Tony Roma (Perth)

In general
I knew Tony Roma’s was not going to be a very vegetarian friendly restaurant. However, my two previous dinner outings with my family had been to a strictly vegetarian restaurant and a Japanese restaurant. My father is very much a simple meat and mash kind of guy, so to compensate for the lack of steak in the previous two outings, we headed to the land of big ribs and coleslaw. Put simply, Roma’s does not even try to accommodate vegetarians, so be aware that you’ll be taking one for the team if your meat eating consorts decide to go here for dinner.

The food
We ordered the onion loaf to share for our entree. We decided as a group that this unique creation was somewhat like Hungry Jack’s onion rings, except it tasted far better. Even the meat eaters went away talking about the onion loaf rather than their ribs and steaks. In regards to mains, the only vegetarian options were salads, and expensive salads at that. I loathe having to order salad for a main when out to dinner. I’m very much a tofu or pasta type person. I ended up ordering the Caesar salad, as it was the only salad that didn’t contain meat to begin with. Put simply, it was a bowl of lettuce. A $14.90 bowl of lettuce with parmesan and Caesar dressing mixed through it with a few croutons thrown in. To be fair, the menu described exactly what I was given, yet I was still flabbergasted that it was more or less a big bowl of lettuce. My friend noted that “you may be taking one for the team here, but that is just ridiculous.” Perhaps the only positive thing I could say was that the dressing was definitely above average. It is offered as a side as well, so if you find yourself being dragged along here, perhaps ordering two side dishes instead of a main might be a better option.

Atmosphere/Service
Our waiter had a thick accent and her understanding of English was limited. This wasn’t a big deal; it just meant having to repeat a few orders and worrying whether she had taken everything down correctly. In her favour, she was exceptionally pleasant. The other quirk was when we asked for water we had a waiter come around with a jug and individually pour our water for us. Not being a high end restaurant, we would have just preferred the jug placed at our table for us to pour at our own convenience. The feel of the restaurant was quite American, with the big screen TV airing ESPN, which is obviously attributable to where this chain developed. In general, it felt more like a place to get boisterous with mates than enjoy a family dinner.

Food 4/10
Value 1/10
Service 6.5/10
Atmosphere 6/10