BY CAROLYN ONOFREY
Tao
42 East 58th Street
Midtown East
212-288-2288/taorestaurant.com
Having never been to Tao before, a place known in Manhattan for its see and be seen atmosphere, its delicious Asian fare, and of course, its giant Buddha, when invited I jumped at the chance.
Appetizer spread at Tao
I was surprised at how crowded Tao was, walking in to it on a Wednesday night. Not a table or seat in the place was free, and while waiting for our table (which we made reservations for about a week in advance), we sat (or stood, rather) in the equally, if not more crowded lounge area. The cocktail list was enticing with plenty of Asian inspired martinis at $12.50 a piece. I settled on the Jade Blossom, a mix of Midori, pear flavored vodka, and sparkling sake that was so good, I had to go back for seconds.
After a substantial wait (about half an hour despite the reservations), we were brought to a booth on the ground floor of the two story open dinning room. The famous Buddha was larger than I expected, reaching to the top of the cavernous space which was once home to the Vanderbilt family stable and spanning about a third of the width of the dinning room. Surrounded by a moat complete with live fish, the Buddha stood at the focal point of the room and was certainly a sight to be seen.
Our waiter came promptly with an attitude to match the high fashion, 5th avenue clientele that filled the place. We ordered a round of appetizers including tender edamame with coarse sea salt ($8), spicy tuna tartare on crispy rice ($14), vegetable dumplings with cucumber ($10), lobster wontons with shiitake ginger broth ($18) and Chilean Sea Bass satay with asparagus ($17), a feast fit for a king. Everything was prepared to near perfection, the standouts for me being the edamame, which were melt-in-your-mouth tender and sprinkled with the prefect amount of sea salt, and the tuna tartare on crispy rice, a nice take on your every day spicy tuna roll. Contrasting textures of creamy and crunchy paired with super fresh fish was a delightful way to get me in the mood for the Asian flavors which were about to caress my palate. The lobster wontons were also notable, although more rich than I would have liked for an appetizer.
Swordfish Teppanyaki at Tao
After a painfully long wait, and more attitude from our waiter, we were served our main courses. What sat in front of me was the Teppanyaki swordfish with ponzu butter and asparagus tempura ($30). My first bite into the swordfish was delightful. A mix of juicy, meaty swordfish, rich ponzu butter, and fresh, earthy sprouts, danced on my tongue and certainly did not bore. The asparagus tempura however, left much to be desired, with little flavor, past-it’s-prime asparagus and a layer of oil that I could have done without.
As much as the first bite impressed me, by the end of my Tao adventure, I was bored and my palate was tired. The swordfish was not cooked evenly, varying from slice of fish to slice of fish and the techno club music blasting in the background was wearing thin. Perhaps I was just there a little too long, but I was certainly ready to leave.
I was impressed by Tao, the quality of the food and decor (not to mention the clientele) were very high, but I left thinking that maybe it just wasn’t my kind of place. Tao is definitely a “scene” and should be enjoyed at least once by all, if not at your own risk.
