Reception at Tao’s
by thefoodbooth
So the past 5 years of my university life just flew by. As I finished dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s to my very last exam I breathed a sigh of relief that I knew enough study material to not fail…
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2 weeks ago a family relative got married and had a particularly simple and minimalistic wedding. Unlike traditional weddings inside a church they opted for a quickie 30 minute ceremony in the city followed by lunch at Tao’s in Bulleen. 
(My cutiepie niece and the lovely bride!)
Having been to Tao’s periodically throughout the years I must admit the quality of the food standard has dropped somewhat. The dim, seductive atmosphere of the restaurant had completely vanished, replaced by groups of rowdy Asian tourists slurping away at their soups and gnawing on their steak (no offence).
For those that haven’t heard of Tao’s, Its A hidden away restaurant in the outskirts of Melbourne with a reputation in serving modern Japanese cuisine (Though the owners are not of Japanese background) . My thoughts on the matter is that they’re not here nor there when it comes to the style of food that is offered and you’ll see why in a minute.
As the set menu was for a wedding reception the food portions and styles may vary slightly from the A la carte menu.
Simple tasting plate of marinated octopus (chewy), oysters and marinated mangos with goji berries. Nothing spectacular and did not understand why popping boba’s were required on the oysters, it did nothing to enhance the flavour and in hindsight possibly have made it worse.
Sashimi w Yu-zu dressing. My “spring” themed entrée. As pretty as the dish looked the quality and the quantity of the dish had dropped. To show you, below is the exact comparison entrée dish I had at Tao’s 1 years ago. Larger in proportion, no unessasary flowery nonsense.
Next came soups. there was mushroom, creamy pumpkin and steamed beef with daikon raddish (No pictures sorry!) Creamy pumpkin, was by far, the most out of place soup for a modern Pan-asian restaurant.
Chicken with teriyaki sauce, delicious and generously portioned but still an odd placement of food.
Hot stone sizzling steak with pepper sauce. The sizzle and bang of the dish definitely impresses but the sauce is a let down and also not the best of dish for those who like their meat well cooked.
Dessert consisted of a selection of Creme Brulee, Chocolate fondant with brandy, and their home made mint ice cream. All of which had lack of Eastern flair. I cringed at the presentation of the mint ice cream at how tacky it had been displayed.
The constant cross overs in dishes between east and west made Tao’s an incredibly confusing restaurant. Their focus of presentation shadowed their ability to put up delicious food resulting in a lack of satisfaction to not only from me, but possibly for future customers.
xoxo!
