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Outback, a closer look
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Outback - Australian or American? Aaah, who cares? |
Aloha!
5/21/08 - Just picked up wifey from work and stopped by one of my favorite American restaurants, Outback. Sure, I know they sport an Australian theme, with boomerangs, kangaroos, monitor lizards, (those are not over-sized gecko's!), and barramundi's (not huge tilapia's!) as furniture pieces, but they are, for all practical purposes - very much American. Besides the interesting names, like Kookaburra Wings, Chicken on the Barbie, Jackeroo Chops, and burgers called "Cut Lunches," you would never know the actual dishes were anything but the red-white-'n-blue. And what the heck - when was the last time you ever heard of a listing for Australian foods?
Compared to other restaurants in this section, Outback is a bit on the pricey side depending on what you order. But then again, you don't have to get steak and lobster all the time! Sometimes, like tonight, you can just get a few pupu's and, in keeping with the fun of an Australian theme - a cold, frosty Foster's lager on tap.
Before any orders arrive they always give you a cutting board, literally, of brown bread to start with. Slather some butter all over it, and even those exclusively in the white bread camp will enjoy it. I actually love brown bread, but I'm really not so sure if this is a very healthy variety or not. You know how some brown breads are particularly high in fiber and vitamins while others are not much better than normal white bread?
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Complementary loaf of brown bread. |
Like I said, we were just out for some pupu's this evening, so I wanted to try the new fire-rock shrimp appetizer. It's still a special menu item, but our kind waitress said it was so popular that it will almost definitely make it to the regular menu soon. And I can see why, as the shrimps came in all the fried goodness of a crispy-crunchy batter and tossed in a very tasty Asian chili mayo sauce. It was actually very similiar to the rock shrimp in various other local restaurants, with the familiar Mae Ploy-brand sweet chili sauce mixed with mayo and whatever other ingredients thrown in - Hard to mess up this particular dish.
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Crispy, creamy, spicy - and very nicey! |
Wifey just loves the seafood chowder here. The large serving is only a couple bucks more, but it looks three times as large! She stuck with the smaller size tonight. I gotta agree with her that the New England-style white chowder (as opposed to the Manhattan-style red) is one of the best I've had, with small chunks of seafood and potatoes and a creamy-white sauce. It doesn't taste home-made from scratch or anything, like the ones I've had in Australia's neighbor, New Zealand (more fresh seafood; less cream), but good, nonetheless.
Wifey loves the seafood chowder!
I guess now's a good time as any to show you a shot of the dining room. This is actually only about a half of the whole. There is a lot more, with a separate bar area that stays open a little later and is always open-seating - during weekend peak hours it's often better to make reservations. You can't see anything but glare off those windows, but try going early and you'll be treated to fantastic views of Maunalua Bay and gorgeous sunsets.
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Inside shot. That guy kept looking at me like I was going to post his picture on the internet or something... |
Seeing that we only had pupu's that night, I'll have to shift back to Mother's day to show you the big guns here at Outback. That day, wifey and I took mom out for an early dinner right after the amazing Cirque de Soleil, "a Jungle Fantasy," which she very much enjoyed.
We had a single pupu item to start with, in the form of a crab/artichoke dip. I was actually dissapointed with the Outback version, as opposed to the excellent representations offered at Ryan's, Kincaid's, and especially the now-gone (sigh!)TGI Friday's. The cream sauce was weak and took on a dull yellowish-brown color, the crab was hidden under a rock or maybe on the next table down, and those large pieces of artichokes seemed to come exclusively from the un-appetizing "leaf" area instead of the tender hearts. And to top it off, the black-colored chips all got super-hard after just a short while. I almost thought they were corn-flavored sheets of ika cuttlefish left out for a month or two in the sun, without the twist-tie's or zip-loc's, even! Definitely not one to order again.
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Don't do it! |
Nevertheless, the grand finale had finally arrived - the real reason Outback rules - No, it's not the steak at Outback Steak House, it's the lobster!!! Believe me, you will love it! Many people shy away from lobster because it often gets tough and dry, but that's not gonna happen here, especially at the Hawaii Kai location (I've tried other outlets and it was still great, but somehow, the chefs here always get it perfect).
A standard plate comes with two medium tails, but you can also order a single-tail add-on to any entree (including the double-lobster plate), and they come in either grilled or steamed versions. I haven't tried the grilled because steaming produces a more tender tail and I don't eat it often enough to want to diverge. Here, I'll actually show you a little bit of divergence, as wifey decided, un-characteristically, to order a surf-and-turf combo instead of the double-tails. As usual, the lobster showed up in excellent form, and the tenderloin was'nt so shabby, either.
All in all, Outback is a comfortable hang-out that I would say is on the upper-end of American family restaurants. It's still a casual place where surf shorts and rubber slippers are fine, but it also has an elegance that is respectable enough for first dates or special evenings, like after seeing a Cirque de Soleil show or something like that.
Between wifey and mom, I don't think I'll ever stop coming here. They both can't go very long without a tender, succulent, steamed lobster tail from Outback. To make matters worse, the Hawaii Kai location is about 5 minutes from the house - very dangerous, for sure!
See ya soon!
Aku
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