The Place
Outback Steakhouse: it’s your classic Australian-style restaurant straight from the outback of… Tampa, Florida. An Australian themed, US-based chain in the People’s Republic, what could go wrong? As it turns out, a fair bit.
With news of Outback abruptly closing a large number of its branches across the Chinese mainland in May, we were doubtful the Guangzhou location would see the light of day, but, sure enough, it’s here, tucked inside the bottom floor of Parc Central.
The Food
Upon being seated, we were promptly served a complementary loaf of warm bread and butter to start us off – so far, so good. Aside from the steaks, the menu consists of an array of dishes, including flatbreads, pastas and salads.
Among the selection of appetizers is the Bloomin’ Onion (RMB62), Outback’s answer to onion rings. It’s a modest-sized onion chopped thin, battered, fried and plated to resemble a blooming flower, with a generous portion of zesty dip in the middle. While there were some spots where the batter didn’t seem to stick to the onion, it was a great snack. And if you’ve ever experienced the struggle of biting into an onion ring and removing the entire onion, only to be left with a hollow shell of fried batter (and if you’ve eaten onion rings, then you have), you’ll appreciate this dish even more.
The crab-stuffed mushrooms (RMB58) were similarly tasty, although, with only five pieces, the portion was fairly small.
Here’s were things start to go downhill. The quesadilla (RMB98) was not bad, but nothing to write to your mates in Australia about. We ordered the chicken strips and fries (RMB48) from the kids’ menu (for the wee one at the table, obviously) and were shocked to learn that the breading contained enough salt to be potentially fatal to a grown adult (we’re only slightly exaggerating).
The most troublesome part of our meal had to be the tomato mozzarella flatbread (RMB68 with set lunch), essentially an ultra-thin crust pizza served semi-cold and lacking cheese. We would compare this to a frozen pizza, but there are some damn good frozen pizzas out there. It was truly awful.
To be fair to Outback Steakhouse, we didn’t try any of their steaks so we can’t speak to their specialty, but next time we’ll probably pass on this Aussie eatery and grill some shrimp on the barbie at home.
The Vibe
The (sort of) Australian-inspired decor and friendly staff make for a casual dining experience, good for a relaxed lunch or dinner with friends, family, colleagues or, if your network of peers have eaten here before, probably all alone.
Price: RMB150
Who’s going: curious laowai and locals alike, but probably no Australians, as they know better
Good for: steak, hopefully?
Nearest metro: Tianhenan (APM Line), 2 minutes
Open daily, 11.30am-2.30pm, 5-9.30pm; see listing for Outback Steakhouse.
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