Who says pancakes are just a breakfast treat? At IHOP Restaurant, anything goes as the fluffy flat cakes of buttery goodness are served morning, noon and night, writes Mai Al Khatib-Camille.
American franchise the International House of Pancakes (IHOP), has been making diners smile around the globe with its special breakfast fare for the past 55 years and now it can add Bahrain to its list of 1,620 outlets. The restaurant, located in Bahrain City Centre, had been boarded up for quite some time, taunting passer-by’s with images of its scrumptious breakfast fare as well as its wide selection of popular lunch and dinner items. People whom had sampled IHOP’s menu abroad were counting the days when fresh smells of pancakes would waft through the mall. On March 17, their wish came true. IHOP Restaurant, operated by Alshaya Trading Co, took down the boards and a horde of pancake lovers flooded the chain, myself included! “We are delighted to add Bahrain to the list of countries around the world that can now enjoy the IHOP experience. “As the success of our IHOP restaurants in the Gulf has already proven, there is a strong appetite for great food and service with strong value, throughout the region,” said Daniel Del Olmo, president, International at DineEquity Inc. Bahrain’s first IHOP restaurant follows the brand’s success in Dubai, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia where it already operates restaurants through a multi-market franchise agreement between Alshaya and DineEquity Inc. Mr Del Olmo added: “Alshaya has done an outstanding job in ensuring that the same excellence in food and service our guests have come to expect at any IHOP restaurant is now delighting our guests in even more countries in the important MENA market.” The new 138 seat restaurant is regarded by many of its patrons as a breakfast haven, offering a variety of flavourful pancake stacks, omelettes, French toast, waffles, crepes and other morning meals. IHOP also serves the savoury with the sweet, piling up plates with giant burgers, sandwiches, steaks, seafood as well as other lunch and dinner delights. While the steaks and burgers are something to drool about, I was more interested in IHOP’s to-die-for pancakes. Being a huge pancake fan, as soon as I got word of IHOP’s opening, I dropped whatever I was doing, grabbed my husband Sam and rushed over to the diner. We were thrilled that we managed to find a table as the restaurant was packed with groups of families, teens and business men and women blissfully stuffing their faces. After being escorted to our table by a friendly waitress, I began to flip through the menu as if I was preparing for an exam. We were spoiled for choice and couldn’t make up our minds. I knew that I had to have the pancakes but the lunch and dinner menu looked too appetising to miss. Sam was encouraged to sample one of IHOP’s popular dishes, the BD5.250 big steak omelette which included tender strips of steak, hash browns, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheddar cheese, served with salsa. The best part is that all combination meals such as Sam’s come with a short stack of IHOP’s signature buttermilk pancakes. We upgraded the buttermilk to a super sweet New York Cheesecake stack. I opted for the turkey ham and egg melt sandwich, priced at BD3.500. It’s a Swiss and American cheese delight melted on an egg omelette with turkey ham in grilled sour dough bread, served with hash browns. To quench our thirst I had IHOP’s famous coffee and Sam had the Splashberry at BD1.9. The drink included juicy strawberry, lemon-lime soda and orange juice. As we couldn’t wait for our meals to arrive, we decided to stifle our rumbling tummies with the BD4.9 appetiser sampler. It included monster mozza strips, onion rings and crispy chicken strips with honey mustard and marinara sauce. It was love at first bite. The mozzarella sticks were gooey, the onion rings had just the right balance between onion and breading and the chicken was tender. Team it up with IHOP’s in-house made honey mustard sauce and you have yourself a winner. The turkey ham egg melt was divine. The eggs were fluffy and not rubbery, the cheese was fantastic and the ham was yum. Sam’s omelette was hearty and a lot larger than expected. Halfway through, he began to struggle and at one point stared at the omelette and admitted defeat. We still had room for the cheesecake-style pancakes though and they did not disappoint. In fact, we couldn’t get enough! IHOP has melted its way into my heart and has made my belly very happy. I can’t wait to dine there again with family and friends. The restaurant is open Saturday through Wednesday from 8am till 11pm and on Thursday and Friday from 8am till midnight.
