Tao's Restaurant

Having been searching for an excuse to go try out Tao's we finally decided to go for H's birthday. Dinner is a $50 degustation (the menu states seven courses but they threw in a couple of additional ones in between - not that we were complaining!).

Bread sticks with sweet tangy dipping sauce

This was the first additional dishes not mentioned on the menu. The bread sticks were crunchy and tasted like poppyseed/sesame. The dipping sauce was a sweet, tangy and somewhat sticky sauce which clung nicely to the bread sticks.

The starter was a mix of strange and new flavours. The pickled daikon radish was very nice and crisp, the sardines tasted like, well, sardines - nothing too special there. The scallop was very fresh and tasted great with the lemon and the strange stringy garnish. The tomato was quite odd-tasting - as though it had been soaked in some kind of alcohol. If not for the peanut sauce, it probably would not have been edible.

Ice Age Sashimi

Tao's Style Prawn with Tempura Oysters

This was an amazing entrée. The prawns were fresh and nicely flavoured. They were hung in a little shot glass of fish sauce and vinegar, with the flavours seeping in through the prawn heads into the flesh. The shells came off very easily, indicating that they were cooked to the right extend. The batter on the oysters was light and crunchy, no trace of oil at all! The oysters themselves were quite large, fresh and juicy. The only thing I didn't like was the smear of wasabi between inside the batter (I'm not a fan of wasabi). However, it wasn't enough to put me off devouring the second oyster! The small dollop of smashed potatoes was a little out of place, but tasted quite nice nevertheless.

Seafood broth covered with soft egg tofu and fish roe

Having no idea what this was until it reached the table, we were pleasantly surprised. The egg tofu on top was smooth and silky, with a slightly salty taste and the fish roe popped like it should. Underneath the tofu was a light seafood broth, with shrimp, baby scallops and small pieces of other seafood as well. It was like finding a gem at the bottom of the sea!

Teapot Style Bonitto

Creamy Pumpkin

Ginseng Chicken Herbal

Cream of Mushroom

When I first ordered this, I thought it might be a little risky that I was ordering a soup that would end up being Continental Cup-a Soup. I was proved wrong with the arrival of this. Smooth and creamy, and completely infused with mushroom flavour as well as very finely chopped mushrooms. I just could not get enough of it!

Complimentary Dish 2...

Salty plum shots

Baked Ocean Trout wtih Avocado sauce

Rockling Sugiita-yaki with Miso Cream

This dish came on fire! The bamboo wrapped around the rockling fillet was flaming at the ends, allowing the nice smokey bamboo flavour to infuse the fish. The fish itself was soft and tender, cooked perfectly and strongly flavoured. The miso cream added a creamy texture to the fish. The accompanying sides were a little odd - broad beans, tomato, a shitake mushroom and some picked daikon slices - but strangely enough added some colour and nice contrasting textures and flavours to the rest of the dish.