Western cuisine = steak

It's been a while since I last met up with a couple of friends for a meal, and we all happened to be around tonight.  Someone was in the mood for beef, maybe because we had such a horrible experience together a few months ago.  Since Danny & Co. was not free, we decided to head to Robin's Grill at the Grand Formosa Regent.

It's a Sunday night, and the place was doing brisk business.  As I'd realized a few months ago, for many people in Taiwan having a "Western" meal still means having steak for main course.  Well then, might as well go straight to a steakhouse...

There was an amuse bouche of smoked salmon roll with caviar.  Ho-hum.

I started with the salad bar, which had a really nice and pretty selection.  There was also the cream of mushroom soup, which tasted pretty good until I decided to knock over the bowl and spill the remainder on the table...

The three of us shared a 40-oz. Angus ribeye, which we asked for medium rare.  I thought the meat was pretty decent - there was enough fat to make it tasty, and it wasn't overdone.  I was happy, and even picked up the bone with my hands to work on it.  Good stuff.

The desserts at the salad bar were OK, but nothing to write home about.

Strawberry macarons - one look at these and we all knew they would FAIL.  Sure enough, these were pretty dense and chewy.  One of us took one bite and put it down...

1999 BOND Matriarch - minty, metallic, sweet, a little smoky with grilled meats.  I've had this wine a few times, so no surprises here.