My sweet buns are good but not what I expected

I was ecstatic when it felt like it was becoming easier to prepare the dough from scratch.  I don't have that feeling that there is something wrong with my dough.  This recipe was from a bakespace.com member and she got it from allrecipes.com.  I followed the ingredients and procedure properly but It did not come out as expected.  These buns are

supposed to be like what you can have from a steakhouse sweet buns/dinner rolls.  Instead, these came out to be buns that I can buy from a Filipino bakery called "pandesal".  I have no complaints about them, just did not expect the outcome.  I should try the Filipino pandesal recipe, it may come out like the sweet, very soft, buttery, American steakhouse dinner rolls. For those who are interested to use the recipe, here it is.

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter,softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
3 3/4 cups flour
1 package (.25) active dry yeast
1/4  cup butter softened
Directions:
1Place water and milk in microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute or until liquids reach (110 degrees F/45 degrees C). Pour liquids into mixer bowl; add sugar and still to dissolve. Add in yeast and let set for 10-20 minutes to proof (the mixture will be foamy).

- Attach the bowl to the mixer and mix on low speed adding the salt, butter and egg. Once well mixed add in the flour 1/4 cup at a time. Remove the paddle attachment and attach the dough hook. With the machine; knead the dough for 5-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

- Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into desired shape. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour. (You can place a bowl of very hot tap water in the bottom of your stove and place the rolls in on the rack above it). Gently brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Upon removing the rolls from the oven brush them with softened butter once again.

I will try to modify the recipe and see what happens and  I will also check other recipes online.