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Tis’ no secret that SI has a passion for all things sweet.

Come they in the shape of our favorite Hollywood actress Jennifer Lawrence or come they in the form of Indian Burfis, Kheers and Halwas or American Brioche French Toast, crepes and pastries, we love ‘em all.

So when the American restaurant chain IHOP launched three varieties of Brioche French Toast yesterday, SI hotfooted over to the nearest location.

Barring some minor snafus, overall the 30-mile round-trip was worth it .

Brioche French Toast

Launched on April 15, 2013, IHOP’s Brioche French Toast comes in three flavors – Berry Berry, Peaches and Cream and Bananas Foster.

Though positioned as a breakfast item, Brioche French Toast is available all day.

Brioche French Toast is available both as a stand alone item ($5.99) and as a combo with Egg ($6.99) Bacon & Eggs, Sausage & Eggs, Ham & Eggs ($7.99), ultimate Bacon & Sausage ($8.99).

Brioche French Toast

Since SI loves Berry Berry and Peaches more than Bananas, we ordered the Berry-Berry Brioche French Toast ($5.99) and Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast Egg (over hard) Combo ($6.99).

What’s a visit to IHOP without indulging in their Crepes. So Garden Stuffed Crepes ($7.99) and Strawberry Banana Danish Fruit Crepes ($7.49) and Coffee were added to our order of Brioche French Toast.

Lukewarm Coffee landed on the table in a flask along with a mug within two minutes.

It took about 25 minutes for Brioche French Toasts, Savory and Sweet Crepes to land on the table. They were all served together.

Berry Berry Brioche French Toast

Berry Berry Brioche French Toast included three thick round slices of french bread toast on a bed of strawberry sauce.

It was topped with strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream and powdered sugar.

Berry Berry Brioche French Toast – $5.99

The good folks at Wiki describe Brioche bread as “a highly enriched bread of French origin, whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb.”

Brioche Bread is more of a snack, if you ask me. Not for those with robust appetites!

Berry Berry Brioche French Toast was yummy both in the presentation department and taste-wise.

Neatly grilled, the bread was a delicious treat that quickly melted in the mouth.

But I’d consider the $5.99 price a trifle high.

Nutrition Info for Berry Berry French Toast

Calories – 770
Fat Calories – 260
Total Fat (g) – 29
Saturated Fat(g) – 9
Trans Fat(g) – 0
Cholesterol (mg) – 165
Sodium (mg) – 950
Total Carbohydrates (g) – 114
Fiber (g) – 6
Sugar (g) – 40
Protein (g) – 18

Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast

As requested, our Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast sauntered in as a combo in the company of eggs and hash browns.

Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast Egg combo included two thick round slices of french bread toast, sitting prettily on a bed of peach sauce.

Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast – $6.99

It included six peach slices, vanilla cream and whipped topping.

Peaches & Cream Brioche French Toast was delicious and disappeared in no time.

But IHOP shortchanged us by not including the crunchy honey-roasted pecans promised in the menu.

Such misses suggest an inept kitchen still struggling with the new items.

As if that was not enough, the eggs were disappointing.

Egg and Hash Browns

Our request for over hard eggs on both sides fell on deaf ears.

And the egg oozed yellow yoke as we tried to cut a piece.

Messed up Over Hard Egg

Hash browns though crisp were salty and we did not relish it one bit.

Come on, how difficult is it for a kitchen to get the hash browns right?

Nutrition Info for Egg Combo w/ Peaches & Cream French Toast

Calories – 1190
Fat Calories – 610
Total Fat (g) – 68
Saturated Fat(g) -18
Trans Fat(g) – 1
Cholesterol (mg) – 710
Sodium (mg) – 1630
Total Carbohydrates (g) – 113
Fiber (g) – 8
Sugar (g) – 39
Protein (g) – 35

Garden Stuffed Crepes

A bit disappointed with missing crunchy honey-roasted pecans, the messed up over hard egg and salty hash browns, we shuffled over to Garden Stuffed Crepes.

Priced at $7.99, Garden Stuffed Crepes included two crepes with spinach, mushrooms, egg and cheese stuffing and topped with hollandaise and diced tomatoes.

Garden Stuffed Creape – $7.99

Although mushrooms overwhelmed the other ingredients, the Garden Stuffed Crepes were still a flavorful delight.

Nutrition Info for Garden Stuffed Crepes

Calories – 1090
Fat Calories – 720
Total Fat (g) – 80
Saturated Fat(g) – 27
Trans Fat(g) – 1
Cholesterol (mg) – 795
Sodium (mg) – 1450
Total Carbohydrates (g) – 51
Fiber (g) – 5
Sugar (g) – 16
Protein (g) – 44
Allergens – Diary, Soy, Wheat, Eggs, Gluten

Strawberry Banana Danish Fruit Crepes

Strawberry Banana Danish Fruit Crepes included two layered crepes with strawberry and cream stuffing and strawberry, sliced banana and whipped cream topping.

Strawberry Banana Danish Fruit Crepes – $7.49

It was delicious.

Kids will go delirious over this!

Be warned though that this item is too rich in calories, as with most items we ordered during our visit!

Nutrition Info for Strawberry Banana Danish Fruit Crepes

Calories – 970
Fat Calories – 510
Total Fat (g) – 56
Saturated Fat(g) – 26
Trans Fat(g) – 2
Cholesterol (mg) – 230
Sodium (mg) – 730
Total Carbohydrates (g) – 106
Fiber (g) – 7
Sugar (g) – 49
Protein (g) – 15
Allergens – Diary, Soy, Wheat, Eggs, Gluten

Service Gripes

If a restaurant can’t deliver on hot coffee, the kitchen staff should pronto be dispatched for retraining.

IHOP was found badly wanting in the coffee department.

One of the reasons I so love diners is because the coffee is piping hot.

Our waitress was clueless about the price of the non-combo version of the Brioche French Toast.

“I have no idea,” she proudly told us and returned a few minutes later with the information!

Thankfully, our other waiter was a better informed fella who went out of his way to be helpful.

IHOP Brioche French Toast Rating

I’d recommend the combo deal for the Brioche French Toasts as they are better value for money.

While my first love will forever be curry, I do have the occasional adulterous fling with Mexican and Chinese cuisine

When I heard Taco Bell’s Cantina Steak Burrito was now available “Nationwide,” my passion for the dear puta was reignited.

On a cold, windy afternoon, I drove up to the nearest Taco Bell to fill my empty tank on Burritos.

Cantina Burrito comes in three kinds – Steak, Chicken and Veggie.

Cantina Steak Burrito goes National

In a gluttonous mood, I asked for both Cantina Steak Burrito ($4.99) and Cantina Veggie Burrito ($4.79).

For the sides, my choices were Nachos with Pico De Gallo ($1.49) and Nachos with Guacamole ($1.49).

The ordering process was not smooth at Taco Bell but more on this irritation later.

My Burritos and sides were ready in about six minutes and came in a plastic bag.

Cantina Steak Burrito

Cantina Steak Burrito came neatly wrapped, but lukewarm.

Cantina Steak Burrito – $4.99

It looked big and bulky.

The Steak Burrito included Steak, Corn, Rice, Black Beans, Guacamole, Pico De Gallo, creamy Cilantro dressing and Lettuce.

Cantina Burrito Steak – Inside Story

The serving size of the stuffing was decent, all wrapped in a big flour tortilla

SI’s take on Cantina Steak Burrito:

* Sure, my Steak Burrito was a big and hefty but the taste was kind of ho-hum. Nothing to get excited about and not much different from the standard, boring Taco Bell Burrito taste.

* The outer flour tortilla was just lukewarm. I like my tortilla to be warm on a cold windy day.

Cantina Burrito Steak Stuffing

* The quantity of the stuffing was alright. Since the taste was not up to par, I added some Salsa to jazz it up.

* Cantina Steak Burrito Steak is  filling and adequate for breakfast, and maybe even lunch if you’re not the gluttonous, Bakasura kind like me.

Cantina Burrito Steak Side View

Cantina Steak Burrito – Nutrition Information

Serving Size (g) – 458
Calories – 780 (from Fat – 250)
Saturated Fat (g) – 7
Total Fat (g) – 28
Trans fat (g) – 0
Cholesterol (mg) – 50
Sodium (mg) – 1900
Carbohydrates (g) – 98
Dietary Fiber (g) – 13
Sugars (g) – 7
Protein (g) – 33

Cantina Burrito – Veggie

My Veggie Burrito also arrived neatly wrapped, but again barely lukewarm.

Cantina Burrito Veggie – $4.79

Veggie Burrito included Rice, Black Beans, Corn, Lettuce and Guacamole.

Cantina Burrito Veggie Inside

Although the Veggie Burrito stuffing was a bit tastier than the Steak Burrito, I was still compelled to add a dash of Salsa to make it more appealing to my spice hardened Indian palate.

Cantina Burrito Veggie Stuffing

Egg in Cantina Veggie Burrito

Surprisingly, the Cantina Veggie Burrito includes Egg, a fact I was unaware of when ordering.

Cantina Burrito Veggie Side View

It was only later when I checked the Taco Bell web site for ingredients, I realized the Cantina Veggie Burrio includes Egg making me wonder when Egg became a Veggie.

So if you are a pure Indian vegetarian, I suggest you steer clear of all three Cantina Burritos.

Cantina Veggie Burrito -  Nutrition Information

Serving Size (g) – 435
Calories – 740 (from Fat – 230)
Saturated Fat (g) – 5
Total Fat (g) – 26
Trans fat (g) – 0
Cholesterol (mg) – 10
Sodium (mg) – 1750
Carbohydrates (g) – 107
Dietary Fiber (g) – 17
Sugars (g) – 8
Protein (g) – 20

Cantina Burrito Allergens and Sensitivity

Both the Steak and Veggie Burritos include egg, milk, wheat, soybean oil and gluten ingredients that may not be appropriate for some people.

While Soybean oil is not marked as allergen, the Taco Bell web site clearly marked egg, milk and wheat as containing allergens. Also, gluten is marked as containing ingredient that may cause sensitivity.

Taco Bell Nachos, Guacamole, Salsa

Nachos were crisp, cold and came in a small serving.

Nachos with Salsa

Salsa was at room temperature, slightly tangy and decent tasting.

But the Salsa was not Mexican restaurant quality decent.

Nachos with Guacamole

The Guacamole side, however, turned out to be horrid disaster, without any taste or flavor.

It was a green, guey chemical paste.

Easily, the worst Guacamole to land on my taste buds.

Taco Bell Order Mess ups

My order-taker at the Taco Bell counter was clueless about availability of Pico De Gallo and Guacamole sides.

Instead of Pico De Gallo side, she provided Salsa with my Nachos chips .

Also, there was no marking on my two Cantina Burritos to differentiate the Steak from the Veggie.

In the absence of any sticker or marking the Cantina Burritos, I was forced to unwrap the Burritos to figure out which one was a steak and veggie. She never asked me whether I wanted takeout or dine-in.

Cantina Burritos Verdict – No Big Deal

Like any Indian, I look at both taste and value-to-price ratio carefully when I dine out.

On both taste and value for money, the Cantina Burritos were meh.

One of SI’s standard comparison points is a Chinese Buffet. At any Chinese Buffet restaurant in the U.S., you get 100+ items (including four varieties of ice creams) for $6.50. By that yardstick, the Cantina Steak Burrito was not good value for money.

I doubt the Cantina Burritos will remain high on my list for a quick takeout!