This was my second time dining at Tao and this was a far better experience than the first. We were seated promptly in a romantic booth on the far side of the restaurant near the gigantic Buddha on the first floor.
If there was a way to take home and/or replicate the decor of Tao, I would in an instant. (I'm a sucker for asian decor, but I digress.)
The service was phenomenal. Our waiter was extremely knowledgeable on the menu, although he did try to sell us on the most expensive things available (go figure.) We had show reservations at NYNY and we were finished with more than enough time to spare.
My boyfriend had the hamachi (yellowtail) to start with. The fish was fresh and delicious, although the sushi rice left something to be desired. For an entree, he had the Hong Kong XO Shrimp with Long Beans and Jasmine Rice, which he loved.
Eating out for me has been pretty rough lately since I developed some weird food intolerances. There's very little in the way of flavorful food that I can have without giving me a terrible stomachache.
Since I'm not a fan of seafood, I decided to go with the Bamboo Steamed Vegetable Dumplings with Crunchy Cucumbers and a side of jasmine rice. These were the best dumplings both my boyfriend and I had *ever* had (and probably will ever have.) If you like vegetables at all, you HAVE to get these. So full of flavor and healthy to boot! We joked at the end of the meal that we'd come back and just get four orders of these dumplings.