We visited the Texas themed steakhouse chain's outlet at Dubai Mall, reputedly the largest mall in the world.
All the loud clichés of Americana - jukebox with dancing neon lights, country music, moose head, oak barrels, horse saddle and cowboy hats.
Texas Roadhouse work hard to make this a fun place to enjoy. Very friendly and enthusiastic waiters. Staff (and customers who are game to join in) perform good ol' Texas style line dances on cue, on the hour. The line dances stop in a minute or so, but the country music played on loudly continuously - we had to raise our voices a little to carry on a normal conversation at the table.
Bucket of (complimentary) groundnuts while we get acquainted with the menu. It's customary at Texas Roadhouse to just let the shells fall on to the floor.
The warm freshly baked cinnamon glazed buns (complimentary) were another nice touch, though taste wise they were rather ordinary.
Combo Appetiser (AED59 / SGD23.60) - Buffalo Wings, Rattlesnake Bites & Potato Skin.
Love the juicy Buffalo Wings with bone in with just the right savoury lightly spicy marinate. Rattlesnakes Bites, which are delicious melty savoury jack cheese and diced jalapeño encased in crispy fried balls. The starchy potato skins with cheese were slightly too greasy and salty.
Just a piece of each with all that grease and salt, and my stomach was already signalling "quarter-tank" full. So, come here with an empty stomach :-D
Bone-in Ribeye - thick 20oz (over half kilo!) slab delivered under a blanket of sauteed onions and mushrooms.
At Texas Roadhouse, the USA Angus are hand cut in house at the restaurant, so almost all the beefy juices and flavours are intact from farm to plate.
We asked for our slab to be done medium rare. Well executed - a staff comes around like "steak police" on patrol to check if you are satisfied with the doneness. Tender, beefy with very slight smokiness from the nicely seared outside. Slightly chewy though still tender (but some ways from marshmallow tender). Just the right amount of savoury seasoning to allow the beefy flavours to shine through the oozing juices.
New York Strip (AED120 / SGD48) - nice, right sized 12oz slab of USA Angus. I enjoyed this more than the ribeye.
Everything was right - beefy flavour, juicy, tenderness (done medium rare), and attractively presented. Just a notch away from marshmallow tenderness perfection.
Rib Sidekick - we had an add-on of slow cooked "Blue Ribbon" fall-off-the-bone rib. Deeply infused in a dark robustly sweet savoury marinade. Fell off the bone as advertised. Juicy and tender, I enjoyed this dish. The serving size is just nice for a side or tasting portion of the mains.
Jalapeño Burger (AED55 / SGD22) - fried jalapeño and spicy mayonnaise on an 8oz minced beef patty with lettuce, tomato and onion. Juicy and beefy but a little too salty. Just hints of spiciness despite the jalapeño.
We had a couple of sweet desserts to wrap up the dinner.
Desserts - two words - sweet and sweeter.
Perfect ending for people with a sweet tooth - like me......
Overall, we had a good experience at Texas Roadhouse. The portions are huge and of good value, especially when shared with groups of family and friends.
Texas Roadhouse is likely to be well received in Singapore. Singaporeans are well acquainted with steaks including several well established local chains like Jack's Place and Astons. There are also brilliant boutique steakhouses in Singapore as well as just across the border in Johor Bahru.
Texas Roadhouse is a notch above the Singapore homegrown chains but needs to adjust the portions from American to Singaporean, and priced proportionately. The smaller sidekick tasting portions are a great idea. The Texas/ Americana theme and Halal status is also an edge.
Restaurant name: Texas Roadhouse
Address: Fountain Restaurant Area, Lower Ground Level, Dubai Mall, Dubai, United Arab Emirates UAE
GPS: 25.199367, 55.278901
Hours: 11:00am to 11:30pm
Tel: 04-3253862
Halal
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