Tao Yuan Restaurant

It isn’t often I use the word «memorable» to describe a meal. Two come to mind — the Oyster Salad at Nobles Grill in Winston-​Salem, NC and the lamb at Boulud Sud in NYC. Last night’s farm to table dinner at Tao Yuan now joins that group. Each of the five courses was perfection. My favorites — the kale salad with smoked tofu, the lamb bun, the Merguez sausage and the brussel sprouts «bagna cauda.» Fortunately we got the wine pairing to go with the food and the choices were wonderful. So hard to believe that such a world class restaurant is located in Brunswick, Maine. How lucky are we?

Endlessly inventive, Tao Yuan is a gem of a restaurant. On the recommendation of some locals, we drove from New York for the chef’s tasting menu. From the zingy Asian slaw to the rich, mellow in-​the-​eggshell custard to the local pastrami on Chinese bun, course after course was as pleasing as it was surprising. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming with zero pretension. 5 stars all the way.

Across the board, excellent experience. We made a res which I recommend– it’s small and fills up quickly. Staff was knowledgeable, read the table well, and tastefully approached every single time. Food was superb– fresh, honest, and exciting. Highly recommend pork buns and Asian slaw. Drinks are of a higher caliber and creativity than any other Asian spot I’ve dined at. Price point is incredibly fair if on the low end for the quality you get. Thankful for the great experience– kudos Tao!

Great service, great atmosphere, fantastic food. Absolutely loved everything we had! Went with a party of six and all were amazed at the flavors we experienced. Bit of a wait for the cocktails but worth the wait.
Looking forward to my next trip to Tao!

Last night enjoyed the amazing chef’s sampler at Tao Yuan Restaurant in Brunswick. We missed a few of the first courses in the foodie photos but it was all quite tasty.
You must try their Asian Slaw, both beautiful and delicious!
#MElife #eatlocal #asianfusion

9 Buck Beer? Inexcusable! Superb food? Indescribable! We are so happy this place is here, NORTH of Portland where there are few diverse options as good. The pork buns are the star with the most amazing fresh explosion in your mouth. A Maine crab dish delish. And the slaw very nice. My friend didn’t want to do the tasting menu but 7 dishes for the two of us was more than enough food and the price is the same as or less than most fine restaurants in Portland. Very attractive place with a nice bar. Service was spot on and friendly but the sake overpriced just like the ridiculously expensive brews. PLEASE drop the beer price at least because it make you look pretentious on first glance!

Our anniversary dinner at Tao Yuan last night was wonderful. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was comfortable and inviting. We never felt rushed and really enjoyed the pace of the meal. We chose the chef’s tasting menu and it wasn’t just dinner, it was a two hour dining experience. We made our reservation a couple weeks in advance and they were kind enough to accommodate our request of no seafood. The cocktails were inventive (and strong) making them well worth the price we paid. Would love to go back and enjoy the tasting menu during another season.

Pretentious. The staff is excellent and attentive. The aura coming from the kitchen is its all about them. The customer needs to conform to their schedule. I was offered a new tasting menu at 5:45. Enjoyed my cocktail and at 6:15 said I would order the newly offered $ 48 tasting menu. I was told it was no longer available. It ended at 6, The food here is very good but not outstanding. There’s a big ego in the kitchen. I have been here 4 times and twice felt I would not come back again. This time it will stick.

Tao is a good restaurant but certainly not up to all the hype. The portions are very small and I have definitely had better dim sum in both New York and Boston, I found many of the dishes to be underseasoned and lacking in flavor. The service was very good and the wines that were paired with the dishes were excellent. Overall a pleasant experience but having gone there prepared to be wowed I must say I was disappointed.

Wonderful dinner starting with great inventive cocktails. All dishes were delicious — Asian slaw, tea smoked duck, pork buns, dumplings, sea bass and scallops. They recommend 3 – 4 dishes per person but you can easily get by with 2 ½ to 3 per person

Tao is an exceptional restaurant. Chef Cara Stadler is a James Beard Award semi/​finalist. My husband and I typically order «the blind try». The food just keeps arriving and you have the opportunity to try an assortment of foods, including dessert. Everything is prepared to perfection. The cocktails are excellent as well. One of my favorites!

Probably one of the better restaurants in Brunswick. Nice layout and friendly staff. Right next to the post office. Great deal at lunch: soup, salad and main course with tea for $ 12.50. Love the duck and pork dishes. Desserts are worth trying as well. They also have Green Flash beer on tap. Portions are kind of small but food is fantastic.

My husband and I are regulars here as we live about 15 miles away and love good food. I have tried food here that I would never try other places because I trust their expertise so much! Yes, it is on the pricey side but if you’re out for a great meal that shouldn’t be the focus. The waitstaff are terrific and remember us when we come in. If you are up for a great food adventure (that won’t leave you feeling overfull and gross) please try this place.

Have been to Tao a few more times recently with friends. Same comments as first review still apply; however, my friends and I all agree that the $ 9 beer price for local beer is offensive and worthy of us and others not visiting Tao or the new sister restaurant. The beer prices are much higher than any other restaurant in the area for the exact same beer and quantity. The bartenders and serves even seem to agree with customer comments that the beer prices are too high. Two stars still though as the food is great and staff is very good.

One of the best meals I have had BUT and this is a big BUT… their computer cannot separate tickets? We had 8 people which would have resulted in six checks. Our tab was nearly $ 800 but they could not split the check by patron. As the last one to pay, I ended up with nearly $ 50 more on my tab than my party had eaten. Get a better computer. This bitter end to an otherwise superb meal was so stupid when clearly there are computers at much less sophisticated establishments that do this all the time. I’ll go back, but not with a large party until this is fixed. Oh… and skip the coffee, or should I say coffee flavored water? It was weak, took way too long and for $ 4 for a cup… it should have been WAY better

If I lived closer, I would be a regular at Tao Yuan. We shared 7 dishes, plus dessert. I would happily order the exact same meal again, and I feel sure I would love the ones we didn’t try just as much. Each dish was completely unique and absolutely perfect. Can’t wait to go back!

My husband and I recently visited Tao for dinner on a weekday night. First, the pluses — restaurant is beautiful, nice décor and layout. The staff were on point, refilling water when needed, dishes coming out with great timing. I really like the menu layout, small bites to share. When you’re at a place like this you definitely end up wanting to sample so the menu lends to that.
But of course let’s get to the food. I gotta say, it didn’t blow me away. Maybe I’m not sophisticated enough to enjoy it, this also crossed my mind. Some of the items we had: fried goat cheese, lacked flavor, husb said tasted kind of like tofu. Chicken and rice underseasoned. Pork dim sum were pretty good, needed added hot sauce to make it work, and dumpling special was good. All in all I think we had 9 plates.
Overall, I wouldn’t likely pay that price again for dinner since I just thought it was okay. My husband has been for lunch and he says it’s much better but we’ll see. Guess I’m the odd man out on my feelings of Tao.

Great chef, unique and scrumptious meals, and wonderful service. I highly recommend this restaurant!

After hearing so much good press about this place, I finally got around to going here. I was not nearly as impressed as I hoped I would be, but it was still a very enjoyable meal.
Oysters were outstandingly fresh and briny. The lemongrass mignonette that accompanied them was nice, but a tad overpowering.
The Shu Mai was pleasant but not anything better than you can get frozen in an asian grocers. On the other hand the roast pork buns were very well done, yet were overpowered by the table soy/​vinegar dipping sauce that the server recommended… we ate them plain.
The scallop sashimi was boring. The scallops were decadently fresh, but the preparation did nothing to enhance or compliment them.
The stir fried cauliflower was excellent with delicious bits of their home made bacon.
The pork belly was divine, but much like the oysters, was much better on its own. The accompanying mung beans and greens were distracting and really did not add much to the dish.
The restaurant space itself was trendy and fun. The service was friendly and efficient yet quite rushed at times.

I rarely give a place 5 stars, but it is hard to find fault with Tao. It is LOUD, but if they were playing music, we didn’t hear it. Just the combined voices of other customers shouting to be heard across the tables from each other.
We each had the «Beet Yuzo Martini.» If you like slightly bitter drinks, as I do, this is the cocktail to order. I had two. I don’t know why they call it a martini; maybe because gin is one of the ingredients? It is served in a squat glass, not stemware. I have seen all sorts of concoctions served in the classic long stem cocktail glass named «martini.» Regardless of what they have named it, I will order it again on future occasions.
The food was all good. We like duck, so we tried both the smoked duck and the seared duck breast. Both were excellent. The Brussels sprouts were some of the best. The scallops came with an intriguing sauce. The Shao Mai was flavorful and didn’t need any dipping sauce. The Pandan panna cotta was as good as it gets.
Surprisingly, the one dish we probably won’t get again was the pork buns. We’re told they are one of the most popular items on the menu, and they’re good, but so many other dishes are better.