IHOP, 2018

Another year, another round of free pancakes from IHOP.  Joining their e-club has its merits - a free meal for your IHOP-iversary AND a free stack for your birthday!

Pancakes: Devoured.

I was excited to go for my pancakes.  This year's coupons are for a full stack of any pancakes from the menu.  Every year, the coupon changes, although it has basically gotten more and more stingy.

The first few years it was a full combo meal with sides, like my first visits in 2012 and 2013 where I got combos with Harvest Grain N' Nut or Whole Wheat Pancakes.  The past few years it has specifically been for the Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity stack, or their equivalent value, which is always the route I went, getting more Harvest Grain N' Nut pancakes in 2014, before finally branching out to Raspberry White Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Chip in 2015, to Red Velvet and Double Blueberry in 2016, and Cinn-a-Stack and more Double Blueberry in 2017.

This year though, much more restrictive.  Just a stack of pancakes.  Any kind, but no option to use the equivalency for something else, and no option to split a stack.  4 pancakes of the same kind.  Nothing else.

August 2018 Visit - Beach Street Location

I've always compared the two San Francisco IHOP locations, as the differences are striking.  The Fisherman's Wharf location just ... amazes me in how inefficient it is.  You can read all about my past experiences there (like 2014 in particular), but, they always have crazy long lines of people, half the restaurant vacant and filled with dirty tables, servers who have zero time to pay any attention, food that sits in the window of the pass for way too long getting cold, and, highly inconsistent cooking.  The Lombard Street location on the other hand, has always been amazingly friendly and perfectly operated, although the waits are always longer for me, since they don't have a counter for single diners.  

I greatly prefer the Lombard Street location, due to the quality staff and food, but, alas, it closed two weeks before my IHOP-iversary.  I had to return to Beach Street.

I'd like to report back that things got better in the past few years, but, alas, they have not.  The waiting list, at 10am on Sunday, was 18 parties deep for a table, but luckily, I was able to sit at the counter with no wait since I was alone.  As always, I was basically entirely ignored by an overloaded server, my food was fairly cold, and, the entire experience was sub-par.

Silverware Wrapper.

Basically everything about IHOP is the same as previous visits, so, I'll skip all details, except one.

One new change at IHOP.  When you sit, you are brought your silverware in an individual paper bag.  I don't understand.  Isn't this incredibly wasteful?

New International Pancakes.

The pancake specials for the summer were "International" pancakes, very fitting for, well, the International House of Pancakes.  It is a bit funny that they haven't ever embraced that before.

So what nations were represented?

First, Belgium, with the Belgian Dark Chocolate Mousse pancakes, "Four luscious chocolate pancakes take a trip to Belgium where they are filled with chocolate chips & layered with a creamy Belgian dark chocolate mousse, then topped with more mousse & chocolate chips, dusted with cocoa powder and crowned with whipped topping."  The chocolate mousse sounded great, but, since I didn't care for chocolate pancakes in the past, I moved on (although, hmm, what if I got the regular pancakes in their place?).

Next, Mexico, with Mexican Tres Leches.  More on these soon.

And then ... Madagascar?! Named just the Vanilla Spice though, the country name is dropped.  These are "Four buttermilk pancakes inspired by the warm flavors of exotic Madagascar: vanilla mousse spiced with cinnamon, clove, ginger and cardamom."  The vanilla mousse here sounded good too, but, meh to clove and cardamom for me.

If I wanted to try something new, Tres Leches it was.

Last year, on my annual visit, I used my free coupon to get a split stack, 2 of one kind to try a new one, 2 of another to get something reliable, my favorite Double Blueberry.  This was a great move, since I ended up not loving the Cinn-A-Stack ones last time.  I tried to do that again, ordering Tres Leches and the coveted Double Blueberry, but I was denied.  I explained that I had done it in the past, and my server checked with manager, but, again, denied.  Boo.  So I went with just the Tres Leches.  I was anxious.  Spoiler: it turns out, I should have gotten the blueberry!

Mexican Tres Leches Pancakes. $11.39. (Toppings on the Side).

"Four world famous buttermilk pancakes become our version of 3 milks bread when they are layered & topped with creamy vanilla sauce, then topped with more vanilla sauce & a drizzle of dulce de leche caramel sauce." 

At least I asked for the toppings on the side.  It meant that I really don't have any good food porn here, these look just like boring pancakes and some strange plastic containers of sauce, but, it meant I could experiment, and I don't think I really was in the mood for the dessert-y creation that would have come assembled.

But ... the pancakes just were ... pancakes.  They weren't lofty and fluffy, they weren't tangy from buttermilk.  They were not crispy on top, or moist inside.  They were just highly mediocre, highly generic, no better than a random buffet, kinda soggy pancakes.

Would the blueberry have been better?  I'm not sure.  These were fairly heartbreaking, to be honest. What happened to the buttermilk tang that was present in the blueberry ones, I thought it was the same base?

All The Toppings.

My pancakes came with 3 toppings: vanilla sauce, dulce de leche, and whipped cream.

And of course, all tables are set with (extremely sticky) containers of the signature syrups: blueberry, raspberry, butter pecan, and Old Fashioned.  I also asked for butter and the sugar-free syrup (Cary's).

I'm glad I asked for my toppings on the side, so I could make the pancakes classic if I needed, and just have fun with the syrups.  The syrups are part of the experience for me, and mostly, I'm just amazed how much my preferences change every time.

Starting with the toppings for my pancakes though.  The vanilla sauce was actually quite good, basically vanilla creme anglaise.  Extremely sweet though.  Rather delightful, actually, but not really what I wanted on my pancakes so early in the morning.  It needed the whipped cream to balance it out.  If you want dessert pancakes though, go for it.  I gladly saved it for later.

The dulce de leche was of course even sweeter, a bit thinner than standard dulce de leche, which makes sense for the application.  Sweet, tasty.  Again, I didn't really want it right then, but, great for later use.

The whipped cream was from a can, but they use a nice sweet brand I like.

Bites I composed as designed, with the vanilla sauce, dulce, and whip were perfectly satisfying, but, very much dessert.

I reverted back to "breakfast" mode, and asked for butter and the sugar free syrup.  The butter soaked in and gave a bit of moisture and flavor to the pancakes, but I suppose wasn't really needed.  I always like the SF syrup better than their regular Old Fashioned for some reason.  Its ... stickier?

I moved on to the fun stuff though, the table syrups.  The blueberry was fine, and I tried to make bites that were like blueberry cobbler, topped with whipped cream, but, alas, I found myself just really wanting the blueberry compote that comes with the blueberry pancakes.  Nice for something fruity, but, I wanted more.  I did have ordering regret.

The raspberry I really didn't like, no idea why, but it really wasn't doing it for me.  The Old Fashioned, fine, but I preferred the SF version.

The Butter Pecan was the winner for me, just a more interesting sweet flavor.  I used that with plenty of butter, and whipped cream, and had some decent bites but ... the lackluster base pancakes, and my regret over pancake choice, just left me underwhelmed overall.

September 2018 Visit - Beach Street Location

For my IHOP-versary, I also had to visit the Beach Street location again.  I tried to go a bit earlier to avoid the crowds, which was successful.  For the first time, I was able to sit at a table rather than counter, although they wouldn't seat me in a booth (even a mini booth for 2) or at a side window table, saying my only option was the 4 person table in the middle of the room.  Yes, there were other tables free, there was no waiting list, and they sat vacant for a while.  They clearly wished I'd just sit at the counter.  But I was hoping for better service in the dining room.

Better service I did not get.  My server had a hard time understanding that I wanted toppings on the side.  She had an even harder time understanding that I wanted butter.  "They don't come with butter, too rich", is what she said several times.  I assured her I wanted butter on the side too.  But I was lucky, a lady at an adjacent table spent literally 5 minutes trying to order a 2 egg omelette with avocado on the side.  The standard offering at IHOP is a much bigger omelette (I'm not sure how many eggs, but certainly more than 2), served with a side of toast or hash browns or a stack of pancakes.  The IHOP way.  And this lady really wanted to be healthy, pointing at the "Build your own omelette" on the menu, saying she wanted a simple cheese omelette but with only 2 eggs, no carb side, add avocado on the side.  The server wanted nothing of it.  "It comes with toast, hash browns, or pancakes, you have to have one of those, no avocado."  The lady kindly said it was ok to charge her for those things, just please don't bring them, and add on the cost of an avocado side (this *is* on the menu as an extra side).  The server still kept insisting that she get a stack of pancakes or at least toast.  And she absolutely wouldn't allow a smaller omelette.  In the end, the server quite literally demanded that she just order 2 eggs scrambled with cheese, avocado on the side.  The poor lady looked in near tears by the end, saying she really wanted an omelette, just not as big, please, just charge her whatever, just don't bring her all the stuff.  What she got?  Yup, scrambled eggs, and ... a side of toast.  Sigh.

So, pretty standard bad service at this location, pretty standard long waits, and just really staff that could care less.  I miss the old location.

Paper Bag Utensils.

I thought that perhaps the paper bag utensils thing was a counter move only, but nope, also how I was served at the table.  It again struck me as so incredibly wasteful.  I guess efficient for them though?

Hazelnut Creamer.

My table was supplied with only hazelnut creamer.  The table next to me had only regular creamer.  Next to them, only regular, but a different brand.  Uh, what?

Double Blueberry Pancakes, Toppings on Side, Add Butter. $11.39.

"Double up on the blueberries! You’ll get a stack of four fluffy pancakes filled with blueberries, then topped with sweet, warm blueberry compote and creamy whipped topping."
I was fairly surprised when my order arrived actually as I wanted.  I guessed I had about a 80% chance of either no butter, the butter already added to the pancakes, or no blueberry topping and just the butter.

But I was provided with all the standard toppings plus the butter, all in separate containers, served on an extra plate.  And unlike the dulce de leche and vanilla sauce from my previous pancakes, they even came in big bowls.  I rather think I got extra, at least of the blueberry compote!

Blueberry Pancakes.

The pancakes restored my faith in IHOP in an instant.  I'll admit, I was feeling a bit like this might be my last time at an IHOP.  With such miserable service, and not great tasting pancakes my last few visits, I was almost ready to archive IHOP away into my past.

And then I had these.

They were perfect IHOP pancakes.  Four large, not thin and wimpy, pancakes.  Perfectly crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.  Delivered to me hot and fresh. Great buttermilk tang in the base.  Juicy juicy blueberries for pops of flavor.

Yes.  Yes, yes, yes.

Toppings!

The pancakes were great enough on their own that I actually was fairly happy just eating them plain, but of course, I had to experiment with everything available: 4 types of syrup from the table as always, SF Cary's syrup, and then of course the blueberry compote, whip, and butter.

The extra plate the toppings came on was a nice touch, as I could use it to make a dipping sauce platter with all the syrups.  Which of course I did.

Simple butter was a fine option.  Since my pancakes were actually warm (!), it melted and soaked in, and the buttery richness was a nice compliment to the tangy flavorful pancake.  Adding Old Fashioned or SF Cary's syrup was even better, for classic pancake feels.  I liked both of those syrups quite a bit, not really sure which I preferred, as neither were actual real maple syrup, but both were sweet, "maple" flavored, and tasty.  With enough syrup, the butter wasn't really noticeable, so I guess not really necessary.

The other table syrups though I really didn't care for this time.  Sometimes I like the fruity strawberry or blueberry syrup, but on this visit, they just tasted fake and cloying.  Sometimes I adore the butter pecan syrup, but again, fake and cloying.  I gave them each a few tries, but, alas, not winners.

And then, the blueberry compote.  That stuff really is good.  I find it very sweet, and not what I actually want on my pancakes for breakfast, but it is served warm, it is gooey in a good way, and the berries are flavorful.  Its like what I want inside blueberry pie.  I generally save it to bring it home and warm it and spoon it over ice cream (a tip from an older gentleman dining next to me at the counter years ago!), or, I have it after my pancakes as "dessert" with the whipped cream, when I visit later in the morning and consider it brunch.  So always a component I am glad to have, just, not on my pancakes, hence my request for butter, and my use of syrup.

And then, the whipped cream.  Because, IHOP.  Of course you put whipped cream on pancakes right?  As always, I did actually really like their whipped cream.  It is from a can, and I'm sure its a cheap generic brand, but, it really is sweeter and creamier than most canned whipped cream.  It tastes almost ... marshmallow like even.  It does strangely get lumpy as it breaks down though, nothing something I've seen with canned whipped cream before.  But I still love the taste.