Is there a town in America whose pancakes are world-famous? The short answer is no. Yet the national chain, International House of Pancakes (aka IHOP), has institutionalized this breakfast and brunch staple nationwide, and in my local report on pancakes I thought I should experience how flapjacks from a chain pancake house stack up against local hot spots.
I ordered the buttermilk blueberry pancakes. I asked the waitress if the blueberries used were Maine berries. She said yes. I should have asked whether they were wild Maine blueberries. They were not. They were as large as mini-mothballs, with a striking resemblance in taste.
The conclusion is these pancakes were classically mediocre–doughy, floury and rough tasting. What’s more, a knife and fork was needed to cut them apart. The two big blobs of butter that topped the pancakes tasted like butter facsimiles as was the array of pancake syrup on the table: classic, strawberry, pecan and blueberry. Real maple syrup is available for a $1.99 surcharge. The classic syrup was nothing more that high fructose corn syrup with traces of maple flavoring and coloring. I tried the blueberry syrup, too, which had a medicinal taste.
Filled with high-bush blueberries, choice of syrups
