Hungry for breakfast? Merritt Island Pancake House is worth the wait
When told that Kelly and Steve Mardis, formerly of Rockledge Diner, planned to open a similar restaurant on Merritt Island, their fans were happy. Under their ownership, Rockledge Diner had just the right combination of solid, traditional breakfast and lunch offerings and a touch of ingenuity.
Their Merritt Island Pancake House tops that nicely.
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Open mornings and early afternoons on weekends only — the proprietors are a scary-energetic registered nurse and a retailer who cook and serve food because they enjoy it — MIPH is as unpretentious as its predecessor and like it, located in a strip mall. Service is exceptionally, fast and attentive, the idea seeming to be “Let’s make friends” rather than “Let’s sling hash.”
The hash, by the way, may be the best in the area, clearly made from boiled and cut in-house corned beef with flavorful, but not-too-spicy, potatoes. There are regular ($9.99) and self-indulgent (served over sweet rolls and scrambled eggs, topped with Hollandaise, also $9.99) versions.
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Merritt Island Pancake has just about any classic you can think of, right down to regional ones like the fried bologna breakfast ($7.99), and they’re delicious, but Steve, the cook, really shines with French toast, pancakes and waffles. Some may be on the sweet side, but all are done with great thought and creativity. The passion of the chef is felt here.
Custard French toast ($8.99) was comprised of a half-dozen, cinnamon-tinged triangles of nicely eggy but not soggy bread topped with fresh fruit that included slices of nectarine — how often do you see that? — dressed with healthy dollops of homemade, British-style custard and drizzled with a berry sauce. It was a remarkably complex dish, with nicely balanced sweet, tart and spice.
The fresh fruit waffle ($8.99) was delightfully crisp and brown, served with a healthy portion of a grape-and-berry fruit salad. Syrup is available, but why?
Otherwise, all kinds of pancakes are available at MIPH, some with fruit (bananas, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, etc.) and some with the likes of Nutella, butterscotch chips and peanut butter and jelly. The caramel-drizzled apple pie pancakes ($8.99) drew raves. The bananas Foster variety ($8.99) looked glorious.
For what it’s worth, the eggs that accompany these meals are fluffy, nicely cooked and, after three visits, notably consistent. No one wants to wonder what they’re going to get as they order an egg-centric breakfast, as happens at certain stylish but underachieving chains. Home fries are chunks of crisp, no-grease potatoes that would be at home at home.
But if you prefer to do without the starch, the fruit plate ($7.99) will fill you up almost as well, a large plate of the same fruit as mentioned above, pleasantly separated by five scoops of decent vanilla yogurt that did not liquefy on the plate.
Lunch is nearly as clever as breakfast and in this case, it was scrambled eggs and pork tenderloin ($9.99), which was far bigger than expected, fried in a crisp, slightly peppery, non-greasy batter. If that batter goes on the chicken too, I want it.
The restaurant has minor flaws, including a tendency to go with a little too much sweetness, with drizzles and syrups on the breakfast dishes, and while the (fresh) coffee clearly comes from a clean pot, the food with which it is paired probably deserved a better brew.
But this is a terrific breakfast joint, the best of its kind that we’ve tried so far, and rated against the breed standard, it wins. You’ll wait for a table. Do it. See you on line.
Merritt Island Pancake House
Four stars
Address: 950 N. Courtenay parkway (behind McDonald’s), Merritt Island
Hours: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays and Saturdays
Call: 321-230-3560
Online: www.facebook.com/Merritt-Island-Pancake-House-137358996877013
WiFi: Yes
Other: All food freshly prepared. No reservations
About our reviews
Restaurants are rated on a five-star system by FLORIDA TODAY’s reviewer. The reviews are the opinion of the reviewer and take into account quality of the restaurant’s food, ambiance and service. Ratings reflect the quality of what a diner can reasonably expect to find. To receive a rating of less than three stars, a restaurant must be tried twice and prove unimpressive on each visit. Each reviewer visit is unannounced and paid for by FLORIDA TODAY.
Five Stars: Excellent. A rare establishment to which you’d be proud to take the most discerning diner.
Four Stars: Very good. Worth going out of your way for. Food, atmosphere and service are routinely top notch.
Three Stars: Good. A reasonably good place with food and service that satisfy.
Two Stars: Fair. While there’s nothing special about this establishment, it will do in a pinch.
One Star: Not recommended. Don’t bother.
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