Pancake House Jakkepoes

CONTRIBUTED BY KELLYERACE

 About a week ago a friend came over to my house telling me that she’d just gotten done eating pancakes at a new pancake house in Yomitan.  A new pancake house?  Here?  In my neighborhood?  I hardly dared to believe such good fortune.  “Like real pancakes or teeny tiny fake ones?” I asked her.  “Real pancakes” she assured me, “with sausages and a fried egg.”  Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.  I was practically hyperventilating. “And syrup?” I pressed. “Yes,” she said, “with syrup and a lot of butter.”  She then swore me to secrecy and told me I wasn’t allowed to write about it for the blog.

So, I took a friend to try out Pancake House Jakkepoes for the first time last Friday.  Today, Wednesday, marks my third visit. I’ve gone there, umm… every other day. This afternoon when I walked sheepishly through the door once again the owners greeted me with a warm, “Hi Kelly.”  And doggone it if this is the one business on Okinawa that doesn’t have a stamp card.  I can’t hold that against them though; they’ve only been open a few weeks now and they’re doing a fantastic job.

Jakkepoes, Dutch for I have no idea what, is in a little house on a side street off Route 6 near Torii Station.  From the looks of it, it the building was former military housing.  But everything about it is fresh and comfortable and new looking:  white-washed walls, wooden floors, a nice breeze coming through the open doors and windows.  And it’s just a hop skip and a jump away from a quaint little beach. (Walk a few steps to where the road becomes dirt.  It’s on your left.)  The dining room is small and intimate, with just a few tables – maybe five.  But of course, a pretty restaurant ain’t nothin’ without good food and great people.  And Jakkepoes has both.  Aki and Sachiko are hospitable and friendly and their English is wonderful.

On to the food.  Being that this is a pancake house review, it might be worth mentioning that I am a syrup lover.  When I arrived at the threshold of Jakkepoes the first time, I had the sudden panicky thought that there might not be enough of it.  What if the pancakes were as good as promised but touched by just a skimpy drizzle of syrup?  I couldn’t bear the idea, but I knew that had to be. The promise of pancake heaven in my own backyard was too good to be true. But just as I settled in to face the disappointing syrup-lite reality, I looked across the room to the counter and spotted a bunch of those glass decanters of like they have at Denny’s. SYRUP decanters which would later be deposited on our table to use as needed.  No restrictions! You don’t even get that at brunch on base.  The world is good.

The English menu has pictures of the pancake offerings on both sides of it.  They’ve got everything from berry pancakes to meatball pancakes.  So far I’ve had the banana pancakes and the “grand slam” style breakfast:  three pancakes with a fried egg and your choice of bacon, sausage, or spam.  I had the sausage and it was yummy.  Friends have ordered french toast (a little different version from American french toast, but good) the strawberry pancakes, the berry pancakes, the meat lover pancake combo.  I haven’t tried the meatball or the chili/sausage pancakes yet, but I saw the chili ones on another diner’s plate today (that’s him in the picture above) and, I must say, they looked surprisingly appetizing.  I might even try them next time I go…Friday perhaps?

I admit it’s very tempting to keep the pancake house a secret.  And I feel a little guilty divulging it (although I was given permission in the end)  But I divulge it for selfish reasons – it’s a new restaurant and I sure as hell want to see it succeed.  So there you go.  And here you go with restaurant details.

Jakkepoes has a couple of high chairs.

Hours:

Open daily except Tuesday/Wednesday.
Weekdays 11:00-1800.
Weekends and American National Holidays: 8:00 to 17:00

Phone: 098-894-4185

Address: 436 Toya, Yomitan

Google Maps Coordinates: 26.3883309, 127.72536739999998

Directions:

There are several ways to get to Jakkepoes, I’ve updated my previous directions w/ these from “Tom” who commented below. They are nice and straightforward. Thanks Tom!: Heading north on Route 6, proceed past the main gate for Torii. Turn left at the 4th traffic light past the gate. Proceed to the first stop sign (perhaps 300 meters), and turn right. Straight ahead for approx 300 meters, you’ll see the quilt shop (Matsurika) on the left (and on the right side of the road, a small sign, low-to-the-ground, with white letters on a dark brown background, pointing across the street and down the road. Turn left here. Straight ahead about 200 meters, is Jakkepoes! So…left, right, and then left again. Simple!