Cinnamon's Omotesando

If you know what the *real* Cinnamon's tastes like, avoid this place at all costs!

There had been talk of the Cinnamon's in Harajuku among the Hawaii expat group for a long time. With the rise in popularity of the "Hawaiian pancake" (whatever that means) in Japan over the recent years, it only makes sense that they'd bring over one of the most popular chains in Hawaii. Because my hometown is in Hawaii, I have been to the Cinnamon's there numerous times. I normally don't crave food from Hawaii, but I was meeting with another Hawaii expat in Tokyo and we decided to finally try Cinnamon's together. The location is off the main drag, so it's not that crowded. The location and interior are super cute and there was definitely a lot of thought in choosing the decorations. Though the restaurant was pretty crowded, there was no wait and we were seated right away. The waitress spoke limited English, but the menu has pictures for everything, so it shouldn't be a problem either way. The menu varies from the Hawaii location, but I thought Japan put an interesting twist on it. We both wanted to get the red velvet pancakes (what they're known for in Hawaii) and were floored when there was a "SOLD OUT" plastered over them on the menu. Eventually, I decided on the regular pancakes with the cream cheese topping. The red velvet pancakes use the same cream cheese topping, so I was hoping it would be somewhat similar. My friend chose blueberry. Before we could decide on the set, we were also informed that they were out of the hash browns (though it didn't mention that on the menu) so we both ended up getting home fries. The food took quite a while to come out. I was hoping that was a good sign, and that they were cooking everything up in the back. When my food got out to me, that definitely wasn't the case. For some inexplicable reason my food was cold. My eggs and my potatoes felt and tasted like they had been sitting on the counter for too long. The salad was skipable as well. Though there was supposed to be dressing on it, either they forgot to add any or it was added with such a light hand that it tasted like there was nothing there. Honestly, I though it was dressed with water because it was too wet. Now, I can't speak for my friend and her pancakes because I didn't try them. However, I can tell you how disgusting my pancakes were. The original Cinnamon's cream cheese topping is delicious. I don't know what this was, but it definitely wasn't delicious. It tasted like someone had microwaved a cup of expired yogurt and poured it over my pancakes (yes, this was the only thing that was warm on my plate). I couldn't finish them. I can undoubtedly say that I'll never be back at this location again. But that's not to say that I'll never be at Cinnamon's again. In fact, I frequent the Yokohama location quite often because they actually know how to prepare their food.