and then there’s the outback which is about everywhere else. You get the feeling when somebody says “the outback,” he refers to some remote place far from civilization where the dingoes and camels make their home. You’re right there! But for Bistro Group, the Outback is about full flavors inspired by the Aussie penchant for fun and excess. From the arrival of the bushman bread bum to the last drop of dessert, you know we’ve talking serious food, concentrated service and just the right rules.
Today, we talk to Donald Tenorio, managing partner of the Alabang branch, but we talk right in the heart of Makati. It is the top of the hat of the Bistro Group, with the choices and selections of the highest quality meats and cuts of beef, as well as the variety of choices. With the shift from the kangaroo with a pack on its back, to the stylized lettering of the current store logo, the image projects a more straightforward approach to dining in the outback. However, rather than the open only for dinners, most Outbacks now open a la lunch from 12 onwards and offer billabong hours during the lull before the dinner crowd comes in.
Mention “outback” and you start thinking: boomerangs and beer. The outback idea is actually an all-American invention, there are no kangaroo steaks here but the steaks certainly are the attraction, and the Prime Minister’s Prime Rib has got to be the attraction of attractions. Almost any another top-class restaurant will talk about hoe their prime rib is lovingly prepared from the finest cut and all that. At outback, its pretty simple: take a whole side of it, age for six weeks, salt and cure with secret recipes, slow cook for at least four hours and take 12-ounce slice and flash grill to desired done-ness. It’s all at once tender and juicy with just the right resistance to the bite.
The quality of beef is evident even in the Mad Max Burger, which is straightforward pound of chunk beef patty. When a meat man says, “chuck,” he means the cuts of beef that are almost solid protein with little or almost no marbling. Most butchers do 8-% meat and 20% fat combination but real chuck patty goes as low as 12% fat. Once you bite into this burger, you know it’s pure unadulterated beef. But before we get ahead of ourselves, you have to try the Queensland Cobb Salad made from smoked ham, chicken, two knids of cheese and hard boiled eggs sitting on a bed of romaine lettuce, chilled and smothered in the outback salad dressing with 13 ingredients ranging from oregano, thyme, dill, marjoram and of course secret spices from the lockers of Outback’s recipe collection. It’s a great way to get the fiber we all need. The crunch of chilled fresh lettuce together with the smoky flavors contrasting with the sharpness of the cheese coupled with dressing assault all the flavors the tongue can sense, raging from sweet to bitter and then to salty and sour. It’s the intensity of each flavor that gives any dish the unique punch and experience that people remember. Take the Alice Springs chicken. It’s two breasts seasoned and grilled and then smothered with sautéed mushrooms giving it that earthy flavor, then smothered with Monterey Jack and Cheddar Cheese. Give it a quick pop into the broiler to melt the cheeses and suddenly, the intensity of the earthy mushrooms, and the otherwise insipid flavor of the chicken comes alive in this combination. Oh, and for the fans of the blooming onion, try the Typhoon Bloom and you’ll understand the real meaning of onion rings.
