42 E 58TH St
New York, NY 10022-1910
Phone: (212) 888-2288
www.taorestaurant.com
This restaurant has been on my 'check out' list for almost a year. The main reason for my curiosity is mainly due to the fact that it is the top 1 most reserved restaurant in opentable.com. It has realm that spot for probably more than a year. I've read multiple reviews, it ranges from terrible to mediocre and even some at "OMG this place is the best, must try, bring ur friends, family, relatives, neighbors, and even your dog!"...goody. Most of the complaints revolved around the rushed service and occasional poor food. Some of the positive comments are about the trendy atmosphere and very rare praises on the food.
I've decided to make reservations for a 7:15pm friday date. Laura and I braved the rain, navigated to the weird location (yes, i'm direction blinded!) and finally arrived at the door step around 6:50. The entrance door was interesting, two wooden doors with iron ring knockers. The receptionist gave us a beeper/vibrator and told us we can wait in the bar/lounge area. The bar/lounge area was huge, they can probably fit another restaurant in there. It was fully packed with people, i suppose it is a cool happy hour place. I am not a big fan of bar/club environments but we sat down and waited for our table. We were seated rather quickly, definitely before our reserved time.
The restaurant scene:
A 16 foot tall Buddha looks over the entire restaurant, it has multiple levels but we didn't really get to see much of it. The layout and design was interesting, I'm fond of the Abacus wall frames..brings back memories.
The food:
Lots of varieties in the menu but I was a bit surprised that nothing really stood out. The options are more like a redefinition of some of the classic Asian plates instead of trying to reinvent it.
Here are the plates we ended up ordering:
We ordered three appetizers and two entries. Our appetizers came within few minutes of our order and they all arrived at the same time, that seems odd, no?? The plating and timing felt like these were all pre-made instead of made to order.
Satay of Chilean Sea Bass with Wok Roasted Asparagus $15
Two pieces of sea bass on top of 4 asparagus. This plate was actually pretty good, if it is a fish plate and Laura can eat it then it gets my thumbs up! But then again, sea bass is relatively easy to prepare and would be detrimental should any chief fail it. The sea bass was grilled and flavored with some sort of sweeten oyster sauce.Peking Duck Spring Roll with Hoisin Sauce $12
Who doesn't like spring rolls? Well, after eating this I don't like spring rolls! At least not from Tao. It was astonishingly heavy (weight) which raised suspicion. The crispy wrap was normal, however the inside was one or two pieces of duck filled with Hoisin Sauce/paste. The absurd amount of Hoisin paste created an extremely salty spring roll, it contributed to the weight. The duck sauce was not even sweet enough to compensate or balance the flavor. They could've left a better impression if they reduced the portion to bite size spring rolls because the first bite was good until u get swarmed by the Hoisin paste. WHY would anyone use bean spouts as a plate complementary?? They just seem so out of place. Avoid this plate if you don't want to wake up in the middle of the night multiple times to use the bathroom because you'll be drinking 20 cups of water afterwards!Satay of Chicken with Peanut Sauce $9
First impression when i saw this was "WTF?"...It was three small slices of chicken breast on skewers. The meat was as dry as paper and the peanut sauce was missing the peanut flavor! Like did they forgot to mash up the peanuts that are scattered on the plate or ran out of peanut butter??? Also they have these cucumbers as plate decoratives that looked like last week's left over. Worst plate ever.Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken $18
So that's where all the peanuts went! We ordered this plate without bean spouts, guess what? they left it on top RAW and with plenty mixed in with the noodles! The waiter apologized and quickly brought out another without them. This plate was normal in comparison to what you can find outside. For that price it better be.Hong Kong XO Shrimp with Long Beans and Jasmine Rice $28
This plate was a shocker because it contains huge jumbo shrimps and there are more than 4 of them! The XO sauce was a bit weak but it wasn't bad. The long beans were fried then stir fried over the sauce, similar style you would find in fast food restaurants. Rice is rice. This was probably the second best dish from the place. However it doesn't stand out in comparison to what you can get in ghetto chinese restaurants, flavor and price wise.We finished off with a Giant Fortune Cookie $10
This has very sweet white and dark chocolate mousse fillings. The fortunes were lame and it didn't contain lotto numbers. After such a meat it would've closed it off well if the giant fortune cookie given us a giant fortune! lolRatings:
Food - 2/5
We only bite into a small section of their menu but if what we have is any indication then the food quality is not as good as it could be. The aftermath of the hoisin paste spring roll lasted til the next morning.
Service/Atmosphere - 3.5/5
The place is trendy and full of people, might be a bit too noisy at times. Service was adequate so no complaints there.
Overall: 5.5/10
This seems to be a trend for most 'trendy' restaurants where they sacrifice or ignore food quality after they have established a name for themselves. This place is a nice place to check out with a date but don't go there to expect good food. This reaffirms that tons of people reserving a place doesn't mean it is good. A good restaurant in my option is where they strike a balance between good food and nice atmosphere. After all we are going there to eat and that should be the priority if they want us to walk away with fond memories or reasons for us to return and try other options in a sizable menu. For Tao, I don't think I want to go back for a second time, unless someone treats! lol
Bill
Two Soda $7
Satay of Chilean Sea Bass with Wok Roasted Asparagus $15
Peking Duck Spring Roll with Hoisin Sauce $12
Satay of Chicken with Peanut Sauce $9
Pad Thai Noodles with Chicken $18
Hong Kong XO Shrimp with Long Beans and Jasmine Rice $28
Giant Fortune Cookie $10
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Total: $99 (before tax and tip)
