I went to the “International House of Pancakes” for the first time - ready to be awed by the most exotic batters imaginable to man…
But the only things remotely international were…
I’m dissapointed…I was hoping for couscous pancakes with dates, or rice pancakes with tofu spreads, or maybe crèpes.
So is baseball…and no one calls that international do they?
Gotcha!
Well, then, IHOP is about as international as the World Series is worldwide, isn’t it?
Err… they have several supposed international pancakes…
Crepe-Style International Pancakes Four delicate crepe-style pancakes
German Pancakes - With lemon butter
French Pancakes - With orange sauce
Swedish Pancakes - With lingonberries and lingonberry butter
The German ones are very nummy.
I doubt they resemble anything from their “countries” though.
And then there is the Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity®, which assumedly comes from one of the moons of Jupiter.
I thought Rooty Tooty etc. was from Denny’s.
When IHOP first started out (or at least when it came to Texas) they did have pancakes from a lot of different countries - nothing so exotic as couscous, but it was the theme of the menu.
But as they did business, they tended to eliminate the less popular dishes from the menu - which was usually the more exotic dishes. So it’s now your basic pancake place. Of course, I haven’t been there in a couple of years, so I don’t know what is currently on their menu.
http://www.ihop.com/menus/breakfast.htm
Btw, here is the entry for RTF&F:
Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity® It’s two delicious! Two eggs, two bacon strips, two pork sausage links and two buttermilk pancakes crowned with your choice of fruit topping and whipped topping
Blueberry
Strawberry
Cinnamon-Apple
Well, I was confused - but that’s normal for me. 
I used to like going to IHOP when I was a kid. In the early 1980s, it seemed I couldn’t go to an IHOP without seeing a cockroach. Not to suggest that they’re all infested, but it was just my experience three times in a row. I didn’t go to IHOP for a number of years, mostly since I wasn’t partying all night long and in search of something solid to eat. I’ve been to IHOP a time or two in the last couple of years (actually I went two or three times this year because an out-of-town guest liked it), but the food is rather mundane.
There used to be a restaurant called Ricky’s in San Diego, I think near Balboa and Genessee, that had awesome German apple pancakes. Man, were those good! They took extra time to make. They’d come to the table puffed up about four inches, and “deflate” as they cooled. Just the thing to get a kid going for a day of sailing!
There was another pancake place by the freeway. Balboa? Kearny Mesa Rd.? I don’t remember. They had a delicious selection of international-style pancakes.
Nowadays, breakfast is usually coffee. On the occasional weekend I might have left-over Thai food (I think I’ll go fo spicy fried rice this morning, although the beef pa-neang is looking pretty good) or pizza or whatever was for dinner the previous night. About the only time I have pancakes anymore is when I go up to Bellingham, WA and get them with my chicken-fried steak at Arlis’s Restaurtant.
Because it’s more fun to say I-Hop than N-Hop?
Osan Air Base, in Korea, has the Osan House of Pancakes.
Yup, O-Hop.
[sub]Don’t tell the lawyers.[/sub]
In Los Angeles, there is a restaurant called The Pantry at the corner of 9th and Figueroa that has awesome pancakes. The line is usually around the block.
Robin, who actually had breakfast at her local IHOP this morning.
Just imagine, if I were Opal, I could say
when composing a list.
We call it the International House of Carbohydrates.
A bit on the pricey side, but the food was usually pretty good for a chain restaurant. Much better than most of the Denny’s at which we’ve eaten.
You’re thinking of the Moons Over My-Hammy. I think every breakfasty-type restaurant should be required to have at least one goofy sounding menu item.