The Great Aussie Eats at Outback Steakhouse Singapore

Outback Steakhouse has been a household name since the early 90s. If anything, there are three things that I remembered clearly about Outback -- yummy (and complimentary) brown bread with butter, the best onion rings and really good steak. I remember visiting their Glorietta branch with my family quite often as Papa is a certified steak fan. Outback opened pretty much around the same time as TGI Friday's, Italiannis and Tony Roma's in Manila. This was when US-branded restaurants serving huge sharing portions became the trend. Not only is it a family-friendly place but given its huge sharing portions at reasonable prices, it was also a good choice among high schoolers and college students too.

It has been years since I've dined at Outback Steakhouse so I was really excited when I got an invite to visit the one here in Singapore. It may be confusing to think that Outback Steakhouse is from Australia. Actually it's from the US serving Aussie-inspired dishes. I've never been to Australia yet but I'm guessing that it involves a lot of barbecue and meats!

Our dinner began with a very refreshing Tomato and Mozzarella Bruschetta (S$14.90). Of course, after enjoying the complimentary brown bread, we had our fill of these grilled slices of baguette that's topped with oven roasted tomatoes, fresh Mozzarella cheese and basil pesto. One order is good to be shared by 2-3 pax. It wasn't bad but I would have preferred if the cheese used was a buffalo mozzarella type to make it more creamy and flavorful. The mozzarella slices were a bit too tough to blend well with the tomato, pesto and bread.



Of course, we got to have Outback Steakhouse' famous Bloomin' Onions which is one thing that I've been wanting Paul to try. Not only does Outback makes it so well, this comes with their signature bloom sauce which was just as yummy as I remembered it to be! Just as I have predicted, Paul loved it and we even went back for a second visit for more.

For our mains, we tried the Crab topped Sirloin (S$37.90) which was superb! We requested that this be done medium and they have definitely nailed our preferred done-ness. This is one thing that not a lot of restaurant can perfect. Also, the steak was seasoned very well as each bite was literally bursting with the right flavors. I loved the creamy crab meat on top which comes with a side serving of hollandaise sauce. Personally though, I don't mind eating them alternately instead of stuffing all of it into my mouth. The serving is quite small and since it's really good, I don't think you would want to share.

Our second entree was the Sweet Chili Chicken and Shrimp (S$23.90). I guess I shouldn't have tasted the chicken after enjoying that superb piece of steak. Somehow this fell short of our expectations but come on, nothing beats steak right? To be fair though, I found the chicken to be tender and the shrimps were yummy! I'm not gonna lie, my vote totally went to the Crab topped Sirloin but for non-beef eaters, this is a good alternative.

We ended our delicious dinner with a slice of Key Lime Pie (S$6.90) each. I love citrus flavored desserts and this one was goooood! Don't be fooled at how simple it looks as it hits the right lemony, citrus notes and the graham crust was baked just right. I'm so happy to have such a good ending to my meal.

*photos by Paul Ang

Check out Outback Steakhouse at Orchardgateway (#04-01) or at Millenia Walk (#01-114). Like them on Facebook to know their latest promotions.