At Tao, go wild with Shark fin and squid soup

The menu at Tao might read bizarre, but its bites are succulent, spicy and sumptuous

The menu at Tao might read bizarre, but its bites are succulent, spicy and sumptuous

With Tao, Oriental opulence on the capital's table just got a grade higher. Dishes from different shores Japan, China and Thailand kickstart the gastronomical journey here. We walked in and came out content.

Food : Want to sip on something healthy? From the non-vegetarian section, you can try out Hokko (chicken, shrimps and fresh vegetables in a clear stock; Rs 645) and shark fin soup with crab or chicken (Rs 245), spicy squid and octopus soup (Rs 179) the most served preparation here. We tasted with approval the classic chicken sweet corn soup.

There's a lot for herbivores, too crispy rice and garlic soup, lemon coriander soup and the good old sweet corn soup (Rs 159 each).

In appetisers, you wouldn't regret the prawn Tai Chi (Rs 659), crispy and fragrant chicken (Rs 329), diced chicken chilli pepper (Rs 329) and crispy chilli fish (Rs 329).

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Now, for the main course. The cottage cheese ten pal style (Rs 189), sauteed spicy button mushrooms (Rs 179) and lotus stem honey chilli (Rs 179) make for good picks. Like it fiery?

Wok-fired chicken in black pepper sauce (Rs 329) along with veg hakka noodles (Rs 185) make for a good combo. You wouldn't mind repeating them the second time over, too.

If you crave for Japanese fare, you'd relish California maki, a blend of crabstick, cucumber, flying fish roe, prawn, avocado and mayonnaise (Rs 349), prawn yaki gyoza (Rs 205), chicken teppanyaki (Rs 429) and grilled salmon (Rs 579).
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Before walking out of the door, we rounded our meal with Tao Special Chocolate Dessert (Rs 350),u00a0
a brownie with ice cream number. We think the signature desserts need a little more work.

Drinks: This is where disappointment hit. The restro- lounge will get its liquor license by the end of this month, they say.

Till then, you can sip on mocktails like insomnia, sunset cooler, apocalypse, easy rider, Cinderella and green with envy (Rs 129 each).

Ambience: The decor is serene and setting intimate, but there is a lot that this 90-seater restro-bar can improvise on.u00a0

The Yin can be worked on, and ditto with the Yang. The diner is divided into two floors the ground floor is for fine dining, and the upper floor is the lounge and bar area.

LCD screens have been mounted on to the walls to display traditional Oriental art works. Music is English, slow and instrumental. Happy Wu Wei-ing!u00a0
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Tao

Where: E-8, Inner Circle, Connaught Place
Ring: 43582888, 43582666
Timings: Noon to Midnight
Average meal for two: Rs 1,000 plus taxes