This year, the well-known steakhouse chain, Outback Steakhouse, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. 

Founded in March 1988 in Tampa, Florida, the United States, the American restaurant that was originally inspired by the great Australia Outback, has come a long way since its inception, having grown to become the largest casual dining steakhouse chain in the world today with over 950 restaurants spanning across four continents.

Outback Steakhouse opened its doors in Singapore in the year 2000, with its latest outlet at Orchard Gateway, boasting a seating capacity of 160 pax and exuding a warm and casual atmosphere that is perfect for a get-together between family and friends.

And the brand’s success worldwide can be alluded to the signature 17-spice blend, made from scratch daily, used in seasoning their steaks and above all, the usage of high-quality ingredients. 

With their consistent quality, aged steaks and ribs reasonably priced for its generous portions, an American classic meat fest is always a gourmand experience of great value at Outback Steakhouse.

Every diner at Outback Steakhouse gets complementary bread, and it’s warm and yummy.

After all, the eatery prides itself on serving an array of delicious steaks, ribs, chicken, seafood and pasta in generous portions and at moderate prices.

Media Tasting at Outback Steakhouse 

Together with a companion, I had been recently invited to a media tasting session at Outback Steakhouse’s Orchard Gateway outlet in Singapore.

Here are my thoughts and comments on the food that I had tried there.

Steaks

Because the specialty of Outback Steakhouse is their steaks, these were therefore a must-try.

Ribeye Steak

I had the 10 oz Ribeye steak (S$47.90) and my companion picked the 10 oz New York Strip (S$43.90). I had asked for my Ribeye to be cooked to Medium Well and the New York Strip was requested to be cooked to Medium Rare.

Both of us really enjoyed the steaks and we would definitely come back to order them again. 

Thanks to Outback Steakhouse’s signature 17-spice blend, we both thought that the meat was really tasty and full of flavour.

New York Strip

There had been a salty note in the steak that I was able to detect immediately, but at the same time though, there was a hint of spiciness as well as a bit of a peppery fragrance. 

Also, there was a slightly charred, smoky flavour to the steak, which had been the result of the steak coming off the griller. I really liked this, as I thought that it helped to further bring out the flavour of the steak.

I had thought that the combination of flavours in the steak, had really helped to add an extra kick to the meat, and so as a result, I ended up polishing off more than my fair share of the Ribeye steak.

Our steaks were been cooked to perfection. 

According to my companion, his Medium Rare New York Strip was “nice and juicy” and cooked just right, so he had really enjoyed eating his steak, and my Medium Well Ribeye was not tough or overcooked despite the done-ness – instead I had thought that it was still pretty soft and juicy, prepared just the way that I liked my steak.

Our steaks were cooked to perfection. This New York Strip was indeed Medium Rare.

And for each steak, we were allowed to get two side dishes each. So we had the Loaded Baked Potato (S$7.90), fresh seasonal veggies (S$3.90), Aussie Fries (S$5.90) and mashed potato (S$3.90).

The baked potato was probably the best one out of these side dishes. It was fluffy and soft and it had a freshly baked taste. And the bacon bits and sour cream that was inside the potato also enhanced the flavour further, making it rather tasty.

These side dishes can also be ordered a-la-carte.

Appetisers and Pastas

Besides the steak though, we also ordered a couple of other dishes in order to share between us. These had been the Crispy Volcano Shrimp (S$17.90) from the Appetisers menu as well as the Toowoomba Pasta (S$29.90) from the Pasta menu.

Crispy Volcano Shrimp

We had wanted to order the Crispy Fried Mushrooms appetiser as well but we could not do so, because this dish had unfortunately been sold out on the day of our tasting at Outback Steakhouse.

The Crispy Volcano Shrimp is described on the menu as being crispy shrimp tossed in a spicy sriracha aioli sauce and garnished with spring onions.

I thought that this had a very interesting taste that was very enjoyable. When I first bit into a piece, the spicy note from the shrimp had hit me immediately. But it had a subtle spiciness though. This had suited me quite well.

And then after that, I could detect a savoury note with a slightly sweet aftertaste coming from the shrimp. Overall it was tasty and flavoursome and quite delicious with the contrast from the various flavours meshing together in my mouth and setting my taste buds alight.

In fact, even though I had been feeling full after eating the steak, I still found myself munching on these because they had been rather yummy.

In terms of the texture, the shrimp had a crunchy outer shell and they were “springy”, soft and slightly warm on the inside, which I had rather enjoyed too.

Towoomba Pasta

I had thought that the Toowoomba Pasta was also quite unusual. This item is described on the menu, as grilled shrimp, mushrooms and Parmesan with fettuccine served with a light tomato cream sauce.

When I dug into this, I was immediately hit by a cheesy creamy note, from the cream sauce. Then after that, I could detect a slightly tangy flavour from the tomato, which lingered around in my mouth for a bit as an aftertaste. 

Following this, the creamy note then combined together with the tomato flavours in the sauce, so as a result, I was not too sure whether I was eating pasta with cream sauce or tomato sauce. But it was a very pleasant taste though and much more delicious than I had probably expected.

Overall I had thought that the contrast of cheesy cream and tomato flavours from the sauce had been interesting and distinctively different to anything that I had eaten before, but at the same time, rather enjoyable and it is something that I would definitely consider eating again.

Desserts

After the steak, it had been time for the sugary stuff. Because I have a sweet tooth, I always like to end off my meals with something sweet.

We got the Cheesecake (S$11.90) and the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under (S$17.90).

I must point out though, that we had actually wanted to get the Apple Pie Ala Mode. But because stock had run out, we had decided to swapped it with the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under dessert instead.

New York Style Cheesecake.

The New York Style Cheesecake was quite light and at the same time, it had not been too sweet. 

However, the texture of the cheese cream used in the cheesecake had been a bit rough though – it was not as smooth as I would have expected. But despite this, I had enjoyed the cheesecake.

And with the chocolate sauce drizzled on the cheesecake, I thought that this would make it quite rich, but to my surprise, it was not. 

Instead, I had found that the chocolate sauce complemented the cheesecake rather well and this did not overpower the dessert at all. So as a result, the cheesecake was quite enjoyable and was not jelak at all. So I had ended up gobbling down more of this cheesecake, than I probably should have.

Unfortunately the biscuit base had been soggy though.

Chocolate Thunder from Down Under.

The Chocolate Thunder from Down Under did not live up to my expectations though. This is essentially a pecan brownie topped with vanilla ice cream. And when this dessert came, the ice cream had already half-melted.

And when I dug into it, I also felt that the taste of this item could be improved. Though it had come straight out from the kitchen, the brownie was not as warm as it could have been and the pecan nuts baked in the brownie were soft, not crunchy. 

So as a result, this had made the pecans chewy, and so I thought that the nuts did not go well with the brownie at all. I have tasted better nut brownies that are sold at a fraction of the price, as compared to this version.

The ice cream was also just so-so and this also had a rather strong taste of vanillin, which was perhaps a bit too strong for me, and as a result, competing in the mouth with the rich chocolate flavours from the brownie when eaten together. So my taste buds did not really know what to focus on.

But at least the brownie had been moist enough though, so perhaps this had been a little bit of a consolation.

Overall Feelings

My overall thoughts are that the steaks at Outback Steakhouse are definitely amazing and we would certainly come back again to have these. The other savoury dishes that we tried were also yummy and we would be happy to order these again. 

But the desserts can be a much hit-and-miss though. So if you want something sweet, do choose your desserts carefully.

But that said, I also feel that the service at Outback Steakhouse could be improved and the staff could be trained to be more attentive. For instance, when it comes to taking orders of food items that are out of stock or the keying in of a customer’s order into the system.

Promotions 

And in order to mark their 30th anniversary, Outback Steakhouse is launching its ’30 and Better’ Celebrations campaign.

So this means that for the entire months of August and September, with no minimum spending, you can enjoy up to 30 per cent off when you feast with your loved ones at Outback Steakhouse.

• For one pax, you get 10 per cent discount.
• For two pax, you get to enjoy 15 per cent off.
• For three pax, there is a 20 per cent discount.
• For four pax, you will enjoy 30 per cent off.

Simply present the following image to enjoy the discount: 

However do note that this promotion lasts from now till 30 September 2018, from Mondays to Sundays. There is no minimum spending required and it is valid only for a-la-carte food items. And it is also not applicable with other promotions. 

So then, steak lovers, what are you waiting for? Head down to Outback Steakhouse and reward yourself with a yummy steak.

Outback Steakhouse

277 Orchard Road 

#04-01 Orchard Gateway

Singapore 238858

Phone: 67026842

Opening Hours: 

Sunday to Thursday @ 11.30am-10pm

Friday and Saturday @ 11.30am-10.30pm