The theme park resorts in the Orlando area provide many culinary options. While highly themed restaurants have arrived and disappeared in many locations, they survive and sometimes thrive in Orlando. Even places with below-average food but heavily themed survive in Orlando like T-Rex Café or Planet Hollywood. The highly themed music-based restaurant options in Orlando often offer similar menu options. I noticed this while visiting the House of Blues at Disney Springs and Hard Rock Café at Universal Orlando CityWalk. Both places offer a “Steak Salad.” Today, I will present the pros and cons of each so you can decide which one wins in this food battle. For insurance purposes, I must mention that no food or people will be harmed in this battle.

Our first competitor stands in as the Steak Salad from the House of Blues.

This steak salad cost $20. This salad comes with USDA Prime steak, mixed field greens, cherry tomatoes, toasted almonds, blue cheese crumbles, red onion, cucumber, and balsamic vinaigrette. If looking for a traditional entrée salad, this will not look like one. The presentation with the steak on the side might throw you off. I knew it did to me when I had this back in August. However, the steak quality exceeds normal expectations to go with a salad entrée. The salad itself presents an ordinary level of flavor. When reviewing this previously, I compared this to being a steak dinner without potatoes. Though House of Blues does not list the amount of steak with this salad, my guess would be between 6-8oz of steak.

In contrast, Hard Rock Café declares the amount of steak in their version.

The menu description reads “8oz grilled steak on a bed of fresh mixed greens tossed in a blue cheese vinaigrette, with pickled red onions, red peppers, and Roma tomatoes, finished with crispy shoestring onions and blue cheese.

Crumbles.” This one cost $20.99. Since more people have access to discounts at Hard Rock Café, I would consider this $1 higher price insignificant. You should note that Hard Rock Café does not promote USDA Prime steak with their salad. For whatever reason, the steak does not taste as good at Hard Rock Café in comparison to the House of Blues version. Yet, this salad looks like a salad. You do not have to construct a make-your-own salad like at House of Blues. Also, the salad ingredients provide more supporting flavor with this Hard Rock Café one. The portion size overall rates noticeably larger (at least when I ordered it) with the Hard Rock Café option.

In fairness, this battle, in my opinion, comes down to personal preference. If you want some quality steak with a salad, the House of Blues one wins. If desiring a more traditional entrée size salad with steak, then Hard Rock Café wins. I think this battle sadly ends in basically a draw. If I must decide, I will select the House of Blues version. Yet, even at these price points, both places offer a decent value for theme park resort table service dining. Also, if interested in a previous food battle over Dan Dan Noodles, click here. As always, eat like you mean it!