Outback Steakhouse — Restaurant in Grandville

The famed Bloomin' Onion, from what I can only assume is a vigorously-researched replication of a traditional Australian recipe, comes from Outback Steakhouse. I had long endeavored to sample this delicacy, but found it difficulty to justify ordering and consuming almost 2,000 Calories of an onion based dish on my own. Thankfully, the occasion arose to go with others.

The Bloomin' Onion, as a culinary concoction, is designed for spectacle, much like the ancient Greek theater. A mere ring is not enough for Outback Steakhouse. No, indeed, they need a bloom, perhaps trying to get diners to associate the greasy mass with a delicate rose. It's an interesting, and bold, concept.

Unfortunately, this Bloomin' Onion was not fully in bloom. While there was an attempt at a delicate fan around the ramekin of "spicy signature bloom sauce," which as far as I can tell was just a completely standard zesty sauce with a bit more seasoning poured in, it failed to fully encompass it. Some petals fell to the plate, wilted, as though defeated by the fryer.

The outer shell of breading was inconsistently coated, leading the the cracked, white husk of the onion interior to shine through. Not only was this flower not fully in bloom, it was scarred and damaged. The breading is a remarkably dark brown, and almost certainly overdone. By contrast, the onion seems raw and underdone, a bizarre and concerning mixture of appearances that does not bode well for this dish.

My initial suspicion as to the breading was confirmed on my first bite, as it was badly overdone and crunchy, bordering in some cases on burnt. However, the unique blend of spices and seasoning, which I can only assume is derived from authentic and traditional Australian cuisine, packs a delightful punch. While it doesn't quite make up for the other deficiencies of the breading, it helps a good deal.

The onion taste is likewise remarkably strong. According to a card on the wall in the waiting area, which I read approximately ten times as we waited, and waited, and waited to be seated, the onion was a unique delicacy known as a "spicy" onion. In my years of onion ring reviewing, I've never heard of this exotic crop. I can only assume it is another Australian contribution delivered by the 100% authentic Outback Steakhouse. Spicy though it may be, it is, as I predicted, undercooked.

Though I'm hesitant that their Bloomin' Onion sauce is as signature as they claim, it did deliver a strong complementary flavor to the Bloomin' Onion itself.

Again much like ancient Greek theater, the hubris of the Bloomin' Onion was the source of its own demise. The ambitious plating and presentation, if executed well, showed great potential, but alas.

The onions, as mentioned before, were horrendously underdone, and bordering on raw. I suspect the sheer size of the Bloomin' Onion makes it difficult to get a consistent cook each time. The batter was bizarrely overcooked at the same time, leading to a horrendously unique texture I've never encountered before now.

This mish-mash of texture was responsible for turning the Bloomin' Onion into a wilted rose, if you're feeling poetic, or a collapsed heap, if you're not. With each successive hack of another petal off of the bloom, it disintegrated to a greater and great extent. By the end of it, I was reduced to eating a pile of raw "spicy" onions next to a similar pile of overdone, though flavorful, batter.

Though the price tag of $8.99 would be steep for a standard order of onion rings, the audacious size of the Bloomin' Onion led to it being a more than filling appetizer for the four who consumed it. Though the execution, and the quality of the taste, was certainly lacking, it was a good amount of food. $8.99 for a bloomin, but it was a sufficient appetizer for four people. Quality was lacking, but it was a decent...

Absolute WORST experience! Come in with a party of 6 (4adults 2 kids). Ask for a table notice the restaurant is no where near full many empty tables. They say 45 minute wait. Looking around at the many empty tables I didn’t think it would be as long. After waiting a good 25 minutes my daughter goes to ask how much longer it maybe. All of a sudden they look around, as if it were their first time an says we can seat you now. Mind you in that time only one table of 5 left not the table we were going to. Sit down have to wait another 10 mins for the waitress she walked by briefly saying she was busy but she would stop by soon. Another 10 minutes later she finally came back. Ordered drinks, appetizer & kids food so they wouldn’t have to wait. About 15 minutes later we get our drinks finally!! Not too long after the kids food comes out. Took about another 10 mins for the wings. We quickly order 3 burgers and a sirloin. I can remember mine was no onions extra pickle, daughters was with bacon and only cheese & ketchup nothing else, 3rd burger regular just needed to be well done as she is pregnant. After a good 45 minutes of waiting our food comes. I immediately take the bun off to see Onions! I point it out she says “yeah you might want to check all your food I already had to switch out her bun (my daughters) because they put everything on it I had to take it off!” 😳 She openly offered this information! I say, “ so you’ve already been playing in her food I guess that’s why our fries are luke warm after waiting all this time for our food. She tells me to scrap the onions off! The 3rd burger gets bit into to find a raw burger that was supposed to be well done! At this point we’re just over the meal! I say I’m good on this burger an I really don’t want to wait another half hour or more for another one. Also she’s pregnant an cannot eat raw meat at this point we just want the bill. She says I’ll have the manager come right over. He helps by apologizing we tell him we understand you may be short staffed but the mistakes an long wait time are just too much. He tells us to wait because they are remaking the third burger after we told him we just want the bill. It took another 15 minutes to get the bill! All in all we spent almost 3 hours trying to have the most disappointing meals! OUTBACK NEVER AGAIN!! That was the WORST experience an I’m good on having another one!!🚮🚮🚮 Had I’d known this experience was going to be so horrible on my granddaughters bday I would’ve Gladly regifted my gift card an paid cash...

Waiter JoJo was great! The first blooming onion was burnt black on the Bottom to midway through.I think possibly the skin was still on it when it was fried?We told JoJo he brought us another.We ordered a sirloin steak meal and a ribeye steak meal and a burger meal. The Burger was ordered to be cooked medium well. The burger wasn’t.The burger was all different cook temperatures .. It was medium in bite and well done in another bite. The ribeye steak was ordered medium and it was the same ,medium rare in a part of it and well done in other areas. My sirloin was ordered medium rare . My Sirloin was black on the outside medium well and well done through out the meat..We reported this issue with the meat not being cooked consistently to a manager. Directly after he replaced a steak a customer had ordered that wasn’t cooked properly . That customers steak was ordered rare what he had gotten was not a rare steak! The manager was very smug and cocky. I told him right off the bat that we aren’t seeking any discount etc. We simply were trying to make him aware that the grill may be cooking uneven. Possibly hot spots and cold spots etc. Food safety should be the number one concern when you’re cooking beef and seafood for the public. Uneven cook temps are what can cause some people to become ill. If the steaks aren’t temping out correctly that should be a major cause for immediate action on the part of the manager. The manager took the burnt blooming onion off our bill. The manager said he was going to check on the grill. This manager had a very smug and cocky demeanor while we were trying to tell him our experience and a possible cause.A good manager should be apologetic at the very least ,we had a $70 bill. We ate the steaks & burger not cooked how we would have preferred .Why ask what temperature a patron would like their steaks and burger cooked if the establishment isn’t going to prepare the meat as ordered ?I left out that my baked potato was dried out and skin crispy ... Maybe it was left in a warmer too long or old not sure what that was about?It was the last time for me I won’t be back. A very disappointing meal and not so much as an apology from the general manager. JoJo apologized ,that was appreciated . He was a great waiter ,too bad his leader is not...