Nara deer park & Gram pancake

When we were in Osaka, we took a day trip to Nara, to see the deers.  We've seen adorable pictures of these friendly deers and wanted to experience it ourselves.  It was a pretty quick trip by train, which was also pretty empty because we went on a week day.  After we got off the train station, we walked to the deer park (it wasn't a short walk so make sure you're wearing comfortable shoes).  Once we got to the park, we were greeted with warning signs everywhere, to be careful of the deers.  We also saw another tourist being head butted quiet hard by one of the deers.  Lol.  I guess they ARE wild animals, and we all have to be extremely careful when dealing with wild animals. There are a few vendors around the park that sells the deer crackers; we didn't end up buying any because.... we didn't want to be chased by deers.  HAHAHA.  The deers are smart; once they find out that you have food on you, they will keep on following you and pester you for more treats. 

We went on a nice stroll around the area, admiring the deers and the fawns (the fawns are SO CUTE!!!).  These deers are quiet friendly with people, and in most cases they let you touch them.   Why in most cases?  well... again, they're wild animals, you never know how they might react.  Like you can see below, they're not shy and would come up quiet close to you to see if you have any treats.  Once they realize you don't have any treats, they'll leave you alone, in most cases.

After talking a stroll around the park, we decided to explore the areas around the train station. And... we found Gram Pancake right by the station.

I'm sure you've heard the tale of Japanese infamous fluffy pancakes.  Gram is famous for those fluffy pancakes, and have limited servings per day (at a specified time).  We visited a Gram location in Tokyo, twice, and the line up was crazy!!  We didn't end up trying Gram because we had such limited time in Tokyo and ended up trying out other places instead. 

We stumbled upon Gram by chance at Nara and there was no line up!  We were so lucky. If we didn't accidentally find this Gram location, we probably would have left Japan without eating any fluffy pancakes. 

Note:  after doing more search about this location, looks like this location near the Kintetsu-Nara train station has unfortunately closed down.  There is another location in Nara but it's a bit further away from the Kintetsu-Nara train station (it's about a 1 hour walk). Boo!  I wish you guys get to experience the convenience of eating Gram pancake so close to the deer park as we did!

While we were waiting for the pancakes (which are obviously made fresh, and it takes a while to make), we ordered a matcha smoothie.  I don't know, guys, I feel like the standard of matcha in Japan is just different than in North America.  Anything-matcha that we tried there (whether from a konbini or from some fancy cake shop) are super delicious!!  I feel like the North American matcha are usually sweetened so we're missing out on that signature slightly bitter note.  

Here's the appearance of the fluffy pancake!  We sadly only ordered one, because we thought it was going to be filling (and seriously, guys, it looks big).  I'm not a huge fan of sweet stuff either, so we didn't want to over-order. 

Please take a look at this fluffy goodness....... 

We also overestimated the amount pancake that's on that plate.  Because it's so fluffy, it felt like we were eating air.  We contemplated ordering 1 more plate of fluffy pancake but ultimately decided against it because we wanted to try other snacks around the area! 

So...  Was it worth the hype?  Would it have been worth the line up?   My answer would be Yes and Maybe (leaning towards Yes).   The pancake itself was delicious!!  Super yummy, super fluffy, and not something that I've had before!   

However, when looking at the loooong line up in the Tokyo location, if we had very limited time available in Japan, I don't think we'd spend time lining up for dessert.  Both SO and I have 3 weeks of vacation per year, and we usually use most of those weeks to spend time with our family in Indonesia or Australia (just the flight itself to these countries take 2 days), so if we ever go to Japan again, it will probably be for a week or maybe 10 days.   There are other food that we would more likely to line up for, especially food that are unique to Japan.  Plus, personally, if we had to pick between a savoury meal/snacks vs. sweet dessert, we will most likely pick savoury meal/snacks.  

Was it expensive?  Hmm yes it was a bit on the expensive side, but for the quality of food that you get, it was well priced!   

If you haven't had a fluffy pancake before, and if there isn't a massive line up, you should definitely try this place!!  Before you do that, though, please do double-check the specific time frame of when they're serving the fluffy pancakes.  Otherwise you might be lining up for..... other things than fluffy pancakes.  (matcha smoothie, maybe?  or their savoury menu items).