Syigim’s Bday @ Outback Steakhouse, Dubai Mall

i wanted lamb chops for my birthday dinner. big, fat, juicy lamb chops. i LOVE lamb chops, but the only place in dubai where you can get delicious lamb chops is at these steakhouses. kalau kat malaysia, gerai-gerai tepi jalan tu pun bole dapat lamb chop sedap kan. bestnye.

so after much deliberation, (and hours of googling) mr. khairul suggested ‘outback steakhouse’ in dubai mall.

birthday girl enjoying her lamb chops

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‘outback steakhouse’ is an australian steakhouse restaurant. i guess even from the pictures you can see how ‘aussie’ this steakhouse is. the wind musical instrument, ‘didgeridoo’, a wooden replica of the aussie map on the wall, a picture of sydney opera house, chairs with boomerang design on the backrest; and of course – it can’t be aussie if it didn’t have kangaroos on the wall…

everything is so brown and earthy and yes – spells ‘outback’. outback in australia means those vast, remote area away from towns.

from top left – kahfi with the musical instrument ‘didgeridoo’, khaleef & the wall kangaroos, and khaleef on the boomerang chairs

* * *

there were mainly steaks and chicken on its menu, but there were also burgers, pasta and seafood too. think TGIF, or chillis with more steaks and chops in its menu. a little less mexican, and a little bit american. or in this case, a little more australian.

we begin my birthday dinner with this awesome starter :

the bloomin onion

i first saw this pretty dish during one of the assignments on donald trump’s ‘the apprentice’. the contestants were required to run outback steakhouse stalls at a college ball game. as ‘homework’, one of the teams ate at outback steakhouse, and had THIS!

i was already, “wah, ape tu!” and now i had the chance to try it out! it’s called – the bloomin onion. yeap. it’s NOT potato wedges. it’s not chicken fingers. it’s onion. deep-fried till golden brown. with a spicy dip in the middle.

the ‘bloomin' onion’ is a signature outback item. it is a one pound onion cut to 'bloom' open, breaded, deep-fried and served with mayonnaise-horseradish sauce.

i’m not a fan of onion rings, but the batter used to fry the onions taste really good. the texture? fantastic – crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. and the dipping sauce has a hint of spiciness that just brings up the flavor of the fried onions. hello calories!

if you like onion rings, this is like – the lamborghini of onion rings!

we ordered pasta & cheese for kahfi and kazim; and fish and chips for khaleef. pasta & cheese was well, what else but yummy. pretty straightforward dishes.

mr. khairul had the ‘slow-roasted prime rib’ – a very manly dish i would say! haha. big, bold, thick piece of meat ready to be devoured by a hungry primate!

…and the birthday girl got her lamb chops!

i took the ‘outback rack o’ lamb’, and was more than happy when my plate came. 5 racks of lamb upon one another in a beautiful intertwining of bones and sweet meat. gorgeous. they looked so deliciously juicy, with glistening fat calling out to me!

thank you outback steakhouse! (yes, you too honey! many, many thanks!)

both mr. khairul’s dish and mine were serve together with a bunch of cut-up veggies that should’ve included broccoli and baby corn! there were cucumber, carrots, and capsicum. i love that the vegetables were made to taste a bit sweet, and i will tell you why -

the brown sauce for my lamb rack was VERY SALTY! TOO SALTY! it was so salty that i can’t hardly have it with my lamb rack! oh man, what a turn off. what a spoiler. such a gorgeous dish spoiled by the very salty brown sauce.

the lamb was so delicious; tender and juicy but i just can’t enjoy it with the brown sauce…

another complain from me is – the fries. with our dishes, we can choose two side-dishes. we both chose the veggies for one of the side-dishes; but while mr. khairul made the WISE choice picking the mashed potato for the second side dish, i went for the fries. BAD choice.

the fries were over-fried that they became too oily and too crunchy with more than desired chalky bits, with too much salt. what’s with outback steakhouse and salt??!

guys, go for the mashed potato, or baked potato. NEVER the fries.

my sweet surprise

while we were enjoying our steaks and chops, i saw one of the waiters holding a plate of brownie-ice-cream thingy and lighting up a small little candle on top.

the first thing i thought to myself was, “hey, they do the ‘birthday thing’ too here?” because i thought only TGIF does this staff-singing-birthday-song-to-customer thing. also, i was thinking, “patut bagitau diorang it’s my birthday too..”

suddenly the singing troupe came to OUR table! haha. bila you bagitau diorang, honey? i was really genuinely surprised, because i didn’t know outback steakhouse would do the birthday thing too. it was such a sweet surprise. hihi. *blushing*

…however, in the end siapa yang habiskan the dessert? these two finished up my birthday treat in no time! it’s okay la boys – mak got my lamb chops! thank you honey cookiedough!

so, as the phrase goes in its official website – ‘let go of the worries of today, and go outback!’