Toscana - Sherwood Hotel Taipei

Address: 111 Min Sheng E Road, Sec.3,Taipei,Taiwan   台北市松山區民生東路三段111號

Telephone: (02)2718-1188 EXT.3001

Hours: Breakfast: 7:30AM-10:30AM; Lunch: 11:30AM-2:30PM; Afternoon Tea: 3:00PM- 5:00PM
Dinner: 6:00PM-10:30PM; Brunch (weekends only): 10:00AM-2:30PM

For our caveman ancestors, I imagine there was no more glorious thing than the invention of fire.  Not necessarily for the ability to battle the elements, but really for the ability to cook meat.  Think about how excited they must have been to sink their teeth into a slab of whatever animal was running around at the time.  Somethings really don't change, since many of us still revert back into cavemen when we are talking about beautiful beautiful steaks.  That visceral reaction we get as that perfectly cooked medium rare steak is brought forth...salivating over the keyboard as I think about it.
Toscana really is more than just about the steaks however, as they have a menu full of other options plus a salad bar that is teeming with gourmet choices for you to chow down on.  But even as I say that, it sounds hollow even to my ears.. as steak was what I came here for, and it was steak I got.

Meat Options

 Lovely Room.

Free Bread!

Toscana is located on the first floor of the Sherwood Hotel in Taipei.  It is a very luxurious looking room with seating for 92 patrons.  I found myself here with my family on a Sunday evening, and while when I arrived (6:30) the place was relatively empty, the restaurant filled up nicely as the night progressed.  

As you enter through the double doors, you will immediately notice the all you can eat salad bar laid out for your dining and viewing pleasure.  It costs around 800NT, so it's definitely not cheap for something that most likely won't be your main course (although it easily could be), but there was a multitude of options available and seemed very fresh.

 A quick look at the salad bar.  Loved the quiche and cheese options.

Simple pizza.  Didn't get to sample it, as it was reserved for the kids.  

I didn't order the salad bar for myself, but I of course picked off the plate of those who did.  This might be frowned upon, but when you are about to pay upwards of 5000NT for a steak, eating some cheese, veggies and quiche seems justified.  I forced my sister to keep getting more and more goodies for me from the salad bar, because lets face it, pilfered food just tastes so much better.

The menu also has other options on it as well, much of it Italian.  From antipasti, soups, pastas, pizzas and other items.  I decided to share a sea urchin pasta with my nephew.

 Sea Urchin Pasta

 Carbonara Pasta

 Simple Green Salad.

Lobster Bisque

The pasta was cooked well, but the flavors of anything else were drowned out by the heavy heavy taste of garlic.  There was only a faint hint of sea urchin in the pasta, and overall I thought the dish of a bit of a failure.  The look of the pasta was a little bland as well.  The colors were not there, and in an establishment like Toscana, I expected a little more out of any dish that I would happen to order off of their menu.

 Dry Aged Bone-in Wagyu New York Strip (18oz, 3200NT)

Some Fixings.

The cuts of meat at Toscana are all dry-aged.  Dry aging beef comes at great expense as it involves hanging the beef and storing it in near freezing temperatures.  This can only be done with the very best cuts of beef, as the process requires meat with a large, even distribution of fat content.  The effect of dry aging is that the concentration and saturation of the natural flavor of the meat.  

The moisture is evaporated from the muscle, and the beef's natural enzymes break down the connective tissues in the muscle.  Enough of the biology lesson? Just know that this process results in an higher quality of beef that is more tender than it would've been.  More tender = more yummy = more money.  

Add the dry aging to already prime cuts of meat and you have just entered meat nirvana.  The above picture is of a Wagyu New York Strip, done medium rare.  It was the choice of a few people of the group and the meat was incredibly tender and of course full of natural flavor.  Not much sauce is needed to enhance the flavors of the meat, but they have some horseradish and mustard options available.

I also thought the mashed potatoes were delicious.  Light and airy and not clumpy whatsoever.  

 Some accoutrements

 36oz Dry Aged Wagyu T-Bone Steak (5000NT).

 Tenderloin Steak side.

Strip Steak side

Ahhh.. the star of most steak restaurants.  The 36oz dry-aged Wagyu T-Bone Steak.  What makes the T-bone steak so enticing is the fact that its comprised of two different types of beef, the larger is a strip steak, while the smaller side is the tenderloin.  

The tenderloin is typically the more desired side of the steak as it is probably one of the most tender cuts of beef there is.  The juices were oozing from the steak, and really, it was difficult not to grin manically as I started cutting into the meat.  There are those that like their meat to be slightly tougher, but I enjoyed the tenderloin cut much more.  While the strip side was also very good, it was no match for the tenderloin.  

There were small bits of the beef that were slightly burnt as we got nearer the T-bone, but that was negligible as far as the overall enjoyment of Toscana's steak.

 Nice dessert options.

Had to do it.

There are also smaller sizes available (24oz for the T-bone at 4500NT, 16oz for the NY Strip at 2850NT) for the steaks above as well as other cuts on the menu.  A dessert bar laden with all manners of sugary treats is also there for your eating delight.  To be perfectly honest, I still don't know how it works.  Meaning i'm not sure if its there for everyone, or only for those that ordered the salad bar, since everyone at our table just basically started in on the desserts without asking.  No one accosted us for this behavior, so I'd say... go ahead and behave the same way.

If I had to do it over again, I think I would have laid off on all the other menu options outside of the steak and added the salad bar onto my dinner.  As you can see, eating at Toscana will run you a pretty penny, but realize that you are getting excellent service along with excellent food.  Perhaps dining in this manner shouldn't be done on a day to day basis, but it is a great place for special occasions or just for when you're feeling especially ravenous.  

I would have liked a little more in the way of perhaps sauces for the steak or dressing up the dish itself.  But the extensive menu options, along with the bountiful salad bar more than make up for these other deficiencies. 

Overall Toscana Receives: 

-Til Next Time-