Hawai'i: Cinnamon's Restaurant

Breakfast or dessert?

I'll never know. For now, it suffices as both. Cinnamon's in Kailua turns out the most creative pancakes on the island with a rooster that includes carrot cake, cinnamon-apple, and daily specials of pumpkin and strawberry cream. The Guava Chiffon Pancakes start with a base of the house hot buttermilk pancakes. Two for $6.25, four for $9.25. It appears to be a sugar fest, but is actually fairly restrained, the sauces not overly gloppy nor sugary. There are two types of sauce. One creamy, borderline fluffy. And the other, thin, glossy with a fruity guava tang. Whipped cream to top. It's not often I say this, but maple syrup and butter are certainly not needed.

Take a look at these Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. Same tall and fluffy buttermilk pancakes, this time with a tower (literally) of sautéed cinnamon apples and whipped cream.

The Blueberry and Corn Pancakes come with Hawaiian Honey Butter. The butter is the highlight of this dish, a soft golden shade, whipped with a bit of cinnamon. Make sure to order a side of the honey butter if you get the plain pancakes, it makes for a simple, satisfying pairing.

Of all the flavors Cinnamon has to offer, the Carrot Cake is my favourite. It's the heartiest, the least sweet with generous gratings of fresh carrots and plump black raisins folded into the pancake batter. To the right is whipped cream cheese butter...are there any four words that string together this nicely? Smother on the cakes while hot and let melt, beautiful! Finish with plain butter and you'll have everyone at the table chasing for a bite. They don't use the buttermilk pancake base - the carrot cake pancakes are more dense, still moist but not fluffy, and noticeably smaller in diameter. Which means you have room for more.

The eternal breakfast debate is pancake versus French toast. It's on a case by case basis, but at Cinnamon's, pancakes win in the end. That's not to say that you should pass on their French Toast, a reliable affair made with fat slices of Portuguese Sweet Bread (this practice needs to be adopted on the mainland). Have the French toast plain ($6.25), or pick a topping (additional $2.25): Apple-Cinnamon, Guava Chiffon, or the daily special which was Strawberry and Local Fruits shown above.

Should the taste for something savory cross your mind at Cinnamon's, you're in good hands. The Egg Benedicts alone are worth a visit, complete with a mound of crisp homefries, liberally salt and pepper-ed with a tangle of chopped green onions. The benedicts come in six styles:

Traditional...Canadian bacon and turkey
Veggie...fresh, raw spinach and tomatoes
Mahi Mahi
Crabcake
Kalua Pig...made in-house
Lox

The portion is big - you can have half-orders, but it's not worth it. $10.25 for a half, $13.25 for a full order, see what I mean? I like to come with one other person, and split the full benedict, and a small pancake order. Ideal balance of sweet and savory.

Many tourists order the Hawaiian Omelette, which sounds cheesy, but is also my go-to omelette at Cinnamon's. The ingredients are mixed into beaten eggs (three eggs per omelette) and then cooked in a skillet, making for what they call a "local style" omelette. This one is mixed with shredded Kalua Pig, tomatoes, white and green onions, and Lau-Lau (steamed lu'au leaves, pork, and butterfish). The omelette would benefit from more Lau-Lau - you get mostly lu'au leaves and very little pork and butterfish. But then again more Lau-Lau means price hike, and Cinnamon's is expensive enough. Comes with hash browns or home fries or buttermilk pancakes. Not the most attractive omelette, but still ono.

Cinnamon’s Restaurant
315 Uluniu St
Kailua, HI 96734
(808) 261-8724