After we caught wind of a discount promo, we decided to try the Outback Steakhouse near the Libis area. The place is hard to miss; it's that big, elevated house along the southbound side of the road. I have to say, this design really helps, since people with cars get a lot of parking space. At least for a 2pm late lunch anyway. It's become sort of our thing, eating at the odd hours of the day. Usually means less people, which also usually means better service. Plus we like the quiet :).
Here's the appetizer, a six inch(ish) long loaf of bread with some butter. It's not the usual white bread we see, but I can't really say it's rye bread either (not much of a bread expert here). Tasted nice and sweet though, and the butter that came along with it was creamy too.
We had the side salads with our entrees, so we could have two, smaller salads with different flavors instead of one big salad. The house salad was a colorful mix of veggies, and the tomatoes were a nice touch. Dressing was pretty light, and that's how we like our salad dressing.
We also had the more traditional Caesar salad. I have to admit I have a soft spot for this non-oil based dressing, and flavor-wise Outback's Caesar didn't disappoint. Both salads of course had crunchy greens in them. The romaine they used was particularly nice and pretty substantial. It doesn't look like it in the pictures, but these plates are big. Anyone who's already tried Outback would know.
I felt like having some extra sugar, so I gave their Barrier Reef punch a try. I think it was some sort of syrup at the bottom (strawberry), with some pineapple and citrus juices in the middle, and Sprite on top. The Sprite is the least sweet liquid here, so it was quite a sugar rush. I'd rather have this to perk me up in the mornings :D (yeah, I'm not much of a coffee/tea person).
And the mains. I had their Alice Springs chicken. Juicy chicken breast fillets with cheese and bacon on top. Served with fries and a sweet dip. And here I was wanting to eat a light meal. Happy to be disappointed though :D. The chicken was very nicely seasoned, and the bacon and cheese just adds to it. We'd really like to emphasize the chicken juiciness here: this is how you grill chicken. No more dried out chicken strips for me.
Chesca had the half rack of ribs. Unlike many other rib joints, these ribs had plenty of juicy, fall-off-the-bone meat on them. It had a tangy flavor to it, with some help from the Outback wet rub. And yes, it's a wet style rib. The plate comes with the same big cut fries and some extra rib sauce on the side. It may not look that big in the picture but we had a hard time finishing the stuff. Because there's a lot of it :).
Even with the discount, this set us back a little over 1500Php. However, considering the nice ambiance, the huge servings, great flavors and the ease of finding a parking spot (well, at 2pm) we say it's a pretty nice place for a date. Just don't do it every weekend, wait for those once every x months occasions :). And time it when the store has a promo :D.
Outback Steakhouse
35 E. Rodriguez Jr Avenue,
Acropolis, Libis, Quezon City
http://outback.com.ph/
