When International House of Pancakes, or popularly known as IHOP opened its first store in the Philippines (which also happens to be its first store in Asia) in February this year, Metro Manila was taken by storm. Social networking sites and blogs were abuzz about the opening of this restaurant which specializes in pancakes (as the name suggests) and other breakfast food. Those who have already tried IHOP in the US were so ecstatic, and those who've never had it before were curious, which resulted in nearly two-hour wait times to get a table at it's first and only store at Bonifacio Global City.
Of course, my family and I were curious and wanted to try this place out, but we just couldn't bear to wait in line for two hours just to eat so we figured we'd just wait until the hype dies down (and no, we didn't even eat at IHOP while we were in the US last May). Eventually, the hype did simmer down a bit, and my mom and I finally took the opportunity to try out what people are actually raving about, six months after its successful opening here in the Philippines.
IHOP's first (and so far only) store in the Philippines is located at the ground floor of the W Global Center within the Bonifacio High Street vicinity, fronting the new Del Monte Philippines headquarters. It is bunched together with other restaurants operated by the Global Restaurant Concepts Inc., such as California Pizza Kitchen and P.F. Chang's, among others.
My mom and I were lucky enough to have been seated at a table right away. We went on a Friday morning at around 11 o'clock, which meant that the employees at the surrounding office buildings weren't on lunch break yet. We didn't see any families with kids, too, since it was a weekday where the parents are supposed to be at work and the kids are expected to be in school.
There were quite a lot of vacant tables when we arrived, though customers did start pouring in as the lunch hour drew near. Some tables still remained empty while we were there, though.
This device eliminated the need to signal for a waiter if you needed something. Still, though, the waiters sometimes didn't respond as fast as I hoped.
IHOP specializes in breakfast food, but they had other items in their menu as well, such as sandwiches and fried chicken.
My mom ordered coffee (which cost her around P111) to go with her meal.
My mom was given an entire jug of coffee, which was good enough for two cups. She thought that was actually pretty good, since you could get only one cup of coffee at the famous coffeeshop chains for almost the same price.
My mom and I both ordered a Big Steak Omelette (P325), which already comes with a serving of pancakes. Apparently, the Big Steak Omelette is one of the more popular items on their menu.
According to the IHOP website, the Big Steak Omelette consists of "tender strips of steak , hash browns, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese". I actually liked this one, and it tasted even better thanks to the salsa that came with it. The serving size was decent and the amount of ingredients was quite generous. My mom wasn't even able to finish hers.
You can choose from different types of syrup for your pancakes, all placed on neat-looking containers at each table. The choices were Old-Fashioned, Blueberry, Strawberry, and Butter Pecan. My mom chose Butter Pecan, and she told me there wasn't really anything special about it--it was quite ordinary. On the other hand, I chose the Blueberry one and I thought it was pretty good. The blueberry flavor was very evident, so the syrup didn't merely serve as a sweetener for the pancake, as I first thought it would.
Also, my mom felt bad that my brother and dad weren't able to join us, so she bought them each a sandwich (I forgot what it's called but it had ham, cheese, and egg on it).
Anyway, our bill was at around the P1200 range, which isn't so bad, really, considering the servings were quite generous and even I had to struggle a bit just to finish my food. The food at IHOP was competitively priced--they were at par with Pancake House, a local chain which also specializes in pancakes and other Filipino comfort food.
Overall, I was quite satisfied with my first IHOP experience, and I wouldn't hesitate to try them out again--unless, of course, we'd have to wait in line for a table. There is, of course, room for improvement. I noticed that some waiters weren't as friendly as I expected them to be, and some didn't seem so happy while they were working (hint: smile more!). Perhaps this could be improved in time for our next visit (whenever that may be)?
IHOP
W Global Center, 30th street corner 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (or Makati. I'm confused. Whatever).
Operating hours: Sunday to Thursday: 6am-12am
Friday and Saturday: 24 hours
ihop is one of the worst dining experience ive ever had. the service, the food is the worst. We waited at least 30 minutes for their staff take our orders. And it took almost another 30 minutes for our food to be served. The pancakes are bland. Maple syrup is extremely necessary and guess what...it's not available. We also ordered for a platter that has bacon, sausages and scrambled eggs. The way it was presented and cooked is something we can do at home. When we got our bill, the computation was wrong and we will be overcharged if we did not bother to double check. Their washroom is very messy. The floor was wet. Tissues were scattered everywhere. The smell was very unpleasant as well. For that price of food and having experienced all these, there's no way I would even think of going back there again. As in NO WAY!
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