Outback Steakhouse @ Orchard

We had many good experiences with Outback around the region – it was place for a good casual gathering with American diner food to share and huge drinks. I have not been back for at least 10 years, wanted to bring Princess to try what I used to like.

Outback Steakhouse is an Australian-themed American casual dining restaurant chain, serving American cuisine that started in Tampa, Florida. No they are not found anywhere in Australia. You will know why, because nothing was really Australian except in name.

Kookaburra Wings

It was a lonely looking plate at half a portion. The Kookaburra Wings are Outback’s answer to the buffalo wings. But it was same American spicy wings with celery and blue ranch cheese sauce, despite the Australian sounding name. Flavourful but a bit salty but that could be balanced out with the ranch sauce. I liked that the outside was crispy and not heavily coated while the inside was moist and juicy. We ordered the mild version so the spice was just right.

Typhoon Bloom

I didn’t expect the Typhoon Bloom to look like this. I was expecting a whole blooming onion instead of individual onion rings stuck together in a pile. It looked deceivingly huge in portion but the inside was actually a bowl that held the onions rings in shape. Some pieces were like big chunks of onion of which its layers were not properly separated. There was a lack of seasoning too. Without the dipping sauce, this would be absolutely tasteless. We couldn’t finish it and couldn’t be bothered to pack it home.

Baby Back Ribs with Aussies Fries

The meat on the ribs easily fell off the bones but the crusty exterior was dry and chewy like it had been left out for too long and then reheated again. Aussies fries were not the best fries we had. I pity the fries, they have recently been called anything but French. Trivial : Common lore claims that the original fry was born in Namur in francophone Belgium, where the locals were particularly fond of fried fish. When the River Meuse froze over one cold winter in 1680, people ostensibly fried potatoes instead of the small fish they were accustomed to, and the fry was born.

Victoria Filet

8oz Victoria Filet done medium rare, the most tender cut available at Outback. They ran out of full loaded back potatoes, so we had to settle for mashed potatoes.

It was red on the inside but it was not bloody so I did not send it back. It was really tender and juicy, so it turned out to alright but I find the temperature a bit too cold. What could be worse than a cold steak. And the mashed potato with skin on was nice but over-salted as a sharp contrast to the almost unsalted steak.

Chocolate Thunder From Down Under 

Chocolate Thunder From Down Under  – The brownie was extremely chocolatey and fudgey and but they both came cold. The oven at the back must be broken, the steak came cold, the brownie came cold. The vanilla ice cream was very watery, not of a good quality.

Afterwards

The ordering process didn’t go very well because it was really hard to grab the attention of a service staff. The crew of two in the front seemed so busy with their duties even though there weren’t many customers in the restaurant when we were there. We were seated at our booth for a long long time and were very much given the cold shoulder until we finally managed to gesture to one staff who walked over to our table half-heartedly. Turned out he was new and did not know what to do.

Service was also clearly lacking – definitely an important aspect that the restaurant needs to work on. They just finished their renovations, and you can see the staff working on deliveries. The place was almost empty, and there was no one at the door to bring us to our table. And where was their signature bread and cream butter? I was very disappointed, don’t think they will last long like this.

Outback Steakhouse – Orchard Gateway
277 Orchard Rd #04-01 Orchard Gateway, Singapore 238858
Tel : 6702 6842

Date Visited : Apr 2021