My wife and I used to frequent this chain quite often roughly two years ago. After a healthy one-year hiatus, today we felt our stomachs would not take gently the much better but spicier Thai restaurant next door (Thai Basil).
Things have surely changed since last time we were here ... For the worse!
We both ordered the "monthly" special: Black Angus Rib-Eye Steak with Fries, Steamed Veggies and Black Peppercorn Sauce. They came served with Bushman's Bread and a Cream of Mushroom Soup with a Side Salad.
For starters, it seemed like the special (unchanged for years) had shrunk in size though not price. Nowadays, we are not as into American portions as we used to be, but although we definitely do not miss extra fries, it is sad to see the steak get considerably thinner.
After the forgetable steak (overly salty and of generic flavour), we decided to give ourselves a bit of a treat and satisfy our sweet tooth. We ordered the Chocolate Thunder From Down Under and waited. Five minutes later, as we were almost savouring the brownie covered in hot fudge and the nice contrast with the cold, melting vanilla ice cream, a manager came to tell us that they had run out of ice cream and could only give us a dumbed-down version of their signature dessert with whipped cream. Naturally, our faces went blank. She was so nonchalant about it and in typical Hong Kong fashion, no sweetener was offered to digest the bitter news. No [X] on the house or half-price dessert. Nothing. Just an expressionless stare from this manager who probably doesn't care that her stocking guys are asleep at the switch. Of course, we cancelled the order.
We will probably not go back to this "Australian"-themed American chain and neither should you. Not in HK, in any case. To add insult to injury, they took 15 mins to give us the check just when we were most eager to GTFO.
Outback Steakhouse: you definitely earned this shitty review.