Models pose with Outback Steakhouse food at The Plaza Seoul, July 11, 2017. Korea Times file

By Kim Jae-heun

The quality of food at Outback Steakhouse has been under criticism lately, as some people claim the Australia-themed family restaurant has seen a decline in food quality after its acquisition last November by bhc, Korea's second-largest fried chicken franchise. But the company flatly denied such claims, saying it will take legal action against anyone spreading "groundless" rumors.

"We did not change any of our recipes for Outback Steakhouse meals, but instead strived to offer the best quality food and services to maintain its reputation as a premium dining brand," a bhc official said. "Outbeak Steakhouse will take legal action to protect its customers from rumors circulating on internet communities that the steakhouse franchise has downgraded food quality to cut costs."

Bhc refuted every single criticism raised at dcinside.com, the country's largest community portal site that is visited by 3 million people per day.

One of the posts uploaded on Monday showed a picture of Outback's "Gimme Five" platter with a comment saying the Aussie Cheese Fries had been replaced with cheese sticks. It further alleged that Outback seems to have used cocktail shrimp for its Toowoomba Pasta and had been microwaving ribs before serving them. The poster also claimed the Fruit Ade drinks no longer use extracts of real fruit and they taste like fruit-flavored sparkling water.

This post went viral instantly with more than 1,000 commenters sharing their own experiences.

"It is not true that we used cocktail shrimp for our Toowoomba Pasta and that we did not cook our ribs on the grill. Also, we replaced the Aussie Cheese Fries with cheese sticks due to a global potato shortage," a bhc official said. "Cheese sticks are more expensive than Aussie Cheese Fries, so it is wrong to claim we are trying to cut costs with them."

Customers also complained over the earlier ending time for the lunch period, from 4 p.m. to 3 p.m., when Outback offers special prices for its food.

However, bhc said the hours were reduced as a countermeasure that the company came up with after its employees complained of a heavy workload during the lunch period.

"We do not want our employees to suffer from groundless rumors online that depreciate the value of Outback Steakhouse's brand," a bhc official added.