Texas Roadhouse Grill

I used to go to Texas Roadhouse Grill at El Pueblo fairly often because I had friends who would grab after-work drinks at the bar. Texas Roadhouse Grill is mainly a cowboy-themed steak place, but back when I used to hang out there I never tried their imported US steaks or their other mouthwatering non-steak specialties. Last night, however, I got the chance to revisit the place again and sample the dishes I missed out on.

While waiting for the event to start, we early guests took a tour of their kitchen and see how the restaurant prepares our food. Being in there reminded me of the Etihad Airways event, where we all got to see the meticulous process by which airplane food gets prepared. Ever wondered what restaurants do with all the leftovers? Apparently, they turn them into pig slop, but if the pig slop guy fails to pick up the scraps they have to throw everything out to avoid attracting rats and vermin.

Our meal began with a serving of corn soup with bacon bits, crunchy corn kernels, and strips of salty nachos. Aside from a vague “soup of the day” offering, Texas Roadhouse Grill doesn’t have a soup on the menu, which is a shame because this soup is something I’d come back for. If you love bacon, you’ll definitely love this soup; even before I saw the ingredients, I knew from my first sip that there was bacon hidden somewhere in there. The nacho strips were also a delightful final touch – their texture and flavor complemented the rest of the ingredients in this brothy soup.

To whet our appetites, we were served the Jesse James Sampler – buffalo wings, mozzarella logs, and chicken strips with accompanying salsa, blue cheese, and honey mustard dips. I’d been craving buffalo wings for some time now and while I expected these to be spicier, the wings of the sampler were able to satisfy the craving. The chicken strips were the best of the bunch – the batter was thin and crisp, and the chicken was oozing with flavor that you could eat it on its own. I wanted to like the mozzarella logs, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that they would taste so much better with jalapeno peppers in them.

Then came the main course – a prime ribeye steak. Texas Roadhouse Grill uses only juicy imported US steaks, chops, and tender ribs for their food, and their steaks are prepared just how you like it (rare, medium rare, medium, medium well-done, and well-done) so that juicy meats are guaranteed in every dish. Unfortunately, none of us were asked about how we want our meat to be done. I wanted to like the steak, but it was cooked at medium rather than medium rare, which means the steak wasn’t as soft and juicy as it was hyped up to be. Though the quality of the meat itself was excellent, the steak itself was lacking in flavor. You know that a steak is good if you can eat it on its own, but I had to constantly dip my meat into steak sauce. More pepper or a longer marinading time, perhaps? The steak wasn’t bad per se, but I’m not sure I would pay over a thousand bucks for this one.

The last dish to arrive were the shrimp and salmon skewers served on a bed of Texas rice. I think this dish should have reached the tables before the steak did; at this point I was already too full to properly appreciate the skewers. I did take a small bite just to see what it was like, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the shrimp was fresh and that the salmon was soft.

All in all, Texas Roadhouse Grill is a fun place to go to with friends, and they’ve got some pretty good dishes that you should definitely try out. However, I’m not sure if the steaks are really worth the high price tags.

You can find Texas Roadhouse Grill at B1 Bonifacio High Street and El Pueblo, Ortigas. Check out Marco’s blog for his manly perspective on steaks and Texas Roadhouse Grill.