Memorial Day Weekend 2015 happened to fall on one of the few perfect weather weekends during a DC “summer.” Not only was the sun out and shining, the humidity was low. Add in the breeze with an actual desire to sit outside and eat a meal, even with the high pollen count, and we really believe that we have fallen down the rabbit hole.
Luckily, instead of mad hatters and cheshire cats, we were greeted with bottomless mimosas, bloody marys, and a glorious menu at Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights, DC*. Between five of us, we were able to hit a lot of the menu. This is a good thing. We want to eat everything on the menu. We settled for The Gypsy, a skillet, and Mac & Cheese Pancakes. Others in the group got Steak and Eggs, The Victory Bagel–an intense egg sandwich, and The Hollywood–one of the many vegetarian skillets and dishes.
The Gypsy:
With eggs your way over toast, spinach, mushrooms, bacon, and the works. The works you ask? Grilled peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, shredded cheddar, and home fries. DONE. Wonderland Ballroom has combined all of our favorite ingredients into one skillet. How could we not order this? And, the skillet was executed well. Neither the potatoes nor the vegetables were over- or under-cooked, adding a variety of textures. The eggs were actually over easy and the toast was not burnt. We don’t ask for much on a Saturday morning. Drizzled with the hot sauce the just comes on the table (FINALLY), this skillet left us happy until and after dinner.
Mac & Cheese Pancakes (with a side of bacon, because obviously):
You heard us. Macaroni and cheese in the pancake. Pancake around macaroni and cheese. Macaroni and cheese under the pancake. Pancake on top of macaroni and cheese. To delay the obvious temptation, let’s start with the pancake itself. Delicious. We have eaten many pancakes: buttermilk, wheat, blueberry, banana, chocolate chip, light, heavy, even pancakes as a grilled cheese sandwich. Wonderland’s pancakes rank in the upper 25th percentile. They are light and airy, almost sweet. Not to mention, they are very large. They are porous (in a good way) and soak up and retain toppings like butter and syrup.
But again…Macaroni and cheese…in the pancake. Please, can someone find the head chef and bestow a Nobel prize upon them? The concept is incredibly simple. Take a griddle, place Mac n’ Cheese upon said griddle, and then pour pancake batter on and around the Mac n’ Cheese until you have 1 cohesive, magical, ooey-gooey filled, yet airy pancake. Then doused with butter and syrup….again, why did the James Beard awards just pass because they missed one. The Mac n’ Cheese is great. It is tasty yet allows the pancake to be the predominate flavor. It also keeps the pancake moist from the inside out. With the butter and syrup keeping the pancake moist from the outside, this pancake is a dense and light balance of…well, a cheesy pancake.
The Drinks:
Not the best we’ve ever had; not the worst. The bloody marys tasted fine. The mimosa comes pre-mixed in a champagne bottle. It’s a very light orange–a good thing. The beer list includes intriguing options such as (in a similar theme) blueberry pancake beer. It fell much flatter than the Mac n’ Cheese pancakes. But we approve enough.
Crazy happy with this brunch, all around. Outdoor seating? Relaxed attitude? Good food? Veggie friendly menu so we can play with all of our friends? We’re in.
http://www.thewonderlandballroom.com/
http://www.thewonderlandballroom.com/menu/#brunch
*located with help from the Bitches Who Brunch
slawandorder 