PJ's Steaks, West End, Brisbane

October 21, 2014

Philly cheesesteaks has gone back as far as we can imagine it to, reminds me of those street hotdog vendors in America in which you would see basically everywhere. Since the American feel has been booming here in Brissie, I do have to say, sometimes you don't really need the up-end restaurants to have a decent hearty or that American authenticity taste. Located in West End, PJ's Steaks do serve your freshly baked roll filled with rib eye fillet with assorted ingredients or toppings, and of course, topped up with cheese.

Entrance to PJ's Steaks

Menu is chalked out on a blackboard behind the counter, with a wide range of different hotdogs or cheese steaks you may choose from, they also do have their special of the day and also their sides. If you do come by during lunch, they also offer Lunch Specials too. We were actually expecting Philly Cheesesteaks, like Philadelphia cheese but sadly they didn't have that. However, they did have a range of cheeses that you could choose from; American Cheese, Provolone, Cheddar Cheese and Stinky Cheese.

We started off our meal with 'Onion Rings' ($6) which consisted of around 10 various size onion rings. Its batter was well made, the right amount of salt and thickness too, allowing the simple taste of the onion to appear, oh and the crunch of course..

Onion Rings

With these kind of food, I do like the simple ones (as you can tell by the picture above, by not ordering the big filling cheesesteaks) because I tend to find that the more you put in onto the dish, it just kind of ruins the traditional and authenticity feeling of it, it's more like you're trying to taste every bit of every thing on it, with you actually missing out on the real taste. Simple is sometimes.. well, can be mostly.. better than the one that has been wow'ed up. All cheesesteaks comes in a standard 8" Italian roll freshly baked..

'Mushroom Steak'

'Mushroom Steak' ($11.8) had Wagyu meat, mushrooms, fried onion and your choice of cheese in which I chose the Provolone cheese on an Italian roll. Provolone cheese is an Italian cheese made from cow's milk which originates from the Southern part of Italy. Two bite sized onion rings were also placed on the side of the cheesesteak which was quite a rather cute touch of the meal.

The combination of the simple 'steak and cheese' is something in which you can't figure out why it taste so good when you take a bite. The melted cheese just gives it that extra touch of goodness whilst the steak makes the dish seem very meaty. It wasn't as filling as I thought it would be, along with the fact that I did see some diners eating two so maybe it may not be filling to some depending on how hungry you are I guess.

'Original Cheesesteak' ($9.9) consisted of wagyu meat, fried onions, your choice of cheese again in which this time he chose Cheddar cheese, all on an Italian roll. Again, two bite sized onion rings accompanied the sub. A much simpler cheesesteak but not so much different than the Mushroom Steak since the only difference, was that one had mushrooms, whilst the other one didn't. However, both were equally filling and delicious. The sub was slightly toasted which was nice instead of having a really soft roll.

Although the price tag and the 8" sub may fill up some people's tummy, some do leave still feeling hungry, so you may have to order sides along with it but I guess that with the sides price tag, you would be rather off buying an extra Original Cheesesteak if you add a dollar or two more. If you are looking for American food, quick and simple, I do have to say that PJ's Steaks have given this, but I'm not sure everyone may have the same opinion. I did expect American portions before coming here but did not get those portions.