The first time we heard that Tony Roma's(TR) is coming to town was through our kopitiam food forum. Some kind soul out there posted this good news for all to savour. You know, news like this, you can't keep to yourselves. You just can't. Sooner or later... you will burst out and tell someone.
The Foodster HQ was engulfed with joy. Some even reported that they saw a ring of rainbow somewhere in the office. Happy hallucinations. And then it came.... the news that no fan of TR would want to hear. No baby back ribs (the white meat kind ... no.. not fish.. the other white meat). There was confusion. A lot of confusion. It's like someone telling you that you've won a brand new Ferrari (we are not equating TR for a Ferarri here. Just to prove a point) but they are giving you a specially tuned engine that can only go up to 60 km per hour. But the engine is still made by Ferrari though. Huh? How does that work? Is that even possible?
Six months after TR's opening, we opened our minds a little and plugged a team of foodsters' that consists of kaki's who have been to their overseas joints such as Bangkok, Singapore and Los Angeles (Lets call them TEAM EXPERT) and kaki's who has not been to TR but are well versed with the Malaysian steak and ribs scene (Lets call them TEAM VIRGIN). We shoved them to TR's at Cineleasure to 'incognito' the onion loaf, beef ribs and the Tony Roma Burger. The mission was to find out whether can the beef ribs live up to the high expectations of baby back lovers and whether it was even worth going to a TR joint? No point in waiting further, here's the lowdown. To be fair, we'll show comments from both TEAM EXPERT and TEAM VIRGIN.
TR's onion loaf are huge spanish onion rings, breaded, fried and served with TR's BBQ sauce. You can get them in half (RM12.90) and full loaf portions. Errr... we didn't even finish the half a loaf! Sigh! And this comes from both teams. TEAM EXPERT reported that the onion loaf was a lot crunchier in the Singapore TR and the batter was finer which gives it a delicious crunch. The Cineleasure version has a courser batter. TEAM VIRGIN reported their loaf was a bit oily but the main thing is that they just can't figure out why this is one of their signature dishes. It was pretty standard. Then again, if you can't make up your mind, you can always try the Tony Roma's sampler which are taste portions of buffalo wings, potato skins and onion rings.
"Nice but the ribs are not superior to the ones from other franchises"
Take a deep breath. Next comes the Bountiful Beef Ribs. The Tony Roma Rack comes with three ribs and you can choose two sides from the nine on offer. We had a side of mash potatoes and tomato pesto. But it does not matter as it's the ribs that we are after. The rating by TEAM VIRGIN? Not bad. Portion is a bit small for the price (RM48.90 - RM68.90) but the beef ribs are tender and flavourful. You can taste the hickory smokey BBQ sauce that is normally a signature in these kinds of dishes. Nice but the ribs are not superior to the ones from other American joints or even some of the local ones who can actually go head to head with the ribs at TR. In the end, it will be down to personal choice. TEAM EXPERT shares the same comment with TEAM VIRGIN but adds that it is difficult to compare the pork based baby back ribs and beef ribs as they are different. Like comparing apples and oranges. But here's the thing, the beef ribs gets a rating between 'NOT BAD' and 'GOOD" whilst Singapore & Bangkoks' TR (pork) baby back gets rated an 'EXCELLENT' from TEAM EXPERT. So, you can see the difference here. Would TEAM EXPERT come back for the ribs? The consensus was that... "it depends whether I am in the mood for beef ribs and whether TR is near". Oh yes, the ribs comes with a choice of sauces from carolina honey, ridge smokies, red hots and original.
Weighing at 10oz of pure beef, the rib eye steak (RM53.90) was up next. This one came with corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Both teams rated this as 'comparable to the rest of the American franchises'. You'd want your steak done medium rare or medium to enjoy this cut at its best. We were fortunate that TR was promoting all their sauces and we were able to taste test them with this steak. Carolina Honey goes well with the rib eye steak. Oh gosh, indulge. Try them all and choose which ones you fancy.
We love the burger patties at Tony Romas. It is nicely grilled with juice oozing out from the side. Delicious. But...and yes there is a 'but'. We don't really get the why they had to put a raw onion ring on the burger, and the burger buns are a bit thin. The cheese melts are delicious and TR's burgers are probably worth at least one try. If you like desserts, then go for their Chocolate Avalance. Molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and Oreo crumbles.
From our point of view, TR is not offering anything different than what is already in the market. Granted, that they are trying really hard to differentiate themselves in the Klang Valley market, but it really looks like they are going to crowd in the same market as Chili's, TGIFs', Outback Steakhouse and the likes of that. Their service is really good though (currently). In the end, it will boil down to your personal preferences. Their main challenge will be to manage the high expectations from their fans who had overseas experience dining at a TR franchise. We noticed that TR opens up at places where there are not many restaurants serving decent steaks in the area. If you've not already noticed, their competitors, or at least the savvy ones have responded to the competition by having new menu's and improved dishes. So TR have their work cut out for them. Anyway, for us still craving for the baby back ribs, thank god for Checkers....
More Photos To Drool On
Sticky ribs, some say the original version is better. What do you think?
took some time for us to get seats,
but eventually the food came n it was fantastic,the onion loaf was good,the ribs was also fulfilling.
abit pricey but i'd come back again for the ribs
by asmanSeptember 19, 2007 10:04PM
My experience is TR was a disaster. Service was bad. Onion loaf was good, but the chicken tenderloin was terrible. Worse of all I had food poisoning that night itself (can't be sure if TR's the culprit, though). Rib was good, but too pricey (RM50 over for 3 small pieces).
by BunnySeptember 19, 2007 5:30PM
If only Chili's and TR's could open dedicated non-halal restaurants. Both chains are famous for their baby back ribs and its the one thing we cant get here! Failing which, I wish that Chili's would open a non-halal chain in Singapore. I want my babyback, babyback, babyback...
by asian-malaysianJuly 05, 2007 4:50PM
I guess that this is good for customers as there are now more choices. Was expecting Tony Romas to offer something different than the rest. Steaks are not bad but not excitingly better than any other american restaurant franchise in KL.
by dim dimJuly 02, 2007 4:28PM
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took some time for us to get seats,
but eventually the food came n it was fantastic,the onion loaf was good,the ribs was also fulfilling.
abit pricey but i'd come back again for the ribs
by asman September 19, 2007 10:04PM
My experience is TR was a disaster. Service was bad. Onion loaf was good, but the chicken tenderloin was terrible. Worse of all I had food poisoning that night itself (can't be sure if TR's the culprit, though). Rib was good, but too pricey (RM50 over for 3 small pieces).
by Bunny September 19, 2007 5:30PM
If only Chili's and TR's could open dedicated non-halal restaurants. Both chains are famous for their baby back ribs and its the one thing we cant get here! Failing which, I wish that Chili's would open a non-halal chain in Singapore. I want my babyback, babyback, babyback...
by asian-malaysian July 05, 2007 4:50PM
I guess that this is good for customers as there are now more choices. Was expecting Tony Romas to offer something different than the rest. Steaks are not bad but not excitingly better than any other american restaurant franchise in KL.
by dim dim July 02, 2007 4:28PM
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