One last break from our regularly scheduled science coverage to report on a unique dining experience in San Diego. Tomorrow I will be resuming my science coverage! Look out for an interview with Michael Lehman for his recent work on environmental enrichment and how it plays a role in mediating stress resiliency through the infralimbic cortex. Read his abstract here.

As we didn’t get back to the hotel until 3 am Monday evening, the girls and I decided we needed to sleep in Tuesday morning. So, sleep in we did. Late Tuesday morning, we decided that before meeting up with our friends, we would stop somewhere closeby for some food. We found a place close to the zoo that had pretty decent ratings: Hash House a go go. The menu promised a good variety of brunch options, so…off we went!

Luckily, there wasn’t much of a wait at the restaurant (we were told this was unusual for this hotspot, but likely due to the fact that we were dining off-peak times). We decided to order our own main egg dishes with an extra side of pancakes to share. When Kira asked our waiter how many pancakes come in a stack, he simply replied: “It’s actually a single pancake, but it’s big enough to share.”

Ladies and gentlemen: I present the Understatement of the Year Award to Hash House –

I just have one question: At what point does a pancake cease to be a pancake and at what point can you classify it…as an actual cake? Aren’t there diameter restrictions? Depth restrictions? These pictures don’t even capture the gargantuan nature of these portions. That pancake was at least an inch thick.

Don’t get me wrong. The food was delicious – but this pancake was sufficient to feed a family of four! Staci’s meal had an entire rosemary tree planted on top of a hill:

We were so stunned…all we could do was laugh. I think Kira almost wet her pants.

Needless to say, we couldn’t finish it all. We had to request 3 to-go boxes and when that wasn’t sufficient, we asked for another two. We spent the rest of the afternoon carrying eight pounds worth of food around Balboa Park – and yes, we did take turns.

The best part about the entire experience was that even though we were clearly freaking out, our waiter was clearly unphased. I’m guessing they get the reaction all the time – still, I was surprised he didn’t give us more of a warning! At least we had some good laughs. Thanks Hash House! Next time we’re in San Diego, I’ll bring along three friends and we’ll order: one pancake.