It's rather interesting to see that Outback Steakhouse, an American chain restaurant serving faux-Australian food (it's really American food), runs a shop in Singapore (Millenia Walk #01-114, 6837-3242), where there are so many Australian expats around. Then again, it looks like they are so bold as to actually have a couple shops in Sydney too (whoa...do the locals take it seriously down there?). And no, it wasn't my intention to eat at two American chain restaurants in such a short period of time (both with variations of the deep-fried onion too, mind you); this venue just came out of convenience today before I scrambled off to a nearby meeting. Actually, I'd never even eaten this stuff back in the States, so I figured I'd try to see why there are always lines forming at these places back home.
As expected, this place was screaming American chain restaurant all over, from the wood panel decor to the plasticky names of the dishes on the menu (cue: Office Space). And the food was pretty much as I expected, if not worse. Some steak-on-a-salad lunch special that I got was just a disturbingly salty and almost too-perfectly-uniform (i.e., seeming a bit pre-fabricated?) steak, sitting strangely upon a bed of lettuce that made it hard to cut the steak with a knife and fork. The Walkabout Soup consisted of crudely cut onions in a rather tasteless cheese base, while the bleu cheese dressing that came with the salad seemed like it came from a bottle. And while the cheese fries were probably the best of the bunch today with thin and crispy bacon bits, it was pretty stingy on the cheese.OK, enough writing - this really is boring and something I'd prefer to forget if I could. Ugh...I should have known better than to come to a chain restaurant.
3 comments:
Bloomin Onion.. 'nough said... :)
Chain restaurants are franchised in international arenas. This means that the owner follows a loose interpretation of how he or she runs the restaurant. First of all, just from your picture i can tell the french fries are frozen, and not fresh cut like in the states..dressings here are made fresh everyday, and who in the right mind orders a steak on a salad in the first place? I dont know if you're a food critic, or restaurant critic, or a critic at all, but you shouldnt be if you are.
In no point during your rambling did you make any sense at all. We are all now dumber for reading what you have just written.
P.s. why dont you grow some balls and try some local food.
I actually work at an Outback in the US and can tell you for a fact that the steaks, fries, and dressings are all fresh made. Don't get me wrong, I hate franchis restaurants, I just happen to work for one. But when it comes to major chains, Outback is atleast doing some things right. The steaks are fresh, ever frozen, I have personally watched the fries be cut from fresh potatos, and have discussed in length the ingredients that go in to make each of our house (home-made) dressings. Try your local Applebees or Chilis if you want to experience frozen food at it's finest.
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