T.G.I.F
1239 Nepean Hwy,
Westfield Shoppingtown,
Southland
Tel: 9584 9597

Eating in TGI's always brings me down a trip to memory lane. I've always felt that the TGI concept here is slightly different from the one back home, although their level of service, (sadly) is the same.

For appetisers, it was a toss up between half a dozen of Loaded Potato Skins or Chicken Nachos. After repeatedly asking one another "Why don't you choose the appetisers?", we settled for playing Scissors, Paper, Stone whereby the winner has to choose. We ended up with this -

TGIF's Three-For-All

So I did end up having some Loaded Potato Skins, which I thought were pretty average. TJ was disappointed to find that the bacon bits have been tossed unevenly to one side, although you can't really tell from the photo.

The Pork Riblets were not bad, and the amount of sweet glaze was just nice. I thought it was a bit odd how they served it with BBQ Sauce though. I would've very much preferred a serving of their glaze so I can add more flavour to the ribs :B

I've always enjoyed TGI's Bleu Cheese dips. Friends have always complained that it smells really bad, but when you dip the Buffalo Wings and celery in it, it's simply sensational! Yum! My only complaint here is that the dip was lumpy this time round. It's not meant to be like that :(

Before we could finish the appetisers, our mains came. I decided to be a bit more adventurous this time round and tried the Buffalo Chicken Salad. The dish was essentially grilled buffalo-glazed chicken breast served over crisp romaine, topped with Colby cheese, pico de gallo, and a Jalapeño Bleu Cheese dressing.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I must admit that the salad was rather.. interesting. The salad was drenched in dressing, which made it a challenge after a few bites. On a random note, I only managed to spot 1 jalapeño in the whole salad. Ok, I know it said Jalapeño dressing, but you would've thought there'd be more jalapeños than that! The grilled chicken was on the dry side, which helped since everything else was soaked.

World Famous TGIF's Peppercorn Burger

TJ ordered a Peppercorn Burger, which is supposedly 'World Famous'. The chips were not bad, but the burger was slightly distorted. The meat patty is much smaller than the onion/bacon/lettuce toppings which made the burger resemble an hourglass. The burger was disappointing, as it was quite dry.

When we were finished with our meal, the waiters promptly came over to take away our plates and offered us dessert. We were sorely tempted, but too full to stuff anything else into our mouth and politely declined.

We sat around for a while before deciding to pay the bill, and this is the one thing that I can never quite understand about TGI's. Almost everytime when we wanted to pay up, no one seemed to come by to give us the bill. We literally stood next to the POS machine just waiting for someone to come and punch in the bill, but waitresses who saw us just casually decided to dismiss us and serve existing customers. The number of times we could've gotten a free meal by walking out.. too bad I have a conscience :(

TGI's Booth Area

: Ratings :

• Service: 6/10 - It was ok, but I wish they'd pay a bit more attention to us at the end.
• Food: 6/10 - The appetiser was not bad, but the mains were a bit of a tough call. TJ had the Peppercorn Burger elsewhere which was actually pretty good, but they didn't do it so well in this outlet. There's also a healthier version of my salad which opts out one of the dressings, so it might be worth trying! (unless of course you like really drenched salads)
• Layout: 6.5/10 - The decor in general has always had the same TGI's touch which gives off a fun and unique touch. My only gripe here would be that the booth tables are too small! We had to eat so carefully with the appetiser and 2 mains on the table to make sure nothing falls off..
• Overall: 6.5/10 - IMO, TGI's could have performed much better, but the inconsistency of the service and food may be a bit of a turn off!