YES - It is both overpowereing and sweet!! After reading countless recommendations about Tonga Toast- I finally had it in April- and I won't ever bother again. It was so sweet that to use syrup would have been over the top- unfortunately, I don't like my french toast dry, and without syrup it was also too dry. It's basically 1/4 of a loaf of bread with a split in it that is filled with gooey sweet banana mixture - then very, very lightly breaded and fried, then dipped in cinnamon-sugar. But....I'm definitely in the minority here!! Jill