A Hereford Beefstouw

I hadn’t heard of A Hereford Beefstouw, ever.  I feel like I’ve eaten at/heard of a lot of places, but as I’m finding out I have barely skimmed the surface.  It makes me really appreciate Adelaide.  I just love food, I love that we have so much of it.  

Facebook showed me the way here, advertising a lunch special - 2 for 1 cheeseburgers.  Obviously I was making that happen.  It was a picture perfect, sunny warm day with a light breeze so just when you were getting a bit too heated mother nature was there to cool you on down… so we sat outside on the crafty wooden chairs at the heavy wooden table and basked.  And basked some more.  And then got so hungry our conversation ended and would re-start with “oh my god I’m so hungry”.  As is standard.  Obviously, our meals eventually made their way out to us, and it really wasn’t a long wait, but my stomach had already making noise for a couple of hours before lunch.  

….Moving on. 

You know those people that just load everything with tomato sauce?  Just pile it on up with no regard for whether anyone else wants the sauce because that amount of sauce is just what’s necessary for your meal?  And without fail, there’s always a father figure somewhere nearby that has to remark “did you want any food with your sauce” and chuckles.  My life, guys.  I seriously butter up some toast and then put tomato sauce on it.  For a long time I didn’t know what a condiment was - tomato sauce was just part of the meal, right?

My point is.  Hereford do not have sauce on their cheeseburgers.  I KNOW RIGHT!!!  Of all the burgers, you would think the cheeseburger is the one with the sauce.  And here’s the big news - it was so good, I didn’t even ask for it.  Actually, they just gave us some anyway on the side with our house-made fries (which were crunchy and soft in all the right places, by the way) and I didn’t add it.  The burger held it’s own.  It was luscious and juicy and didn’t start falling apart till right near the end.  The bun still didn’t get soggy.  

The sauce they did have - now that was a secret sauce.  When my Mum eats out somewhere and has something she really likes, she has a habit of deconstructing it as she eats it so she can attempt to create it at home (something she absolutely nails, might I add).  I was wishing she was there to try and work this puzzle piece sauce out.  It was creamy and zingy and seemed like it might of had a bit of ahhhh something you know that ummm kind of tasted like…  That was me not being able to work it out at all.  Anyway, we asked the chef because even Paul was wanting to know (did I ever mention he found a recipe for Big Mac sauce and it tastes exactly like it?  Form a line, ladies!) and were very surprised the ingredients in it made such a delectable, oozy goodness.

If you want to know those secret ingredients, I suggest you get your butts into that fancy establishment (eating the burger with your hands is still acceptable - not that fancy) and try it.  Unfortunately they only do the burgers Monday - Friday on their lunch menu, but as the name would suggest, they specialise in steak, steak, steak for all those other times. 

Outback Jacks - Redemption Episode

A while back, we went to Outback Jacks as one of our first date nights, and we did not like it.  Well, I didn't like it.  The service was slow and the food was average and the prices too high for what you got.

However, much like Tosh.0 (google it) we believe in redemption, and went back to Outback Jacks.  Truthfully, we've been there a few times since… but we usually go to the Glenelg restaurant, not O'Connell Street.  The Glenelg Outback Jacks has been on the money awesome each time we went there (which was probably twice) so we were feeling confident about the restaurant in general (even though I'm pretty sure they're franchises but whatever).

Unfortunately, I have no good news to report.  Have you ever been to the cinemas and seen a movie that was so bad you were tempted to walk out because you didn't want to be stuck in the dark room with a terrible movie any longer?  Well, this date night was the restaurant version of that.  

It started off fine.  We walked in and got a seat very, very easily.  So easy, not because we had a reservation, but because the place had hardly any people in it.  They have table service now which is great, no more waiting in ridiculous long lines to order.  And it was super speedy ordering too because they had what looked to be 10 x too many people working.  That's cool - I'm not going to complain about fast service!  And while I'm not one to get all judgey about a restaurants decor… there's some big TVs around the place, which gave it kind of a Cafe Primo feel.  I don't have anything against Cafe Primo, but you know what I mean right?  

Anyway, Paul ordered the chicken and ribs and I got the nachos.  I didn't realise how bad nachos could be.  I counted about 4 beans, it was a thrown together mess and they used some tomato sauce that tasted metallic and sweet and just weird.  The whole thing together was just gross.  I had a few bites and then left it.  For the first time ever, I wanted to ask for my money back.  Paul's chicken and ribs was a joke.  The tiniest chicken breast steak and ribs that looked as though they were slapped on the plate with minimum preparation and apparently tasted just that way too.

It didn't leave me feeling inspired.  I didn't walk away going oh my goodness I wish I could cook a meal like that at home, or better yet, that was so amazing I don't even want to try to make that at home because it was so good I probably couldn't.  I didn't feel satisfied, I felt unclean and gross.  I know that sounds like its maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I assure you it isn't.  It didn't taste fresh and there was no pride to the meal.  I know, I know.  I ordered nachos, how much "pride" can go into that?  But it was a world of difference at the Glenelg one.  At Glenelg it was presented neater, it tasted better, I didn't feel so scungy eating it, it made me mmm and ahhh and it made my tastebuds happy. 

Outback Jacks O'Connell Street, you and I are never, ever, ever, getting back together.

Outback Jacks

I’d like to make something clear to all those out there. We are using this blog to track our own personal experiences at particular venues. The experiences we have may be completely different to someone else’s and in the end I think it all really comes down to personal preference, so even if we don’t like somewhere, I can guarantee someone out there loves it. So ignore our opinions, just use it for ideas for places to go :)

So, Outback Jacks. We’d seen it, heard about it and dined near it, so it was time to make it a date night official venue. Tip number one: if you’re going on a weekend, make sure you book a table early in the week. The place was PACKED. I do love the décor in that place. A couple of giant crocs (one hanging over you while you eat and a half one near the entrance), dim lighting, a very funky bar and raw meat in a glass fridge where you order, the makings of a great theme restaurant really.

Anyway, so I’m not into steak that much, and as I’m sure we’re all aware, I do love a good burger. So the Wagyu Beef Burger it was. The prices at Outback Jacks are pretty reasonable I think, the burgers range from $17 - $26 (the Wagyu was the most expensive) and everything else can range from about the $17 - $50 mark, the most expensive being the steaks they have to offer (which I hear are pretty good). I think Paul got Big Jacks Rack (because as I’m sure we’re all aware, Paul loves his ribs), which were $40 for their famous 8 hour slow cooked ribs with a choice of sauce and chunky chips.

We’re usually pretty hungry before date night, especially Paul who won’t snack between lunch and date night in anticipation of a big meal, so sometimes pre-food we don’t talk a lot because we’re so hungry we can’t really hold a conversation that well (or it’s opposite and we’re so hungry we go bananas cracking terrible jokes and laughing like maniacs)… then we don’t talk when we get our food because we’re so busy stuffing our faces… then post food we’re so full we’re both about to slip into food comas. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not that weird couple that sits at the table looking awkward and not having anything to talk about… we just react the same to hunger.

Now, here came my problem. Having so many cuts of meat, so many ways to have them and being so busy posed a big issue for their ordering system. They don’t have waiters that come to the table, you go up and place your order, which is fine… usually. As I said, it was packed. Their genius way of ordering is telling them your order, them writing down your order, then as your there they get the cut of meat from the previously mentioned fridge, write on a particular popstick how you want it cooked, any gravy etc, put that in the meat then put it on a tray then send it to the chef.

It doesn’t sound time consuming, and it really isn’t if there are only one or two people. But when there’s a massive line of people, and nearly every person is ordering for more than themselves (in the case of the two people in front of me – an entire table) it takes a bloody long time. I waited half an hour in line just to order. It was ridiculous, I was hungry, and I was super dissatisfied. They only had one counter to order at as well, I feel maybe for a really busy weekend night they should consider maybe another person at the counter to improve their customer service.

So I was thinking, after I finally got to order and my stomach was about to jump out of my body and wrap itself around my throat for near starving it, that our entrée shouldn’t take too long – it was only garlic bread. Half an hour for garlic bread I think is too long, but they were really busy. Who knows, maybe they were understaffed that night. By the time the food came out I want to kill and kiss the waiter in the same go, which was a very strange feeling. The burger was average; even considering how hungry I was it just wasn’t worth the wait for me. However, I did get onion rings so that was a BIG plus :)

From what I was told by Paul, the ribs were pretty damn good, and I trust they were considering how fast and messily he ate them :)

In saying all of this, I’ve been there on a week night and it was a lot quicker but I think it’s kind of ruined for me. It’s not somewhere I would choose to go, nor would look forward to going. Paul’s brother and fiancé love the place and rave about it, so don’t let our bad experience stop you from going!

Overall, it’s not a place we would go again for a date night, and if we did it would definitely be on a week night.

The Hog's Breath

The bibs had been done, now it was time to get our steak on.

Hog's Breath Cafe, famous for meat. Meaty meat. I've never been a huge fan of steak. I've never gone oh my god someone just get me a meaty tender steak with pepper gravy IMMEDIATELY. I'll generally order something else and I think Paul is usually the same. However I was super keen to get into the famous curly fries.

First of all, I commend their customer service. The waitress could tell us about anything on the menu, she was happy and seemed to enjoy her job. Big points for Hog's Breath on that one! We went all out on this date night. Three course meals that aren't cheap all out. I think garlic bread was the starter, but then just because we had to, steaks were on the menu for main meals. I remember not being ridiculously satisfied with steak. I tried, I ate as much as I could. But personally, even when really well cooked and delicious, a steak just doesn't do it for me like other meals do.

It was lucky we got the entree because our mains did take a while to come out - which I guess is expected and even after delish garlic bread I was STARVING. Dessert was fucking mind-blowing. We had been to Hog's Breath for my work do the year - or year before - and gotten dessert. That time we got a giant glass bowl thing of ice cream and brownie and cream and toppings and it was sex in the mouth good. This time round we shared a sticky date pudding. Mouth orgasm. We didn't take pictures but anyone who has had dessert at Hog's knows exactly what I am saying. Super rich and thick and just sickly. My perfect dessert.

While I wouldn't rush back there - it was still overall an awesome, but expensive-ish meal. Dessert was by far my favourite part.