A late arrival from Chicago required a late dinner so what better stop than the International House of Pancakes? I arrived ready to order the Big Country Breakfast, which goes by a different name now, and did not deviate from this plan. IHOP does only one thing well and that's breakfast. I consider chicken fried steak to be a fitting member of any breakfast plate.
I opted for the smaller portion of steak seeing as how it was 11:00 PM and it made me feel a little better about myself. Before casting it off the enormous plate that my food was presented on, I had to admire the garnish that was oh so carefully laid amongst my heart attack fuel. It was like wearing a tuxedo to a monster truck rally...and there is nothing wrong with that.
Aside from the steak, the plate comes with hash browns, three eggs, and three buttermilk pancakes. I ordered the eggs scrambled with cheese and dressed the hash browns with ketchup. My syrup of choice for the pancakes was the warm traditional maple which was brought out with great pageantry like a starting pitcher in a playoff game while the bullpen to my left of Boysenberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, and Buttered Pecan had to watch and wait.
The hash browns were very crispy and browned on the top while the underside was still soft and buttery. The texture offered a nice contrast but I think the ketchup makes the dish. Overall, I've had better but I've had much worse. In other words, I ate them all.
The eggs were fluffy and simply seasoned while the addition of the cheddar cheese really helped take them to the next level. I omitted Tabasco or Cholula sauce this time.
The chicken fried steak was covered in a puddle of cream gravy that was at some point in powder form I'm almost certain. And I don't care. The steak itself was heavy on crispy batter and light on the steak. Again, I don't care. This was pure unadulterated truck stop food and I was loving it. And if some of that pepper gravy "accidentally" ended up on my eggs or hash browns, was I breaking the law? The answer is no - I was not. The batter was very flavorful while the meat itself was somewhat mealy and bland - but who orders chicken fried steak for the steak? It's all about the fried goodness.
The namesake of this establishment, the pancakes, have always impressed me. For being a chain restaurant with locations all across North America they sure do churn out consistently tasty flap jacks. They were buttery, fluffy, light and cooked to a perfect golden brown and greedily soaked in the butter and maple syrup that I spread on them. After getting about halfway through though, I decided to go to the bullpen and called on Buttered Pecan to close out the game. Good choice because it nailed it. It took the sweetness up a notch but also brought a little more richness to the pancakes. For those keeping score, the traditional maple did qualify for the win.
This late night dinner definitely hit the spot and reaffirmed my belief that IHOP deserves to be called a house of pancakes. Maybe even a castle or fortress?
The International Fortress Of Pancakes presents the Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity.
Yeah, I like that.
GIRCON 5
I opted for the smaller portion of steak seeing as how it was 11:00 PM and it made me feel a little better about myself. Before casting it off the enormous plate that my food was presented on, I had to admire the garnish that was oh so carefully laid amongst my heart attack fuel. It was like wearing a tuxedo to a monster truck rally...and there is nothing wrong with that.
Aside from the steak, the plate comes with hash browns, three eggs, and three buttermilk pancakes. I ordered the eggs scrambled with cheese and dressed the hash browns with ketchup. My syrup of choice for the pancakes was the warm traditional maple which was brought out with great pageantry like a starting pitcher in a playoff game while the bullpen to my left of Boysenberry, Blueberry, Strawberry, and Buttered Pecan had to watch and wait.
The hash browns were very crispy and browned on the top while the underside was still soft and buttery. The texture offered a nice contrast but I think the ketchup makes the dish. Overall, I've had better but I've had much worse. In other words, I ate them all.
The eggs were fluffy and simply seasoned while the addition of the cheddar cheese really helped take them to the next level. I omitted Tabasco or Cholula sauce this time.
The chicken fried steak was covered in a puddle of cream gravy that was at some point in powder form I'm almost certain. And I don't care. The steak itself was heavy on crispy batter and light on the steak. Again, I don't care. This was pure unadulterated truck stop food and I was loving it. And if some of that pepper gravy "accidentally" ended up on my eggs or hash browns, was I breaking the law? The answer is no - I was not. The batter was very flavorful while the meat itself was somewhat mealy and bland - but who orders chicken fried steak for the steak? It's all about the fried goodness.
The namesake of this establishment, the pancakes, have always impressed me. For being a chain restaurant with locations all across North America they sure do churn out consistently tasty flap jacks. They were buttery, fluffy, light and cooked to a perfect golden brown and greedily soaked in the butter and maple syrup that I spread on them. After getting about halfway through though, I decided to go to the bullpen and called on Buttered Pecan to close out the game. Good choice because it nailed it. It took the sweetness up a notch but also brought a little more richness to the pancakes. For those keeping score, the traditional maple did qualify for the win.
This late night dinner definitely hit the spot and reaffirmed my belief that IHOP deserves to be called a house of pancakes. Maybe even a castle or fortress?
The International Fortress Of Pancakes presents the Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity.
Yeah, I like that.
GIRCON 5
