IHOP RESTAURANT - MALL OF EMIRATES DUBAI

I know it's pretty strange of me that I didn't really "tell" anyone about my last trip to Dubai before I actually going, just like how I used to, normally I would ask for recommendations from you!

Truth is, I have been extremely busy lately, as you probably know how I work on everything about the blog all by myself, and it's honestly quite a hardwork to juggle everything at the same time together, so I only made a little announcement a day before my departure! But fast forward, I had a blissful short trip to Dubai, and I am so freaking happy to have the chance to go there! That city is too gorgeous, very clean & organized!

Before the more Dubai city focused posts, this blog post will be about my breakfast experience at IHOP, a well known restaurant brand chain originated and made famous from the US, and is also quite popular in Dubai! I know, I know, you probably wonder why I went to a western restaurant in Dubai instead of the local ones, but just stay tuned as I have prepared quite a few other posts and info that's very Dubai. In the meantime follow my Instagram for more live updates!

I went to the IHOP in The Mall of Emirates, IHOP itself actually stands for International House of Pancakes, so you're going to find a lot of pancake menus in this restaurant. The restaurant was quite spacious, and for some reasons, from the color palette, the design to the ambiance had this strong "diner" feel, which doesn't necessarily means a bad thing, I honestly enjoyed the homey ambiance, but I wasn’t really enjoying the background song, it’s the very outdated TOP 40 tracks and was quite loud that it overpowered what should be the good times chatting with friends.

Quick browse at the menu, and I found the general range in this restaurant was pretty various and big! Besides pancakes, you’re going to find menus like appetizers, salads, soups, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, chicken and seafood protein-based dishes, and special kids menus! Nothing really sparks about the beverages, but they do have the IHOP splashers (I didn’t have one but I assume it’s one of their fruity drinks creations), some cake-desserts and ice creams.

I don’t think anybody does breakfasts like me, 12 freaking courses shared to three. It was so insane but it was so much fun!

Original Pancake and Cinn-A-Stack

Had their original pancake and Cinn-A-Stack pancakes, normally and logically, the pancakes base in any restaurant should be the same, but theirs was different. The original pancakes were a little firmer and more solid, while the pancakes in the Cinn-A-Stack was very soft, fluffy and pillowy. I would love it if the Cinn-A-Stack had this more intense cinnamon flavor and more generous chocolate spread.

Chicken and Waffles

Hands down, so far I think it’s THE BEST fried chicken and waffle that I’ve had. I probably haven’t tried a lot of this in the other parts of the world, and I don’t think I am travelling specifically for them, but based on those that I’ve tried in Jakarta, IHOP’s certainly win BIG TIME! The waffle was so perfectly crunchy and soft as you cut it down and have them in your mouth, and the perfectly cooked and seasoned deep fried chicken compliments the sweeter waffle very well, to be honest I don’t even need any more maple or stuff, just the waffle and fried chicken and I am on board.

Philly Cheese Steak

It was one hell of a good looking dish, however, I must say that the steak didn’t really meet my standard when it comes to the texture and seasoning. The thing is, I tried the steak with and without the cheese, I would love it more if they could be a little more tender and tasty, as overall the cheese really enhanced the flavor. Ironically, the star was the fries, it was the bomb.

Eggs Benedict

Not the most good looking eggs benedict, but the bread was totally different that those I had in Jakarta, based on my experience, it actually had this texture that reminded me of the breads used in Australian cafes for their brunch, it was fluffier and soft. The Hollandaise sauce didn’t taste like the common Hollandaise sauce, it was more savory and salty, but the thing is, I know it’s wrong, but I frankly still enjoyed it.

Big Steak Omelette
When it got served to my table, I was literally stunned to the look of this dish! It was so huge, but so appetizing, especially since I am a very  “egg” person! I didn’t know why I was so hungry and that I almost didn’t want to take any pictures. This was very delicious, the cooking was great, the seasoning was light but proper, and the filling was this generous shredded potatoes and topped with little slices of steak, I wanted the steak slices to be more generous just to balance the chunky egg and potatoes, and but flavor wise, the steak was beautiful.

Chicken Florentine
The chicken florentine was one of my favorites of the breakfast! The creamy sauce had this cheese flavor to it, but not too much and not overpowering my palate, the filling was generous and the seasoning was generally right on spot, and I was glad that they added a little green (spinach) inside <3.

Strawberry Banana Danish Crepes
Again with the banana flavor, I didn’t really notice the banan flavor as I think the strawberry flavor and the buttery crepes already dominated the. I don’t know if pairing strawberry and banana is actually a good idea because based on two trials, the banana flavor was almost missing and you need to really pay attention to it if you wanna feel it.

Other than that, the crepe’s texture was good & eggy just how I like it.

Strawberry Banana French Toast

The french toast didn’t meet my standard, the should be more eggy & creamy and all I got was waffles with very thin egg coating. The strawberry compote was good and not overly sweet, the chunky strawberries were fresh!, but unfortunately I couldn’t experience any banana flavor.

Fruit Crepe with Blueberry Sauce
No problem about the texture of the crepe, and the blueberry sauce had this better sourness comparing to the strawberry sauce, I honestly liked this better than the strawberry, and oh, additional scoop of ice cream would never be outdated.

Carrotcake
Truth be told, one of the best carrotcakes I’ve had in life! Moist with rich flavor and that rich herb characteristic as how a proper carrot cake should be! The cream cheese was generous but not overpowering.

Chocolate Cake
The chocolate cake was not my favorite, my cake was thristy, and when I say thirsty I mean it’s DRY. The chocolate fudge was not smooth and creamy, it’s just not my thing.

This was the moment when I felt like Dubai food actually had this strong relation and connection to the Indonesian palate, the only thing that was lacking was the fact that I didn’t have my chili sauce with me :”(, I know I’m such an Indonesian, but seriously if you look at the food and all that fried stuff, when you didn’t have the chili sauce with you it’s like your going “ahh damn”, bu good thing is the original and default flavor straight from the kitchen happened to match my standard.

I don’t know why IHOP is so underrated as some of my Instagram followers went “blah”, “yuck” and look down on IHOP, but after my own experience, I feel like they honesty serve good comfort food, it’s just that probably they’re too famous that people seemed to look down on them, just like KFC or McD probably? I know you love the chicken and you guys probably found better ones, but do admit that they’re such freaking guilty pleasures!

Thank you for reading!

You can see their full menu here.

IHOP Restaurant
1st fl. Mall of Emirates, Dubai
Syeikh Zayed Road, Al Barsha 1 - Dubai UAE
04 3850 891
Opening Hours: 8 AM - 12 PM
Credit cards and cash accepted
Average spending: AED 150 for two
1 AED = IDR 3.950k
Dresscode: casual

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email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com

Map for Mall of The Emirates