hers because I had enough trouble getting through my whole pancake, but she had actually ordered it another time she had come to Linda's on a different trip to Aruba. You have to figure it's good if it warrants repeat ordering.


My mom got a pancake she had also ordered on a different trip to Aruba, and hers sounded fabulous too: walnuts, brie, and honey.


I really liked the cozy atmosphere on the little porch out front where we ate, and our waitress was cheerful and attentive. I would definitely go back to Linda's again.

...

Switching gears a little... on one afternoon when Jeff and my two youngest siblings went tubing and my dad went along to take pictures, my mom and Lindsay and I decided to check into some rumors about an amazing chocolate souffle at Taste of Belgium.


We started with the drink of the day, which was called a Pink Flamingo. I don't remember what was in it, but I didn't love it. I thought it was just okay, but my mom enjoyed it. And it looked really tropical and pretty at least.


Because we're not great about sticking with just one thing and because you can never have too much dessert, in addition to the famous chocolate souffle, we ordered profiteroles. This was a good choice because the profiteroles were ready within minutes, while the souffle needed time to bake. They served as our "appetizer."


Usually when I've gotten (or made) profiteroles, they're filled with ice cream, but these were filled with whipped cream and served with plenty of ice cream and chocolate sauce on the side.


We cleaned the plate while we waited for our chocolate souffle. It finally arrived, hot from the oven, accompanied by strawberries and ice cream.


We couldn't wait to dig in!


The chocolate inside was completely runny, gooey, and heavenly. We took turns (or maybe we all dug in at once) scooping up some of the chocolate, a little ice cream, and some strawberries. 


It was without a doubt the best chocolate souffle I've ever had. It doesn't hurt that it was more like molten chocolate cake.

However, my mom went back with my sister Martyann, who loves molten chocolate cake, and ordered the souffle again, and it was baked all the way through, unfortunately. It seems like consistency might be a little issue. I'd suggest going at an off time like we did when not many people are there and the souffle can be kept under close watch while it's baking.

Do you remember the best dessert you've ever had on a vacation?

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