Tao's Kitchen

1 Selegie Road,
#B1-19
Paradiz Centre


We visited Tao's Kitchen for lunch with Paul's family members to celebrate his niece's birthday last Saturday. A family-friendly restaurant, request for a baby chair was heeded, and several colourful, plastic cutlery were also laid out nicely. A heads up though, as the restaurant was rather packed for lunch (granted it was a weekend), reservations made in advance would be good as we saw several people being turned away at the door. 


Seated outside, service was slightly slower, as requests for a soup spoon were made thrice to the same waiter. He was probably busy but everyone was already tucking in and my spoon was still nowhere in sight even after ten minutes. Fortunately, when a frustrated Paul requested for a spoon from a waitress, she eagerly brought two forward and smiled sheepishly when we told her we only wanted one. Anyway, the stranded spoon from the other waiter never came. 

RAD RED MENU

There are about six courses: starters, salads, soups, main entrees, desserts & beverages. Didn't know beverages count as one too, but nevermind. Only the starter is by default, bacon and mushroom gratin, but the other courses are up to one's own palette. The waiter (or waitress...err sorry we are as confused as him/her) came to take our orders in pair, which is a good idea because the food came in pairs too. no more long wait for the partner's food to come while one stares hungrily at his food. 

Starters: Bacon & Mushroom Gratin

Beverages : Iced teas

Appetizer: Prawn Rolls with Pork Floss

Inside

Soup: Shark Fin Melon Herbal Soup

Main: Spicy Stingray

Dessert: Green Tea Icecream

Joy says:

Other than in a buffet where you can get fusion cuisine, the next best alternative is here. I had Prawn Roll with Pork Floss, Shark-fin Melon Herbal Soup, Spicy Stingray, Green Tea ice-cream and Iced rose apple tea. There isn't much to shout about for the food, but at least they met expectations. The prawn roll was refreshing with a hint of plum sauce inside, though I didn't get to taste any pork floss. The soup had a homely taste to it but the bowl it came in was deceiving. It looked like a big portion, but I only had about 5 spoonfuls of the soup, two strands of herb, a thin slice of meat, and a stray piece of chicken skin. 


For the spicy stingray, it came a little oily but I loved how it tasted. It was like having tze-char but in an air-conditioned place. Not that overly spicy but enough to tingle the taste buds. It was chewy and flaked off easily, and the spiciness did not overpower the taste of the fish. The sides were good too, especially the smashed sweet potato and softened broccoli. Veggie points!


Green Tea ice cream was a hit with Paul's niece, as she took a spoonful of mine and wanted more. No complaints about this one, but I had better. Not disappointed though, as I was already full by then. One noteworthy thing about the meal was the tea. My rose apple tea was super good. Cooling, sweet and with my favourite apple cubes swimming inside, it scored in taste and looks. 


One last thing to mention though was the presentation of food. At restaurant prices but nearly fine-dining presentation, i was rather impressed. 


Having said that, I might not go back again to try other entrees, since they did not look that appealing to me. I have more choices if I go to an Italian or Western restaurant where they specialize in their cuisine. There are so many other restaurants out there, so while this experience is passable, a revisit may not be too soon, at least not within this year(:


Grade: B

Appetizer: Shellfish salad with cold Japanese noodle

Soup: Cream of Mushroom

Main: Steak

Dessert: Creme Brulee

Paul says:

The mushroom and bacon gratin was alright. It felt like eating a small serving of cream of mushroom soup( with bacon bits) that was covered with a top layer of melted cheese. Pretty nice. Bread provided was warm but it was your normal neighbourhood bakery bread. Nothing to shout about. The top shell salad with cold Japanese noodle was kinda awful to say the least? The phrase "cold Japanese noodle" brings to mind cold soba. So I was kinda shocked when a small little bowl of white noodles(no, it's not udon!) greeted me. The top shell looks like some low grade canned abalone and the whole dish tasted sour on a whole. I would say Joy's prawn roll with pork roll tasted miles better. Tasted like Vietnamese food actually. The cream of mushroom soup came next. And the presentation was kinda drab actually. Just some cream squirted at the center of the dish. Taste was ok. Tastier than the mushroom soup from soup spoon. 
After an arduous wait of 15 mins( my dad's one took 20 mins- they were catching the sea bass probably?), my beef or what looked like one finally came. A thin slab of meat looked so forlorn in the relatively huge dish provided. I asked for medium well and the insides looked like tuna steak to me. Personally,the beef disappointingly tasted like nugget. What a letdown! The creme brule was nothing to rave about too. Have definitely tasted better ones elsewhere.(Eg, Acid Bar)


The drink which I ordered was refreshing at least. Grassjelly and mint tea. But I still preferred Joy's red apple roses tea. I can safely conclude that the place was understaffed as they look like they were overwhelmed with orders as they served us. Or maybe they just weren't bothered. ( As I can see from one or two staff who was standing around standing about). Ok, that's it for Tao's. Average food. Frustrating service. Sorry, I won't be coming back again.


Grade: C

Per person was $19.80++ (for lunch), GST & Service Charge definitely included.

In conclusion,

Food: C

Service: B

Ambience: B

Value-for-$: C

Overall grade:C+

Apples given: