Has there ever been any situation where someone has stuck their chopsticks in their rice? Why would anybody do that?
Yup, I used to do that when I was younger. I had no idea that was a rude thing to do until people started telling me I shouldnāt do that.
Why? So the chopsticks wonāt accidentally roll off the table onto the floor.
I stand corrected. And surprised.
Iāve probably done it at some point (or at least, I remember being told a few times it was impolite, otherwise I guess it wouldnāt have come up). I donāt think I cared much about it being perceived as impolite though. 
Iāve also never openly criticized Asians about their use of knives and forks, even when it was patently ridiculous, like stabbing a slice of pizza with a fork and moving their head down to table level to slide the pizza into their mouth (China). Live and let liveā¦
He didnāt say if he bought the coffee or not.
Anyways Iām still curious what favor did she do for OP that only took an hour that leads to an expensive Michelin star restaurant date to repay said favor.
He was just trying to be a ābig wheelā and instead he came up flat.
Live and learn.
The favor was probably small enough to warrant a coffee at Starbucks.
Itās because when you stick chopsticks into the rice it looks like an offering to the dead (which is usually a bowl of rice). And Chinese people are afraid of anything that has a passing resemblance of death.
If we were in a major city in the US I might agree that there are better steak options, but in Taiwan where people generally donāt know how to do steak, Iāve not found anything better than major American chains like Ruthās Chris and Lawryās.
And yeah, theyāre out of my regular budget, too. Itās a once or twice a year kind of thing for me, which is why there are apparently still places like Dannyās that I havenāt tried. Itās hard to justify the risk in that price range when there are dependable standbyes.
It might have been only a few minutes actually
Yes JUST coffee
,anything else you are on your own
Well Iāve only been there three times so far and all on someone elseās dime but even so I didnāt like the steaks even if I didnāt pay And that is saying something I think
I donāt see what the fuss is about for sure
We are all aware of this.
I did on my first day in Taiwan.
Same reason as @keoni said. I didnāt want it to roll of onto the floor nor I wanted to place it on the dirty table.
I got dirty look from an A-ma and a lesson from a friend.
I wouldnāt call it a āfuss.ā Iād just call it a good-quality properly cooked steak, like youād expect to get at a steakhouse in the US. They are really hard to find here, in my experience.
Iām in California and I meant the fuss compared to
other steak houses here also in California
It is not better not worse but not better doesnāt live up to the hype
This is a forum dedicated to Taiwan, and we were discussing restaurants in Taiwan. Compared to the other options here, trust me, itās good. I agree that in the US it would just be another decent steakhouse. Iāve never eaten at one in the US and am not sure why I would. I didnāt realize it was āhypedā in California. Seems odd for such a massive chain.
Yeah itās got a good following among the people I know
Small sample though
We have one in Walnut Creek and the one in SF closed due to the virus
A lot of restaurants big and small good and bad went under
As for Taiwan Iāve always liked the steaks at a decent teppanyaki
Iām not sure itās still there and I forgot the name but there was some ozzzie style place where they put a hot stone in front of you and a raw
Steak and you cook it yourself
I liked the fact the steak came first then the bread ,salad and soup and then desert and coffee
It was in tienmu
Iām sorry to hear the one in downtown SFO closed. That was the last time I went to one and it was exactly what I needed. I had flown in for the funeral of a childhood friend and spent the afternoon with my friendās family in Oakland. It was a grim day. Another close friend who had flown in from the east coast and I decided to toast our buddy that night and we made our way to Ruthās Chris for no particular reason. I donāt remember the food exactly given other things on our minds, but we were well satisfied.
I post about Ruthās Chris over here
While I have no beef (har!) with Ruthās Chris in Taipei, I find going to Le Blanc much easier to reach. The steaks are not prepared the same way but I can expect a hearty meal in both
For birthdays, Iāve taken my kid to Mortonās - another fine steak in my opinion that is also really easy to reach by MRT
Mortonās is what I meant to say earlier when I said Lawryās. Ruthās Chris and Mortonās are my standbys here when I want a good steak and donāt mind paying for it.
Itās not really.