Tao, Manhattan

Amazing food I enjoyed it very much. I m definitely coming here again!

The ambience was amazing...loved it. The steamed vegetable dumplings are soooo delicious, and the salmon was pretty good too. A great experience overall!!!

This place lives up to the hype!!! Food is well above average. Small plates are very tasty, recommend the Chilean Sea Bass and the Duck Spring Rolls. Ambiance is rockin, but assume that your date will need to read lips due to the music. Very good place for model watching ;-)

It was a horrible, horrible experience!!! May 7th was my 30th birthday, and my fiancé, knowing that I love Tao made a reservation for 8:30pm. We were a couple of blocks away when we called to say that we are almost there and we are running a few minutes late. A male voice told my fiancé that they gave our table away, but as soon as we get there, they will give us another table. So we got there and it appeared that our reservation does not exist. It is just nowhere to be found. And the only male host that was there denied he spoke on the phone with my fiancé just 5 min ago. The other two hostesses did not really care much. They cared more about the model-type guy walking in. One of them told us that we probably called Las Vegas. Maybe we did if the Las Vegas phone code is 212. We showed her my fiancé’s phone, the number he dialed, and that the conversation lasted for almost 5 min. She said that maybe he did not call for a reservation. Why would he call then? We do not need to ask about location or food. I have been dining there since 2004. I could not believe that this is happening!!!…On MY BIRTHDAY!!!…..At restaurant like Tao!!! Disappointed is not even merely closed to explain how I felt… anyway, I said to myself: “I don’t want to be frustrated, it’s my birthday and I want to celebrate.” We took the “buzzer” and sat to wait for a table in the lounge. Like a walk-ins! We where told it will take 20-30-min. After 50 min waiting, I went to ask how long more it is going to take? That same male host mentioned above, with a very unpleasant tone in his voice said to me: “We do the best we can! I did say 30 min!” Well, it has been already 50min. And I could not believe that I have just been treated by some sad little person, like I asked him for money. I am a guest at that restaurant. But I was treated like an intruder. I felt so disrespected! Tao was the one restaurant that I loved! Not just liked, loved! The food, the ambiance…. I can not believe that people like that are chosen to be the face of that restaurant. And the other two hostesses, what were they for? Such an unpleasant girls, with a horrible attitude! Unbelievable! I don’t know how much the management of Tao cares about they patrons, but I neither see anyone that could of spare me that negative experience, nor such was called to be present and try to solve the problem.

oh my goodnesss!!!!!!!!! THIS FOOD WAS OUT OF THIS WOLRD!!!!! DELICIOUS.. Where do I start: the decor was beautiful, the ambiance was explosive, the wait was HORRIBLE, but guess what!!! It was worth every second. the food was soooooooooo good!!!! The sea bass, the jumbo shrimp tempura, the thai crab cakes, the vegetable fried rice, kung pao chicken, braised spicy shrimp, the drinks were so good, tao-tini is a MUST drink... i will definitely be going back... LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!

dined on Dec 30 2007 dispite some negative reviews. Glad we did, loved the atmosphere. It has loud music and people talking, but what an experience! Our waiter was great, really took time and cut-up with us. Food was very good. We sat overlooking the buddah, it was fun just watching people from our upstairs location. Don't go if you want very quite experience, go to have fun and good food.

When entering Tao at first it looks a little bit dark inside. Dark shadows cover the nicely dressed up guests. Although I made reservations, I had to wait ten minutes, before being notified by a buzzer that the table was ready. No problem while enjoying a Moet Chandon in the meantime. It was worth waiting for: the enormous space is quite unique in NYC and it's the biggest restaurant I have ever been in. The big Buddha is impressive. And what about the food? The food was great and the service excellent. Groups can stay in the skybox- there is room for about 20 guests. Want to have the best on the menu? Try the lobster! Monique van den Akker

This place is a bombastic nightmare. We took out-of-town guests and were turned away at the door because we were wearing shorts and sneakers (we had spent the day in the city walking and sightseeing, so had no way to change). This was after we had eaten there in similar dress a few weeks before. There is no dress code listed on their web site, in reviews, nor was it mentioned when we made the reservation (we were not walk-ins!!!!). We were thoroughly disgusted and embarrased. We left, Went a couple of blocks and had a lovely experience at Aquavit. Skip this nightmare. They're pretentious idiots.

I think that Tao is overrated, the service is snotty and the food is medicore, you can get better asian food for half the price, go somewhere else!

The place is beautiful don't get me wrong. The food was soooooooo bad I have no comment. If you really love chinese food I don't recommend going their. There are many trendy people for sure and it is definitely noisy. If you want romantic dinner and just talk...don't go their. Price is definitely pretty steep (I didn't paid for it). Service I don't know where the waiter disappear too. If you love just to look around go there if you want service and good food forget it.