TAO

The only positive thing I can say about this place is the décor. For such sky high prices, the service is slow and inattentive, and the food is mediocre and inauthentic. This is basically an overpriced PF Changs. Everything is fried, salty, and loaded with sugar.
The electronic music they have playing is deafening and incredibly annoying. I’m a fan of EDM and the likes, but this just sounds like a loop of bad 90’s techno.
Also, be careful with the Tao Salad — it’s incredibly spicy, and the menu doesn’t indicate this.

I have a love hate relationship with Tao. This place has such amazing amazing amazing food but such expensive expensive expensive food as well.
I have stepped into Tao more times than I like to admit. I have been here for dinner and would love to check out brunch one day. Tao is absolutely amazing. The ambience is one of a kind and the décor is amazing. It is more of a classy place so a lot of people do get dressed up, but you can walk in however you like. They really don’t kick anyone out.
My favorite items from the menu are:
Rock shrimp lettuce cups
Spicy tuna rolls
Sausage fried rice
Amazing! They also have the Elixir drink which is a huge drink (you will get drunk). It is quite expensive but that’s because it is not just one drink, it probably would be two drinks if you measured it out.
So why did I take off one star??? Because of the price! For a place that I am a regular at, it sucks that it is so expensive. I hate that I love their food and everything about them. now if only I could replace Tao with some other restaurant — pretty much impossible.

Service is good. Food is good. Great idea to try the lunch menu and share it with everyone. Positions are large and enough to share.
Bathrooms are cool so make sure you check them out before leaving. Only concern is the fish… Yes the actual live fish. They are huge and in the smallest tank. Some are upside down and sideways and look miserable. This place screams Buddha and yet his mission is love and treat animals humanely. Please change this.

We went here before watching a broadway show. The place is huge and very gorgeous interior. We ordered the Spicy tuna tartare on crispy rice and the Chilean seabags satay. Both were really good but the Sea bass satay is just to die for. For entrée we had Peking duck for two which was amazing and huge serving enough for 3 people. The duck skin was so crispy and tasty. We finished the whole thing it was that good. The only down side is the desert we had a mango sorbet which was overly sweet. Overall I would recommend this place just for the Peking duck and Chilean Sea Bass alone. I would definitely comeback.

Love TAO. It’s all about that ambiance. Seriously though – how did they get that Buddha in there?! They must have built around it. Great place for couples or a celebration like a birthday.
First off, drinks. TAO-​Tini for me! I’ll take 3. All of the martinis are awesome but the signature is my fav.
As for the food – pricy, but good. Filet mignon pepper steak ;) Do it. Also love the rock shrimp lettuce cups! Pecking duck spring rolls were good too.
DON’T DARE LEAVE WITHOUT THE DESSERT SAMPLER. OR AT LEAST HAVE THE FORTUNE COOKIE!
Love Ya, TAO.

I’d forgotten id actually been here in my pre-​Yelp days. And after last night it was pretty much the same impression I had back then. Underwhelmed!
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing terrible about this place but there’s nothing great either. Food is just ok, and the ambience is like is trying to be a club.

DEELISH!
We ate family style and everything was amazing.
Chilean sea bass was to die for!
Coconut shrimp was good
Duck egg rolls
Tuna steaks
Chicken satay
All very good
The Lychee Martinis were good
Tempura Banana pudding delicious
Lemongrass crème brûlée just ok prob wouldn’t recommend that one item
I LOVE the ambiance and the giant Buddah. A very cool atmosphere
Would definitely recommend

I’ve been here a couple of times like years ago! It’s so busy.
Décor is very nice
Food was good (pricy)
The birthday dessert was really good!

I love this place as I am a huge fan of ambience and vibe. I’ve never been here and not seen it packed– not in a claustrophobic way though. I suggest making a reservation prior to coming especially if you will be attending with a large group. This place is very trendy with rather good looking people.
Cocktail 4÷5− I had the lychee martini. I love cocktails-​especially when they are mixed to perfection.
Starters 4÷5− The hot and sour soup with shrimp soup was just perfect. I absolutely recommend the spicy tuna tartar on crispy rice. It was soooo good that we had seconds.
The satay chicken with peanut sauce wasn’t my favorite. It’s not something I will be craving for.
Entrees 5÷5− The chicken pad thai was delicious. My favorite entrée from there is the seared New York sirloin with shiitake mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. It’s so flavorful.
Dessert 5/​5= Last but not least, we ordered the huge fortune cookie. This will not disappointed.
Overall, service was great. Price is a little exorbitant for your average Asian cuisine but it won’t burn a hole in your pocket. I would most definitely come back here especially for the spicy tuna tartar on crispy rice. Yum!

This is one of my top 5. favorite restaurants! Everytime I’ve gone they never disappointed me. It’s great because you can go or a simple afternoon break and dine on some amazing lunch at affordable prices or get fancy and dressed up and impress someone at dinner. Either way your going to enjoy the food. Very flavorful and all the favors run well together.
Best appetizer lobster wonton! I literally get it everytime I go.
Best fish dish– Chilean sea bass… Your belly will thank you :-)

Amazing spot in midtown east. I usually venture off to the downtown location, but decided to try this location instead. You still get the Tao décor and vibe, but a little laid back compared to the downtown location. I actually prefer it because you can enjoy your meal and talk with your friends.
Besides the Amazing ambience Tao is known for the food is amazing! I don’t remember being that memorable, but last night hit the spot. Must haves to order:
Egg rolls even if you don’t like egg rolls like myself, get these. They are huge and delicious.
Rock shrimp lettuce cups
Orange chicken– packed with flavor
Vegetable fried rice
Lo mein– we substitute pork for beef which I recommend.
Desert wise don’t get the fortune cookie unless you want it for picture purposes. Get he molten chocolate cake! Beyond amazing. Banana pudding is also great and good portion.

I’ve been to TAO (Uptown Location) a few times and every time was a great time. The hostesses and bartenders have always been great. My personal favorite is the Orange Chicken. They have great drinks and the desserts are amazing. So definitely save room for dessert. As a women, my only complaint is that their bathroom is two flights downstairs, which absolutely sucks in heels. But besides that, I love it.
Also, make sure you try to get a table upstairs. You’ll thank me later!
Instagram Blogger: @NYCLifeByNadia

Went to Tao Uptown in May 2015.
Great service, super friendly staff, nice ambiance, and good food. I skipped the appetizers, for my entrée I ordered the Soy Ginger Glazed Salmon with Udon Noodles and Spinach. For dessert, my friend and I shared the crispy fuji apple blossoms with Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream.
Their prices are on the expensive side for the portions. I get that we are paying for the name and the experience. Overall we did not have any issues with our food or service.
I ended the night with two cocktails called the Pama Sutra and Lychee Martini. The Pama Sutra was my favorite; it had tequila, pomegranate liquer, and fresh lime.
Overall great experience, but for the price point, I believe there are better options in the area.

The portions are soooo small for the price! The food is pretty good we have been here a few times def not the best in NYC! I personally like the drinks better then the food… we went on Sunday evening around 3pm for the dim sum brunch and got two hot sakes, lemongrass chicken spring rolls ($ 10) the chicken potstickers ($ 10) and Spicy Tuna on crispy rice ($ 20) which was my favorite! It’s Tao so you already know its going to be expensive but I always love the ambience and vibe :)

Second time around, I sticked to the lunch special, which comes with an appetizer, main dish, and dessert for approximately $ 35. TAO nailed it again:
Lemongrass Shrimp Skewers — Comes with two shrimp skewers grilled to perfection and a dipping sauce on the side.
Shrimp Pad Thai — While not a thai place, TAO has managed to create my favorite plate of pad thai to date. Secret ingredient: mushrooms.
Mango Sorbet w/​Fresh Fruit and Coconut Milk — It wasn’t entirely melted by the time it arrived at the office, and it was absolutely amazing! Perfect lunchtime dessert.
Worth every penny.

Why eat here?
I get being seen at Tao. There’s that incredible Buddha, that Eastern inflected house music that seamless flows from one song to another, those sweet yet strong cocktails. It’s a place for the Gram, a place to show off to your friends in Ohio on Facebook or put in the back of a Snapchat filter.
But the primary activity here is eating and on that score, Tao falls woefully short. This is Asian food for people who think that Asia is a country. There’s more sugar in these entrees than the entire kitchens of certain restaurants in Hunan province.
Let’s review the some of the menu sections. We start with dim sum, a rather rigidly defined set of Cantonese small plates served in the morning. Here they just the first of two appetizer sections, including a Peking roll (from Beijing), a Chicken Gyoza (Japan) and Pork Spring Roll (Thailand). Not one of these dishes would be recognizable as dim sum, although all have certainly met the deep fryer .
Small plates include edamame, which is hard to screw up, a run of the mill salad and several items of seaweed. This are a large number of options, but ask for advice and waitress will helpfully push towards the wagyu.
For poultry, you have a condensed version of what is served at PF Changs: Crispy Orange Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, a huge Peking Duck and something healthy called «roasted thai Buddha chicken.» None of these are any good.
If for someone reason you find yourself here for a meal, steer towards the raw and simple. The sashimi is better than you might expect, and it’s hard to go wrong with the self-​cooked pieces of meat from the shabu shabu. Avoid the fried items, skip the dumplings and definitely stay away from the desserts.
The very worst part about Tao is the price. This food would still be bad if it was one-​third the price, but it wouldn’t be offensive. Instead I worry there might be dinners turned off from Chinese or Japanese food because they had to spend $ 11 on edamame, $ 14 on an egg roll or $ 30 for orange chicken. When you are spending more than $ 80 a person on a lunch that doesn’t include alcohol or dessert, it needs to impress.
If you must, come in, snap a picture inside, and then walk over to someplace better.

Hands down 5 star experience. The service, ambience and quality of the food were all outstanding. Most importantly, the giant fortune cookie dessert was the highlight of the meal and a MUST order!

I have been to TAO 3 times now… The quality has always been consistant. service has alwasy been great as well.
This most recent time, we got the peking duck spring roll (meh at best), lobster wonton, squab lettuce wrap (sooooo goooood), wagyu tartare (ahhhhmazing), the peking duck (really good here actually), pad thai, kimchi fried rice, kung pao chicken, the giant fortune cookie (cutest thing ever!) and the banana pudding (better than Magnolia!!!). We pretty much always pack the paid thai and kimchi fried rice home because who can finish all that for lunch?!
While great décor and ambience, i am not sure I am willing to spend the money for the food. I have always come here for lunch «for work» and i think it’s great because I don’t have to pay for it. If i were to have to pay for it, I’d say it’s ok.

My reasons for going to TAO were on the selfish side, I heard a story about someone’s first day on the first job and 15 years later they still had vivid memories of it because their manager treated them to a fabulous lunch. And I wanted someone to remember me too, after I’m long gone, even if it was for a faint moment, I would somehow exist again in memory.
An that opportunity came with a new coworker and I took it. That being said I felt Tao would be an experience for both of us since ether of us have ever been there, but we heard about the place, it was famous!!!
I made online reservations and ask to be seated under the Chinese Calligraphy ceiling or next to the giant Buda and the ponds. But when I got there I was seated in the rear sofa section under the U shape balcony seating space that was made in order to increase restaurant’s capacity,
The balcony make the space under it real dark and hard to see the food. The place was only 20% full at the time so I don’t understand why they put me there. So no view of the ceiling, nor the Buda or the ponds. Then they seated another couple next to us in the same sofa who were yapping loud. My quest for immortality were fading real fast.
We had a variety of items from the dinner menu and not the lunch time special, but most of which were not memorable or signature dishes, except for two, I’m not a tea person but Tao had this delicious green tea, that I had to ordered another pot. And I liked the taste of the thin slice filet mignon that you cooked in a ginger scallion broth that is boiling at your table with some wasabi dipping sauce, The only problem is they sell the meat by the oz and it was hard to visualize how much you should order.
The service was so so, and slow and we skipped the desert since we were here already over two hours for a lunch break from the job. And after we got the bill the waiter never came back to us, so we just left after leaving the cash after waiting 10 minutes.
Would I come back, maybe, because after all that my coworker was still impressed and raving about the experience. And I still think about that giant Buda and that ceiling.

I love this place! Just went here the past Saturday and my service was great. This isn’t the more romantic quiet place but totally worth the ambiance! The lettuce wraps and vegetarian dim sum were to die for. The dessert was by far my favorite part of this meal. The chocolate dome
Was amazing. It had a blend of crunch, soft, cold warm, sweet and salty. I really recommend this place the food and ambiance were amazing!

Plats variés copieux très bon. Décoration magnifique originale et tout à fait dans le thème. Musique d’ambiance. Atmosphère sympa. Bref un très bon moment passé dans ce restaurant. A voir absolument quand on est a NY !

Bouffe top !!!
Grosse ambiance !!
Né ratez pas cette adresse sans aucun prétexte
The place to be in NYC

Wir waren mittags gegen 13 Uhr im Lokal und haben ohne Reservierung einen Tisch bekommen. Als wir ca. 1 h später das Restaurant verlassen hatten, waren die freien Plätze schon Mangelware.
Wir haben uns für das Lunch-​Angebot für 27,50 $/​pro Person entschieden. Man konnte dort bei Vorspeise, Hauptgericht und Dessert aus 4 – 5 Auswahlmöglichkeiten wählen. Diese waren auch sehr lecker und das Essen kam zügig an den Tisch.
Schön war auch die gesamte asiatische Optik des Lokals. Es besteht aus einer großen Halle und an den Rändern sitzt man in Nischen. Die Toiletten waren sehr sauber.

Nicht so einfach einen Tisch zu bekommen (Reservierung wie in allen erstklassigen Restaurants in NY notwendig) und nicht gerade günstig, aber jeden Penny wert.
Essen super, Service gut, Ambiente hervorragend.
Immer wenn ich in NY bin.1x Tao.

Leider waren wir nur zum Cocktail trinken hier bevor wir in den Club gegenüber weitergezogen sind, aber die Cocktails waren absolut fantastisch. Ebenso das Ambiente, gerne komme ich beim nächsten Mal hierher zum Essen

die Peking Duck ist auf jeden Fall zu empfehlen !!! der Service war schnell und freundlich… und der Riesen-​Glueckskeks, gefüllt mit Mousse rundete das Geburtstags Dinner perfekt ab…

Cuidadosa elaboracion de los platos. Delicatessen. Lugar perfecto para primera cita.
Impresionante decoración. Día redondo.

In New York? Please make a table reservation at TAO!
Die Location unvergesslich
Das Essen himmlisch
Die Preise für New Yorker Verhältnisse angemessen Tischreservierung vorab ist unbedingt erforderlich. Aber es lohnt sich absolut.

Tao kannte ich schon von einer Dienstreise in 2007 und es war mir in sehr guter Erinnerung geblieben (an dem Abend wurde mit dem KISS Bassisten Gene Simmons eine Folge Family Jewels direkt vor dem großen Budda — siehe Foto — gedreht).
Das Tao erfordert unbedingt eine Reservierung, die Gäste trampeln sich im Eingangsbereich auf den Füßen herum. Wir haben nach ein paar Minuten die Empfangsdame auf unsere Reservierung hinweisen können und daraufhin einen Pager erhalten. Nach ca. 15 Minuten blinkte der endlich und wir wurden dann an unsere Tisch auf der Empore gebracht, von der aus man einen tollen Blick auf den unteren Bereich und vor allem auf den mächtigen Budda hat. Diese Dimensionen sucht man in Deutschland vergeblich…
Das Esssen war wieder sehr gut, die Bedienung schnell und amerikanisch verbindlich, das Essen kam auch gemessen an der Masse der Gäste recht schnell so daß ich auch diesmal wieder sehr zufrieden gegangen bin.

Abgefahren! Das Tao gibt es schon einige Jahre, gilt aber bis heute zu einem der angesagten Restaurants in New York. Und das merkt man auch am Publikum, wenn man den Laden betritt. Das nächste, was auffällt ist ein riesiger und überdimensionaler Buddah am Ende des Raumes, der gefühlte 10 Meter groß ist. Als Apéritif haben wir einen Litschi-​Martini getrunken, das leckerste «Vorab”-Getränk, was ich jemals zu mir nahm. Die Karte ist asiatisch angehaucht, aber irgendwie ein Gemisch aus Allem und witzige Kombinationen. Unvergesslich war der Nachtisch: Ein Schokoladenküchlein — ähnlich einem Muffin — in dem flüssige warme Schokolade residierte. Ein Traum. Wer New York besucht und ein außergewöhnliches, kulinarisches Highlight sucht, der ist hier richtig. Trotz «hippem» New York-​Publikum fühlt sich auch «Normalo”-Europäer nicht fehl am Platz. Reservieren!