Fluffy Japanese Pancake

Every time we visited the Mitsuwa plaza in NJ, Renee and I always dreamed of eating this fluffy Japanese pancake displayed in the window at the UCC cafe there. However, we only had enough stomach room reserved for our favorite chicken katsu (see picture http://speedylulu.blogspot.com/2009/03/outing-to-mitsuwa.html) . So the other day, you could imagine our disappointment when the restaurant said "sorry, no chicken katsu today. only pork and shrimp." Noooooooooooooo! We wanted to tell the guy to go buy the chicken breast at the Mitsuwa supermarket and make some! Anyway, after an unsatisfying meal of two skinny shrimp katsu, we finally had enough stomach room for the pancake. We were full of anticipation when the pancake arrived at our table because it looked just like the one in the display case. After taking the first bite, we were silent for a moment, trying to make out *what* we were chewing. Renee said first, "umm... this tastes like rubber...". Yes, it did. The ultimate example of how looks can be deceiving.