The Outback Steakhouse

The first time someone asked me where the nearest Outback was I thought they were asking a question about a nature reserve! Fortunately they explained it was their favourite restaurant. We then wondered why people would go to Florida for an Australian restaurant but when we tried it on our next visit we found out

As my husband is a fish eating vegetarian we tend to ignore restaurants that have steakhouse in the title but we were delighted to find that there were quite a number of options for everyone. This chain is very popular and even in the off season at the end of November the queues are long. It is well worth phoning ahead to get put on the waiting list. You still won’t get a table when you arrive but the wait will be a lot shorter. You can go to the bar when you arrive and can enjoy drinks and order starters to eat at the bar while you are waiting for your meal. They also provide a play area for children and families to wait. As an alternative to waiting they will also do “Tucker to Go”. You phone up your order and then phone when you arrive to pick it up and they deliver it straight to your car.

So what are you going to eat? All the dishes have an Australian flavour and some are unique to the Outback. Unless you have a gargantuan appetite do think about sharing the starters. On 1 visit we chose to share a range of starters as our main course with some side dishes and this was just the right amount of food.

If you are ordering a main course they come with a choice of two out of salad, fresh steamed vegetables, fresh steamed broccoli, jacket potato, Aussie chips, Walkabout soup, Roasted garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato, fresh steamed green beans. So not many people leave feeling hungry.

Our friends vouch for the quality of the steaks and each time we have been the fish or vegetarian dishes have been consistently well cooked and presented. The waiters and waitresses have always been extremely helpful and show no sign of the pressure they are under.

The really original dishes include Bloomin’ Onion as a starter, Barbie Grills with cinnamon apples, and a range of tasty sea food dishes with an Australian accent. They also have an unusual range of cocktails and non-alcoholic soft drinks.

Now the Outback has become one of our regular eating out places and we think it offers good food at reasonable prices.