Wanted: Wild West Roadhouse Grill

MANILA, Philippines - The first two words of its name at once conjure up images of cowboys and cowgirls, outlaws (I shrink in fear as I think of the infamous Jesse James and Billy the Kid) and lawmen, and, yes, the Old Wild, Wild West that I knew from the immortal western movies I watched as a child. You’re probably more familiar with its old name — Texas Roadhouse Grill.  It’s now called Wild West Roadhouse Grill as it blazes new trails in 2014 and thrills guests anew with its new offerings that would have knocked the socks off Buffalo Bill.

“We really wanted to expand our horizons, thus the rebranding,” explains Laine Villar, marketing manager. “The old name Texas limited us and we wanted a wider platform for our culinary developments. We wanted to offer a better variety for our customers.”

Like a gang of cowboys and cowgirls, we gallop into the sleek saloon of Wild West Roadhouse Grill at Level 6 East Wing, Edsa Shangri-La Mall one fine day and get ready to attack the house’s old and new specialties. First on the most wanted list is The Great Ribeye, a humongous 12oz US rib-eye steak seasoned with herbs and garlic, and served with fresh veggies and mashed potatoes. Picture the bemustached Jesse James drawing his gun and gruffly ordering everyone, “Steak ’em up!”

Bound to be hands-down favorites are the new dishes that aim to please the hefty appetites of the “young guns,” the urban cowboys and cowgirls. Allrighty, here are some of them, folks:

1. Crispy pork bacon, made of lightly breaded bacon strips fried to a perfect crisp and dipped in garlic-vinegar sauce.

2. Mushroom sirloin steak, an eight-ounce sirloin grilled with the restaurant’s special seasoning and smothered with creamy mushroom sauce.

3. Peppercorn burger, a really beefy patty seasoned with peppercorn spice, bleu cheese dressing, onions, crispy onion strings, pickles, lettuce, and tomato; served with homemade fries.

4. Smoked cowboy chicken fajita, smoked chicken served with bell peppers and onions, mixed cheese, bacon, onion strings, and sliced jalapeños, and drizzled with honey chipotle glaze.

5. Southwestern tuna, which is tuna belly perked up with Southwestern spice and served with Wild West rice, kettle black beans, ranch dressing, pico de gallo Mexican salsa, and tortilla strips.

Not to forget are these sweet new additions, which would have melted even the hard heart of Billy the Kid — the brownie bars (drizzled with hot fudge and caramel sauce, and topped with whipped cream and cherry) and the mocha almond sans rival (with caramel sauce and walnuts, topped with mint leaves and crispy cinnamon tortilla tuile).

When you’re at Wild West Roadhouse Grill, you would naturally stick to the steaks. “Steak is still our core business, but to provide variety, we do have a selection of chicken and seafood dishes, pastas, and salads,” declares Laine. “We try to accommodate the dietary preferences of our guests as much as we can. Yes, we even have a kid’s menu.”

Wild West Roadhouse Grill has surely mastered the art of grilling, thrilling you softly with its fine choices of imported slabs of meat that are tender and juicy. “Because it’s good steak, we don’t put a lot of seasoning anymore, and we make sure we grill it right,” says Laine.

You’ll also go wild over the fact that at Wild West Roadhouse Grill, you can enjoy good steaks at reasonable prices. “Except for the rib eye, all our steaks are priced below P1,000,” Laine shares.

Among other meaty sheriff’s faves are the grilled US flat iron steak (served with roasted herb jus, sweet corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes); country style burger steak (half-pound juicy beef patty smothered with creamy brown sauce and topped with sautéed mushrooms); baby back ribs (a full rack of baby back ribs double basted with a special house BBQ sauce, and served with corn on the cob and fries); grilled pork chops; the Wrangler’s pork steak (two grilled pork steaks topped with melted Swiss cheese and drizzled with au jus; served with Wild West rice and fresh veggies);  grilled pork belly with sour-spicy vinegar dip;  stuffed pork loin with cheese and ham, topped with garlic cream sauce.

Other sheriff’s favorites (this sheriff surely has a damn good appetite) are the creamy Parmesan chicken, Outlaw’s Tuna Belly, shrimp and salmon skewers, Geronimo’s Seafood Pasta Marinara, and Parmesan crusted fish fillet.

I don’t really know if the cowboys of the Old West ate dessert, but they surely missed half of their lives for not having indulged in Wild West Roadhouse Grill’s decadent sweet treats: Cowboy Chocolate Cake, Mighty Oreo Mud Pie, the All-American Apple Crumble, and the new mocha almond sans rival with caramel sauce and walnuts.

In addition, the Wild West also brings in Mexican-inspired dishes like the well-loved Wild West Quesadillas (grilled chicken fajita, onions, and mixed cheese in buttery toasted tortilla served with salsa, sour cream, and diced tomatoes) and the Santa Fe Nachos (crunchy corn nachos topped with melted mixed cheese and served with salsa and sour cream).

Wild West Roadhouse Grill’s new dishes are inspired by cuisine from the American Southwest with that distinct blend of Southern and Western tastes infused with Mexican inspirations.

Did you watch the epic movie How the West Was Won? To paraphrase the title of that movie, now you know how the (Wild) West won over people’s taste buds. So, when you dine at Wild West Roadhouse Grill, Billy the Kid would have probably warned you to come armed with a really huge cowboy appetite.

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Wild West Roadhouse Grill has branches at Bonifacio High Street with telephone number 856-1547 and Shangri-La Mall with telephone number 655-3023. Like them on Facebook at Wild West Roadhouse Grill and follow them on Twitter  at Wildwestph and on Instagram at wildwestph.