Cycle 16 – Item 74
Post 5,553
20 (Thu) March 2025
Garlic Ribeye Steak with (Creamy) Smoked Cauliflower
2.5
(Siheung Premium Outlet Mall)
-Baegod, Siheung, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-
solo
In the afternoon, I was at Chadwick International to support author-illustrator Yangsook Choi’s visit by arranging book sales during the book signing session.
I had first met Yangsook during her visit to Dwight last year (see 15.048 Lunch).
Afterwards, I stopped at Siheung Premium Outlet Mall (to shop for a wallet) (at Tumi).
Before heading home, I dropped by Outback Steakhouse for a beer (I was driving, so just 1 beer – relax). In light of my recent (net positive) experience at Outback (different branch) (see 16.042 Toowoomba Pasta), I stuck around for dinner.
Incidentally, the menus between the Seocho vs Siheung branches are strangely inconsistent. For example, Seocho has many more pastas, including the signature Toowomba Pasta, which Siheung doesn’t have but instead offers a more premium Truffle Toowomba Pasta. Seocho had pepper steak but not garlic ribeye, and vice versa. But they both have the Tomahawk 7 Premier Edition at 335,000 won, which I’m gonna have to try somewhere, someday, just for the absurdity of it.
Whereas steaks come with a choice of “premium side,” I was curious about the Smoked Cauliflower – can’t recall ever seeing cauliflower on any menu in Korea. But I didn’t want it if creamy. The thumbnail of the dish in the menu was unclear. I called the server for clarification.
Me: Does the cauliflower come in a cream sauce?
Server: No, just a sprinkle of cheese on top.
Later, when the steak was served, the cauliflower came smothered in cream. I called the server – the same one, just minutes earlier – for clarification.
Me: The cauliflower has cream.
Server: Yes, a little bit!! Isn’t it yummy?
I know the exchange must seem fictionalized in some way, because it sounds impossible, but it’s 100% true.
Anyway, she was cute, and the cream wasn’t really the problem, so I let it go.
The steak itself was okay. Tender. Good beef flavor, enhanced with the char of the grill. Roasted garlic cloves were nicely done, pairing well with the meat, but the dried/dehydrated garlic chips were weird and entirely unnecessary. If only they could improve everything around the steak.
(See all GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See all RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)