Sunday, May 24, 2009

Ihop, The Great American Pancake House


While I try to refrain from eating too unhealthily, I must say that I indulge myself at least once per day. So when I arrived in San Antonio, Texas, I immediately requested Ihop. For those who are not familiar with the most formidable pancake houses scattered around America, keep one thing in mind: they have a meal called the "big" chicken fried steak with eggs and pancakes. Just keep that in mind, as well as comparing your big to Texas big. My mother had warned me that around 60 percent of the customers were going to be obese, so I was not expecting to see a bodybuilding champion there. My overall goal was to order something that was not potentially life-threatening, so I requested sausage, two sunny side up eggs and two chocolate chip pancakes. My cousin began to slowly munch on a napkin. the service was nothing more than you would expect from a mid-western truck stop. The waitress was nice, just seemed more content focusing on her nails. After a much longer wait than I expected, the food arrived, dripping with oil. I quickly gobbled down my hash browns, eggs and sausages, leaving only the pancakes left. As I gently dripped the artificial blueberry and strawberry syrup onto it, I salivated slowly. It was good but not too good. The crust was overcooked, and it was unsatisfactory. On the other hand, my mother's egg white omelet with peppers and mushrooms was quite good while staying healthy at the same time. I hope that Ihop will be satisfied with a 2.4 out of 10. Hey, they do have very good-tasting syrup.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Julian, I only take you to the very best places. (Please remember that I offered Grampy's Famous Pancakes or other "upscale" diners.)

Love, Grampy

Dotblock said...

Julian, Your review is spot on! What? The syrup isn't Pure Maple from Vermont? Astonishing. Love, Gummie

kjkc said...

Great review, Julian! I love how articulate you are about food and still express a tremendous sense of humor! When are you around this summer that I could take you out to eat... your choice, naturally!

xox
Kathy

PhotoBubby said...

Julian,
This is a funny and extremely well-written piece.
Thank you for reminding me of my Texas days and my many visits to iHop. You're a lucky boy that you got to experience it with Grampy, your mom and your cousins, all very different kinds of eaters.
Love, Bubby

Anonymous said...

Manou te dit que tu écris toujours aussi bien et que la photo confirme ton texte....c'était très bon !

Isabelle said...

You should have had the "big" chicken fried steak!!! This is a hysterical review! Well done.

Abbe Does It! said...

very funny and so true...I remember Ihop from high school. the pancakes tasted like doorstops but they had allllllllllll those crazy flavored syrups!!! holly suggests pigs in a blanket with lots of fake maple syrup. she is soooooooo not jewish!