Outback Steakhouse (or simply Outback) is an Australian-themed American casual dining restaurant chain. The branch in Doha made its debut in April 10, 2013 and is located at Lagoona Mall.

We went tasting this new guy in town on last Thursday evening.

The restaurant is located in a building that connect Lagoona Mall and Zig Zag Tower; overlooking a plaza in between these two most recognized towers in Doha. Nearby are Carrefour Market and chilis restaurant. 

We arrive at 7pm with restaurant only about one third full. There are couple of tables outside of the restaurant or in the plaza. The decor is Australian-themed though it is not as crowded as chilis or Applebee in accessories. One Australia map accessory posted on the wall to signify the theme.

We ordered Bloomin’ Onion which seemed very intriguing; Outback Special (steak), Grilled Chicken Sandwich and Fish and Chips. For drinks we ordered Milk shakes, iced tea (free refill), soda coke and large bottled water.

These were what I found:

- Services: quick service and attentive attendant (once orders settled, they came back in 5 minutes with complimentary bread; 10 min with drinks; 15 minutes with fish and chips and 25 min with steak). They offered complimentary orange juice for kids!

- Bread: brown long bread. tasty cream

- Bloomin’ Onion: big portion. fried too long. but cream is good.

- Steak: ordered well-done but it came very dry. potato is ok. cheesy corn is good

- Fish and chips: probably the best among our orders. fish is fresh and crisp on the outside but soft inside

- Chicken sandwich: no complaint

Will be back? Yes or No. Yes for fish and chips, blooming onion. No for the steak unfortunately.

Indicative prices:

- Bloomin’ Onion QR38 – enough for 4 adults!

- Fish n chips with fries QR54

- Outback special 6oz with potato and corn (or any other two side dishes)  QR76

- Grilled chicken sandwich QR43

- Kid’s steak 6oz QR43

- Milk shakes chocolate regular QR21

- Iced Tea (regular) QR10

- Bottled water (large 1.5L) QR12

Bloomin’ Onion

Outback Steakhouse Doha

Complimentary Bread

Fish and Chips

Outback Special with Potato and Corn

This restaurant is conveniently located on Corniche Road Al Khor, just opposite fish market. Away from bustling Al Khor town road and commercial centers, the restaurant offers a perfect dining hideout.

Wood and bamboo dominate this small, yet with ample parking slots, restaurant. You may choose to dine in semi-open air terrace or air-conditioned (pinky!) room. The semi-open air dining area is frequently used to host live football match watching events or to host functions like birthday event. The place is also popular with motorcycle group or cyclist group during weekend.

I patronized the restaurant several times. Every time it has never failed impressed me.

Okay, you may be misled by its name, thinking that this is just another Lebanese restaurant. It serves mainly chinese food, seafood, filipino, few Arabic and newly added Indonesian menu. Don’t ask me why it is named and associated with Beirut….if only I knew.

If I have to be back, I’d have my table filled with sour fish soup, crabs, kangkung stir-fry (less salt please!) and egg fried rice. Oh, and two glasses of iced tea please…since one is never enough with this Indonesian legendary and first bottled tea: Teh Botol Sosro.

Since its share now partially owned by an Indonesian, the restaurant sees consignation on Malay and Indonesian food such as Nasi Lemak, rendang, balado, anchovy green sambal. Grab them quickly as they are ones of the favorites.

Price? Trust me, you won’t go home bankrupt….see attached menu.

Pearl Of Beirut Menu

Direction: On the fourth roundabout after Al Khor Highway (second being Al Khor Mall), turn right to Corniche Road. Follow the road, passing traffic light, just before Fish Market/Port on the opposite side, spot bamboo-dominated building. Coordinate: 25 41.144N 51 30.875E

Reservation: 4472 0123 & 7034 8032

Die die hard must try – sour soup

Don’t judge by its look. Though simple, it is mouthwatering. Egg fried rice

Coconut milk crab. I’d rather have my favorite black pepper crab

Kangkung stir-fry.

Seafood is one of the offered menu.

Pearl of Beirut Restaurant

Beirut goes pinky!

You may host a small event here without bankrupting your wallet

In one of the fasting break time during this Ramadan I had a chance to have it in Wok of Fame, Villagio Mall. Wok of Fame is a Chinese cuisine restaurant conveniently (and strategically) located on the backside of the mall foodcourt on overhead bridge over man-made Venetian canal of the mall. We entered through the reception foyer at ground floor before directed upstair to the main dining hall, through elevator or stair.

The hall upstairs, decorated in black-mood chinese ornaments, is large enough to accommodate probably around 80 person in 4-6-seat table configurations. At the first end is buffet table in rectangle shape offering more than tens of chinese cuisine selections. This includes some of traditional Asian desserts.

I found that the food is of excellent taste. Fried noodle, fried rice is champion with breaded fried prawn, beef and chicken based food are among the sought selections. The service is good except one of our order was mistakenly delivered. Price is reasonable, with buffet all-youcan-eat during Ramadan offered for QR59 per person (children: QR29) and drinks between QR12 for big bottled water and QR15 for fresh juice. Aside from buffet we can also order ala carte menu.

The only dissapointment was a free wifi offer, attractively put on the table but turned out it meant “feel free to pay with your debit/credit card at your table”

Wok of Fame Villagio Mall

Buffet Selection

 

When Free means "Feel Free to pay with your debit/credit card"

The Butcher Shop & Grill outlet at Villagio Mall

The restaurant is famous for its steak, however, we also ordered lamb chop and chicken to see how good they are in their non-main menus. Let’s see how they come out of our food test .

While waiting for our orders to be served, we were provided with starters: soft garlic bread (?), and sausage skewer with sauce to dip in.

Closer look to one of the starters

Within 10 minutes, our drinks served. Nothing special just iced lemon tea, mint lemonade, and chocolate shake. The later was good, said my kids.

Mint Lemonade

Then, comes our appetizer: sticky chicken wings. It is basically grilled chicken wings with sticky soya bean sauce. This is the best of our orders, beating T-bone steak and grilled chicken breast.

Sticky Chicken Wings

My youngest son ordered grilled chicken breast. I can only rate it average at its best.

Grilled Chicken Breast

 Now the main feature of the restaurant, the steak. This half kilo T-bone steak was ordered “well-done” yet it come with still pinkish meat. I was not quite impressed. The main order come after 40 minutes, a bit later than what they promised on the menu (20-30 minutes). Lamb chop that we also ordered come with juiced texture as a result of “well-done” treatment. Again lamb chop did not win our heart.

T-bone steak

As overall, we had less than our expectation dining experience in The Butcher Shop & Grill. If I can recommend that would be sticky chicken wings, not the steak. The service is also average given its late serving. The restaurant gets our 3 star though

TOTAL DAMAGE:

Chicken Wings 29

Grill Chicken Breast 26

T-Bone Steak 137

Black Pepper S 7

Lamb Chop 76

Chocolate Shake 25

Lemon Iced Tea 16

Mint Lemonade 22

Telp: 413 5 797

Also available in Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai

“Good modern seafood restaurant with fish market style”

As you enter the foyer a projection of pool (with its swimming fishes) to the floor where you step onto welcomes you.  What makes it so  interesting is that it is interactive. The projection will respond to your step as if you step onto the real pool. Stomping your feet to the floor will see ripples on the projection. And it follows your stomping. Kids sure will love it!

Interactive pool projection in the restaurant foyer will easily catch kid's attention

L'wzaar Fish Market (Source: Lwzaar.com)

Passing the foyer you will be in the corridor that connects two wings. In front of you is a ‘fish market’; a display of fresh fishes, crabs, squids, mussels and prawns which you will select later on for main courses. In either wing there are tables for two, for four and for six. The dining room will offer you modern atmosphere through its blue mosaic tiles on the walls, minimalist furniture, and settled ambience lightings. A display of miniature fishing dhow and fishing tools complements the theme this restaurant want to deliver: modern seafood restaurant.

L'wzaar dining area is dominated by blue mosaic tiles, red minimalist seats and settled lighting

As soon as we sit at our preferred table, a waitress rushes in and presents us with side and drink menu book. He then explains what we need to do to order main course and what available in the menu book. For main course we need to go to the fish market at the corridor, select seafood we like, tell the attendant how much do you like and what type of cooking do we like to. Another attendant will paste barcode from the weighing on his paper and note down our table number.

Next to fish market is salad corner where you can pick any salads type you want. Back to the table we found that there were fresh veggies and breads as compliments.

It requires about 10 minutes for our drink to come and another 10-30 minutes for our side menu and main courses to be ready. It’s probably because we come with large groups (20 people) that they come late. I saw across the table that they ordered after us but theirs come earlier.

Now, let’s see how they are up to.

Black Pepper Crabs - L'wzaar Style

My order is black pepper crabs. It is well spiced, not salty. Just about right. No, may be little more black pepper will do. Then my wife’s order: sherry fish grilled. This one is also good. We can see it is well grilled not overcooked nor under cooked. Come with this is a small three-nook tray condiments.

Green Mussels

Another order we have is fried breaded prawns. For this one, the cook may over-salt the prawn although it is tasted fresh. We also ordered a bowl of seafood fried rice. Although the serving is less (compared to Noodle House), its taste is comparable.

This one is mouthwatering order!

I also happened to try my friend’s order and found that mixed seafood and tepanyaki prawns were good also. I think I should try these next time.

Apart from small incident where my friend’s order of red snapper was not as per his order, the service given by its waitress is top notch: they are responsive, attentive, and personal.

L’Wzaar needs to be commended for its service, its food, and its environment. Though it is located on Katara Beach promenade L’wzaar doesn’t provide outdoor dining seating, unfortunately.

Will come back next time? Sure! As my friend put it: “….Bandar Djakarta* discovered in Doha”

*Bandar is a seaside seafood restaurant in Ancol Bay City, a resosrt destination located along North Jakarta’s waterfront

Final Verdicts:

- Food      4/5

- Service    4/5

- Environment    4/5

Sample of total damages (in QAR):

Tom Yam Kung                  28

Corn & Crab Soup            29

Mixed Seafood                 75

Seafood Fried Rice          28

Steamed Rice                    12

Tepanyaki Prawn             62

1.81kg FM Red Snap       99.3

0.53kg FM Green Mussel              40.45

0.94kg FM Sherry             36

1.72kg FM Shrimps          181.8

0.54kg Lagoon Crab         81

Evian 750ml        20

Juices    12

Teas       8

Information:

L'wzaar is located at the new hotspot in Doha: Katara

 

L’Wzaar Seafood Market

Building 27 Katara Cultural Village, Doha

Telp: +Tel : +974 4408 0710 / +974 4408 0711  |  Fax : +974 4408 0722 

Website: http://www.lwzaar.com (soon online as of 13 Jan 2011)

Email: Info@lwzaar.com

Coordinate: 25 21’31.51″N 51 31’35.44″E

Opening Time:

Sun-Wed: Lunch 12.00-15.00 Dinner 19.00 – 23.00

Thurs-Sat: Lunch 12.00 – 16.00 Dinner 19.00 – 00.00