Texas Roadhouse is a newly-opened restaurant at the new Uptown Place Mall. I had heard the buzz about it when it first opened - there were spectacular views especially at night, it was another American restaurant transplanted into the Philippine dining scene, and of course their specialty: meat.
Texas Roadhouse has a bucket of peanuts on every table as a starter (which are apparently imported) so you can snack on something while perusing their menu. Once you do order, they give you freshly baked bread (brushed with honey) with cinnamon butter - which is honestly one of my favorite things I ate while there. The baked bread is soft, warm, and the butter goes along with it so well. They replace it every 5 minutes - whether or not you've eaten the bread. These are apparently complimentary!
We started off with the Combo Appetizer (PHP525), which has rattlesnake bites, buffalo wings, and potato skins and ranch and bleu cheese dressing as dips. The rattlesnake bites have jalapeño in them - just a bit - to add a sort of kick, so it isn't overly spicy. Next to land on our table was the Crispy Chicken Salad (PHP275/495), which has strips of chicken on top of greens, bacon, tomatoes, and chopped egg. This was good - the dressing was light, and I think we should have tossed it more since it wasn't evenly distributed, and the egg was nicely cooked. I can appreciate good boiled egg.
We got the Pork Chops, Beef Steak Tips, and Shrimp (PHP1,295) next. The beef steak tips were my favorite in this one - slightly peppery, soft, and sitting on a bed of fluffy mashed potatoes. The pork chops were ok, but that may be because I had them after the beef tips, hah. There was also another cut of meat that followed this plate, maybe it was the sirloin or Dallas fillet, that had this side of a huge sweet potato with roasted marshmallows on top. (No really, roasted marshmallows) the meat was cooked perfectly, and oddly enough this sweet-savory combination worked. 10/10 would come back just for that sweet potato/marshmallow side.
We also had sides that went along with the dishes - mixed vegetables (broccoli and carrots - good if you feel just a tad guilty for consuming so much meat), mashed potato with gravy (which is always a favorite), rice, and loaded potatoes.
Dessert was Frozen Turtle Pie (PHP275) (salted caramel ice cream in an Oreo crust tart topped with pecans and chocolate and toffee sauce) which wasn't that sweet surprisingly, just right with the pecans and toffee sauce. The strawberry cheesecake (PHP375) is a generous slice of cake, with strawberry sauce and whipped cream on the side.
I also got to try their frozen margarita, which had quite the kick, but so yummy. I had the frozen strawberry margarita, which was a bit too sweet for me, but considering the alcohol it had I guess it was just right. I'd definitely want to try the frozen sangria margarita next.
All in all, I liked the food! The portions are definitely for sharing, and the food is great, especially their grilled options. If you're going to get appetizers, get the rattlesnake bites, for something different than your usual mozzarella sticks. Prices may be a bit higher than your usual restaurant fare, but the location, view, and quality of food is also something you pay for in Texas Roadhouse. Service was good as well - bread baskets always ready to be replaced or filled again, water glasses always filled. read more