Hello IHOP Restaurant (International House of Pancakes)!
IHOP was established since 1958 and has been the place where people connect over breakfast, chitter chatters and much more.
The turn at many of Dubai’s brunch spots to haute cuisine left many generic pancakes behind. But not at IHOP, where you can find the lowly pancake elevated to highlight of the menu. Keep your holiday indulgence going with one of these delectable breakfasts.
For folks who don’t like sweet eats in the morning, most dishes made with flour or grains have traditionally been out of the question, since they’re often loaded with brown sugar or maple syrup. Things are changing, though. Savory waffles are still having a moment and oatmeal has followed suit. It’s time for pancakes to join in on the fun. And they aren’t just good for your morning meal. Make them for lunch. Make them for dinner. Or, make them for a midnight snack. Pancakes just became so much more interesting. But other than pancakes and waffles, IHOP has a booklet of menu that offers an extensive choice of all day breakfast, all sorts of omelettes, burgers, sandwiches and even a different lunch plus dinner menu.
The setting in IHOP is pretty standard like any fast food restaurant, warm lighting that was welcoming, friendly staffs. More of a family restaurant, I would say.
Stuffed French Toast Combo – AED46
Cinnamon raisin French toast with a sweet cream filling, crowned with strawberry topping and whipped topping. Served with scrambled eggs, hash browns and veal sausages.
The toast is too hard, too dense and too much flour. However the sides of veal sausages saved it a little before the scrambled eggs defeat the whole portion again. Scrambled eggs were really dry and not smooth at all. More of stir fried eggs.
Volcano shrimp – AED42
Battered shrimp tossed in creamy volcano sauce that is both sweet and spicy. The prawns were really fresh with a bouncy texture. However, it was a little too salty and not spicy enough to my liking.
An idea of using less sauce in this dish would be great.
Original Buttermilk Pancakes – AED27
Short stacks of 3 buttermilk pancakes. These pancakes were really fluffy and fragrant as buttermilk was used.
And there are 4 different types of syrups that they offer, but I still enjoy my pancakes the old fashioned way.
Big Steak Omelette – AED46
Tender strips of steak, hash browns and fresh green peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and Cheddar cheese. Served with salsa
This has got nice flavours and textures to it, with different layers of goodness. We don’t usually have omelette rolled up so gigantically like that!
Belgian Waffle Combo – AED55
Belgian waffle served with scrambled eggs, beef bacon strips and cool strawberry topping.
The waffle is crispy and fragrant, with fluffiness on the inside. This was overall a great combination of ingredients but the presentation was not really good. Another drop out was the eggs again. Poor scrambled eggs being cooked.
Spinach & Mushroom Hash brown stack – AED 36
Golden hash browns topped with sautéed spinach and mushrooms, melted Provolone cheese, sliced tomato, poached eggs with hollandaise sauce and green onions. My favourite dish on the table as they cleverly used mushroom and spinach together. Creating different textures on the stack and the runny yolk from the poached eggs smoothen and balances the flavours overall.
Eggs Benedict – AED49
Turkey ham on English muffin topped with 2 poached eggs and smothered with hollandaise sauce, served with hash brown.
The poached eggs were perfectly runny with nice hollandaise sauce. However, the overall presentation was pretty bad. Maybe due to the food colour combination that doesn’t look appetizing.
Nutella crepes – AED34
Three egg batter crepes filled with the creamy and chocolate-y hazelnut Nutella spread and fresh slices of bananas, topped with cool strawberry topping and whipped cream. Nutella crepes were sinfully good. But the overall presentation could be better as this dish looks more like a mess. And perhaps the strawberry topping and whipped cream should be removed and beautify with something else, keeping this dish simple and original. Sometimes, too much elements in a dish would kill it.
Even though IHOP has been around for a very long time now and its reputation would help them set foot and be accepted in Malaysia very easily, however its sustainability is still questionable. If so, they would need to work harder in promising their food quality, food consistency, food presentation and bigger spaces of booth seats for a more comfortable dining experience. Not to forget a more affordable price too.
IHOP: International House of Pancakes
Ground Floor, Mall of Emirates
For Dubai’s Full Itinerary, Click on the picture! 🙂
