Burger 19: Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Burger

Outback Steakhouse is an Australian-themed casual dining restaurant chain, founded in 1988 in Tampa, Florida.  There are over 1,200 locations in 23 countries.  But why Outback Steakhouse?  Why do I add this restaurant on to my quest for the perfect burger?  There is always a reason for everything I do.  I began the burger quest in fast food chains in my immediate vicinity, then moved up to fast casual restaurants; now I am experiencing the casual restaurant burgers.  I have a list of potential burger spots that are listed as definite pit stops along my journey.  Since some of these stops are steakhouses, I thought I would begin the list of steakhouses in a similar way, and start with the "fast food of steakhouses". 

The Bloomin' Burger is a whopping 78 grams of fat (33 grams saturated fat) and 1,073 calories, cannot compare to the Aussie Cheese Fries that weigh in at 155 grams of fat (55 grams saturated) and 1,743 calories...but don't worry because we ordered those to go with the burger. 

The Bloomin' Burger: Bloomin' Onion petals, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and Bloomin' sauce. 

The Beef: The beef was cooked to order, and had a nice pink center.  After biting into this hunk of sodium...I mean beef (but c'mon, 2000 mg?), it had a somewhat pleasant taste.  The burger patty was a pre-formed piece of meat, but we weren't expecting handmade burgers at Outback, were we?   2 out of 4.

The Bun: The bun was toasted nicely, and had a glaze on the outside which really made a nice contrast since you had the crisp on the inside and the chew on the outside.  2 out of 4.

Beef to Bun Ratio:  The beef to bun ratio was disappointing.  The burger did not take up anywhere near the entire bun.  If I only ate bites where the burger was on a bun, and saved the bun that had no burger, I would've had at least one-third of the bun leftover with no meat on it.  My suggestion would be a larger burger, or a smaller bun.  2 out of 4.

Presentation:  This presentation is not going to score well.  I understand Outback's fries are one of the fattiest, worst foods you can eat, but I hate that you are only served a half of a handful on your plate.  At least put on a couple more of those fat sticks to make the plate look nice.  Otherwise it looks like the waiting staff was eating my food before they brought it to my table.  Also, the burger was lopsided and the onion petals were scattered randomly, more to one side than the other.  2 out of 4.

Cheese:  Do you see the corners of the cheese? Is the cheese added at the last second before being brought out? No parts of the two slices of cheese were melted on the burger.  When you see the corners of your typical yellow American cheese, something ain't right.  1 out of 3.

Sear:  The sear on this burger was decent.  It was grilled, not microwaved, and seasoned with 16 different spices in Outback's special blend seasoning.  2 out of 3.

Overall Taste:  What I tasted was the burger, the cheese, the bun, and a little of the onion petals.  The entire Bloomin' Burger concept is a scam.  It's a scam to put the Bloomin' name on yet another menu item, brand it with a reserved rights emblem, and add on 22 more grams of fat just by adding on super-fried onions and Bloomin' sauce.  While these 22 grams of fat are normally delicious on their own, the taste was hidden on this burger.  3 out of 5. 

BBSR:  14 / 27