Far be it for me to complain about a free meal, but there is something about a Steakhouse chain restaurant that I don’t trust.  A burger joint?  Sure.  Ice cream?  Count me in.  But Australian steaks, when the only thing that seems to make the place Australian are the embarrassing Crocodile Dundee-sound-alike commercials?  Before I get ahead of myself…

The Gift Card: One would think a 25 dollar gift card would go far, especially in a chain restaurant.  Not in the world of Outback Steakhouse.  It barely covered my part of the meal.  My poor wife-to-be was forced to cover her own end.  That’s what she gets for marrying a blogger.

The Ambience: Dim red lighting, with a little bulb hanging over each table.  A play-off hockey game (yawn) played in the background.  Most of the waiters wore red-and-white striped uniforms with…flare.  The Office Space reference is sad and easy.  But there, I wrote it anyways.

Prices: It’s all kind of expensive.  All of it.  I know it’s a steak house, but let’s be honest.  This is a chain restaurant.  You don’t go to a chain restaurant to murder your wallet.  In my tiny mind, a chain restaurant should offer decent food at an affordable price.  Make sure you’re ready to spend 40-50 dollars if you want to take your loved one to Outback Steakhouse.

The food: We decided to take chances, and now look back and regret that NEITHER of us ordered steak.  Rats.  I order the Ribs and Alice Spring Chicken.  The ribs are fine, but alas, the chicken is suffocating.  A dense, claustrophobic eating experience, it is covered with mushrooms, bacon, cheese and a honey mustard sauce.  Oh yeah, there are Australian fries too.  Good lord.  I eat the ribs and fries first, and then go for the chicken.  What makes it an “Alice Spring Chicken” is beyond me, and not by choice.  They might have put a shoe underneath the toppings and I wouldn’t have been able to tell.  It’s as if Cholestoral has manifested in front of me in the form of a high school bully, who instinctively punches me in the heart and stomach.  The fries are great by the way, especially dipped in the honey mustard sauce.

My poor date orders the filet tenderloin.  Look up filet tenderloin on wikipedia.  Nope.  Nothing there, because it seems to only exist on the menu at Outback Steakhouse.  It is a bastardized version of a beef tenderloin, and it is was interesting to say the least.  My date received a pink piece of meat in a pool of diluted blood.  And that blood?  Soaked up into her garlic mashed potatoes.  I tried a bite.  It tasted like it was once a steak, until someone chewed it up piece by piece.  They then spit all the pieces into a bucket and re-formed the pieces into the shape of a steak, cooked it for a while and served it.  My date likened the experience to eating a damp gym sock that melts in your mouth.  But the potatoes were great!

(picture via Outback.com)

Service: Was great, no hovering,

Overall Outback Steakhouse Fun Rating: 4 out of 10.  Wasn’t awful, wasn’t great.  I didn’t get the feeling this was a family joint (as it is often advertised), as there were more older gentlemen nursing giant containers of Foster’s than family units enjoying Australian delicacies.  Another irksome quality was brought to the fore during our visit: What about this restaurant chain makes it Australian?  Is it the Australian Fries, which are french fries with salt and pepper?  Perhaps the restaurant exists as a cultural high-five, where Americans and Australians look at each other and say, “We have the same eating habits-HEY!  We’re NOT THAT DIFFERENT!” and everyone rejoices while men and women drink giant cans of beer and children devour Flinstone’s-style racks of ribs while Men at Work, Russell Crowe, and Silverchair play “Give Peace a Chance” with Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bob Thorton and Stone Temple Pilots.  Either way the food wasn’t up to snuff that night.  Perhaps next time I’ll order steak.

Speaking of which, will I ever go back to Outback Steakhouse?  Maybe in a year, if you gave me a 70 dollar gift card.

PS – If any of our readers actually LIKE filet tenderloin, please tell me why and where you ate it.  I just need to know why this happened to us.

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There is nothing better than a steak grilled outside in the summertime.  The aroma and sensation of cooking one’s own dinner over an open flame are both very primitive and satisfying feelings.  Not to mention the flavor of marbled beef cooked medium rare (my taste) along with all the appropriate sides makes for perfection incarnate.

I recently saw that The Washington Post  put together a handy chart (pdf) for doing the above activity, that is, without breaking the bank.  Instead of my cherished bone-in rib-eye or strip steak, the article makes a case for cuts such as hangar, flatiron and tri-tip.  The chart also provides basics of grilling as well the parts of the cow where all the cuts come from.  

Give it a look and enjoy the delicious results.  And report back here with results!

H/t to Consumerist for the scoop and Another Pint Please… for the pic.

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Update: Voting on this match-up is now closed. By a vote of 465 (57%) – 351, (43%), Bacon has defeated Steak to earn the title of the greatest meat.

After watching 32 meats face-off for meat supremacy over the past 6 weeks, we are down to our final vote. Steak vs. Bacon. The winner will be crowned as the single greatest meat there is.

Voting begins today at noon and polls close on Friday at noon.

Here’s a little “Tale of the Tape” about each of the two contenders.

Total votes earned so far (raw #’s):

Steak: 975
Bacon: 1,103

Edge: Bacon

Average margin of victory (%):

Steak: 59%
Bacon: 48%

Edge: Steak

Total comments left on posts of match-ups:

Steak: 37
Bacon: 87

Edge: Bacon

Biggest margin of victory:

Steak: 76% (vs. Roast Beef, Rnd. 1)
Bacon: 80% (vs. Pork Chops, Rnd. 1)

Edge: Bacon

Smallest margin of victory:

Steak: 36% (vs. Crab in Final Four)
Bacon: 20% (vs. Chicken in Final Four)

Edge: Steak

Looks like we’re in for one hell of a final match-up. With voting open for 4 full days, there is plenty of time for either meat to make a run even after falling behind. Will a leader emerge right away? Or will these two titans of meat battle back and forth throughout the week? As always, use the comment section to argue for which meat you think should prevail.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Update: Voting on this match-up is now closed. Steak easily defeats Lamb with 77% of the vote to win the Red Meat region and head into the Final Four.

It begins. The early rounds are behind us, and as the real March Madness goes to its final game tonight, we head into Elite 8 week here at So Good.  Each day this week, the winners of the Red Meat, Poultry, Seafood and Pork regions will be crowned. Today we begin in the Red Meat region, where #1 Steak takes on #2 Lamb. Check out my Elite 8 preview for a schedule of this weeks match-ups.

Voting will be open until noon tomorrow.  Please use the comment section to argue for the meat you think should prevail and why.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Click the bracket below to see a larger version.

Here is a preview of next week’s match-ups:

Monday: Red Meat Region #1 Steak vs. #2 Lamb

#1 Steak wasted no time establishing its dominance, crushing Roast Beef with 88% of the vote in the first round and defeating Buffalo with 86% of the vote in the second round.  Steak is clearly a force to be reckoned with in this tournament, but so far has not faced any serious competition. Has it been overhyped after facing two relatively weak early opponents or will it steamroll any future competitors as well?

#2 Lamb faced a much more difficult path to the Elite 8.  In the first round, Corned Beef gave it little trouble, with Lamb taking a convincing 67% of the vote. However, in the second round, Lamb faced an exhausting battle with #3 seed Ground Beef, tying 50%-50% after 24 hours of voting. In a 24 hour long overtime vote, Lamb finally prevailed over Ground Beef by a mere TWO votes. Has Lamb been battle tested with their victory over Ground Beef? Or will it be too fatigued to put up a fight against Steak?

Tuesday: Poultry Region #1 Chicken vs. #2 Turkey

#1 Chicken has had perhaps the easiest waltz into the Elite 8 of any of the remaining competitors.  After crushing Pheasant with 89% of the vote, Chicken easily dispensed of Rabbit with an even more impressive 91% of the vote.  Chicken is popular and omnipresent, but when people think Chicken, will they envision dry, tasteless chicken, yummy fried chicken or spicy buffalo wings?  Does it have the taste chops or foodie credentials to take on a more formative competitor?

#2 Turkey breezed past Quail in the first round with 83% of the vote.   However, Turkey ran into ferocious opposition from impassioned supporters of #3 Duck in the second round, ultimately prevailing with 57% of the vote.  Will Duck supporters fall in line behind the bird that vanquished their favorite? Will nostalgia for Thanksgiving and love of sandwiches power Turkey to victory? Will complaints that it is “dry” and “boring” be heard? Will this battle-tested meat be able to knock off the Poultry region’s #1 seed?

Wednesday: Seafood Region #1 Lobster vs. #6 Crab

#1 Lobster cruised past #8 Clams based on taste, prestige and its reputation as a delicacy, winning with 84% of the vote.  However, Lobster ran into a strong opponent in the second round, with #5 Shrimp capturing a healthy 42% of the vote. Lobster remains a strong competitor that can succeed on taste and prestige alone. But will concerns about its cost and availability ultimately sink this shellfish?

#6 Crab faced a tough first round match-up but proved they were underrated by the selection committee after defeating Salmon with 58% of the vote.  In the second round, Crab continued to assert its dominance by defeating foodie and Top Chef favorite Scallops with 61% of the vote.  It comes down to this: Crab feels slighted by their #6 seed and is out to prove its critics wrong.  Will concerns about how difficult it is to eat Crab cause it any problems? Will the taste and eating ritual associated with Crab power it to victory? Can this shellfish normally associated with Alaska and the Mid-Atlantic defeat Northeast darling Lobster?

Thursday: Pork Region #1 Bacon vs. #7 Ribs

#1 Bacon, long the favorite of internet foodies, wasted no time in laughing off its early competitors, taking 91% of the vote against Pork Chops, the highest vote percentage of any #1 seed in the first round.  BBQ lovers thought Pulled Pork might give Bacon a fight in the second round, but Bacon tossed aside its competition, winning a stunning 78% of the vote.

#7 Ribs has been the Cinderella story of the entire Meat Madness tournament.  Despite pleas from Sausage supporters that Ribs lacked versatility and consistency, BBQ lovers rushed to the defense of their favorite meat.   Sausage lovers, believing their meat had the chops to go all the way to the Final Four, were stunned when Ribs defeated Sausage with 58% of the vote in the first round.   Proving their victory was no fluke, Ribs expanded their margin in the second round, taking out foodie favorite Prosciutto with 69% of the vote.  Bacon represents probably the strongest foe possible, but throughout the competition Ribs supporters have been out in full force. Can their Cinderella run continue?

Don’t forget to head back to So Good on Monday for voting on the Elite 8 match-ups all week.

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Update: Voting on these two match-ups is now closed.  Steak defeated Roast Beef in a landslide, 88% to 12%.  Buffalo just barely edged out Veal by 13 votes, 52% to 48%.

Welcome back regular So Good readers.  And welcome new readers enticed by the lure of voting for different meats! Today marks the official start of  So Good Presents: Meat Madness.  We will be voting on two different first round meat match-ups each weekday for the next 8 days until we have all our second round competitors.  With 16 first round match-ups that means by next Friday/Saturday we will know who has been victorious and moved on to the second round.

Voting will be open for 24 hours for each first round match-up. At approximately noon each day I will post the new meat pairings and declare an official winner from the previous days match-ups.  In the rare case of a tie vote at the exact moment the poll expires, I will re-open the vote for an “overtime” period for additional voting.

We kick off the first round of voting with the top part of the Red Meat bracket. Steak vs. Roast Beef and Veal vs. Buffalo.  The winners of these two match-ups will play each other in the second round.  Should be interesting!

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(Click on bracket to see a larger, easier to read version)

There are no rules and no criteria other than to answer the question: “What is the #1 meat?” You can base your vote on taste, cost, convenience, prestige, flavor…anything you want.  Just like the NCAA tournament, when a team from the East coast will randomly get sent into the Western bracket, there are a couple minor exceptions with our regions.  For example, Rabbit has been placed in the Poultry Region and the “Red” Meat Region contains a few reddish meats that technically aren’t actually red meat (Lamb, Veal, Venison).

Obviously March is the time of year when people do brackets for everything – and So Good is no exception. I don’t know if something like Meat Madness has been done before, but this is certainly the debut offering of such a tournament on So Good.  There are similar brackets going on right now, such as Washingtonian’s Burger Bracket to determine the best burger in DC.

On Wednesday we will begin voting on our first round match-ups. Two first round match-ups a day for 8 days, then we move on to the second round.  Finally, thanks must be given to one of my readers, Jenelle, who suggested this idea to me 4-5 months ago.  I’ve patiently been sitting on the idea until the NCAA tournament arrived (which was really tough because I LOVE the idea of  a Meat Madness bracket!).

Click “Read More” to see each Region up close and read a little analysis of some of the early match-ups we have to look forward to.

We have four regions, “Red” Meat Region, Poultry Region, Pork Region and Seafood Region. Let’s take a look at each one.

First up, the “Red” Meat region.  Steak (1), Lamb (2), Ground Beef (3) and Veal (4) are the top 4 seeds in this bracket, and I think there is no doubt that Steak and Ground Beef are forces to be reckoned with.  Will Lamb be able to protect its #2 seed? Or will Corned Beef present a threat in the midst of Lent?  Veal and Buffalo could be an interesting first round match-up as well.

The Poultry region presents us with a wide-range of tasty birds – plus Rabbit.  The top four seeds are Chicken (1), Turkey (2), Duck (3) and Rabbit (4).  Will the more widely used and readily available Chicken and Turkey prove impossible to stop? Or will advocates emerge for more tasty alternatives?

The Pork Region sees a bevy of 8 different meats all coming from the same animal.  The top 4 seeds are Bacon (1), Sausage (2), Prosciutto (3) and Ham (4).  Yes, I am aware that Prosciutto IS Ham, but we are going by the English definition here.  According to Wikipedia, “in English the word is almost always used for an aged, dry-cured, spiced Italian ham that is usually sliced thin and served uncooked.”  Bacon has proven to be the darling of the food blogosphere in the past year, but this bracket is stacked from top to bottom. Potential upsets abound with extremely strong lower seeds in Pulled Pork (5), Pepperoni (6) and Ribs (7).

The Seafood Region is just that – seafood.  The top 4 seeds are Lobster (1), Scallops (2), Salmon (3) and Tuna (4).  Like the Pork Region, this region has depth – Crab (6) and Shrimp (5) look like potential first round sleepers, and Clams (8) and Mussels (7) both certainly have their supporters.

Voting on first round match-ups will begin on Wednesday.  Use the comments on this post to predict potential first round upsets, your pick to win the title, or any debates over seeding.  Let the Meat Madness begin!

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Now, please to be enjoying this Steak & BJ day public service announcement from Break.com

Steak – Watch more free videos

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The creators of this event/group are urging everyone to spend this Saturday eating a tasty animal, wherever in the world they may be.

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