| rev:text
| - Tao is currently the hottest and trendiest spot in Vegas. I don't actively go to places because they're trendy and I don't actively avoid places because they're trendy. I care about the food.
Day 2 ended with a visit to this hot spot. Tao is both a restaurant and a nightclub. We had reservations for 9:15 and a good thing we had reservations because this place was packed and a long line for the nightclub had already formed. We marveled at the fact that people were already lining up before 10 pm.
RESTAURANT REVIEW (the nightclub review will be below)
After waiting a few minutes, we were seated along the side of the restaurant with corner bench seating, which I loved because we had plenty of room and a good view of what was going on. Or at least we would have had a good view if we could see what was happening because it was one of the darkest restaurants I've ever been in. Dim lighting for romantic ambience = good. Only candles for light when you need to read the menu = bad. The table next to us was prepared and a guy pulled out a flashlight and accidentally blinded my friend in the process when he wasn't too careful with the beam of light.
We wanted to start with cocktails and appetizers, but oddly everything came all at once. I particularly loved my cocktail, Lemongrass Cooler, which is made of citrus vodka, oolong tea, and lemongrass syrup. It was light, crisp, refreshing, and utterly delightful. It's the perfect summertime cocktail. The sweet potato tempura was delicious. The batter was crispy and light and not at all oily.
For my entree, I had the soy glazed salmon with udon and spinach. When the waiter didn't ask me how I wanted my salmon, I was a bit concerned. Either the restaurant firmly believed that there was only one correct way to serve cooked salmon (medium = good) or they were so used to tourists' unsophisticated palates that they're very conservative with how they cook it (well-done = bad). Guess what I got. *sigh* Overcooked dry salmon on top of overly soft, overly cooked udon noodles.
Although I could be talked back to Tao for drinks and appetizers, I'll do dinner elsewhere.
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NIGHTCLUB REVIEW
After dinner we decided to check out the nightclub. I was starting to get annoyed by the pretentiousness of this place. If you eat at the restaurant, you can skip the ridiculously long line and the cover charge. But in order to skip the line, someone stamps your left wrist with "Line Pass," then you leave the restaurant to go stand outside in a line, albeit much shorter, in order to get another stamp on your right wrist that says "Tao." Why can't you just give us our "Tao" stamp right at the table?
BTW, coat check is $5.
At 10:30 the club was already packed and hopping. This was the most crowded club that I've ever been to, regardless of the time, much less way before midnight. It was unbelievable. We were packed in on the dance floor like sardines. The official crowd capacity is 1300, but we're pretty certain that it was over that. I hate to be at Tao if there were a fire. I'm sorry, but that place is a death trap with so many people and narrow points of entry/exit.
What's it like partying in Vegas at Tao, the hottest spot? Ho hum. I guess it's great if:
1) You're under 25. The crowd is awfully young.
2) You're a guy over 35 with low self-esteem so you can only handle a silly young thing.
3) You think Jersey Shore/B&T (Bridge and Tunnel) is the height of fashion. No one looked sharp. Most looked really trashy. Quite frankly most the people would never make it off the line in New York or Miami.
4) You've never partied in NY or Miami.
5) You (girl) want to be molested.
6) You (guy) want to be emasculated in front of your friends, which by the way the fastest way to achieve that is to grab a girl by her waist from the back, catching her unaware, and start grinding her. If that girl is a p***ed off NYer, she'll rip you a new one.
I do have to admit that the music was great. The DJ played a really terrific selection and mixed them creatively.
When we left a few hours later, the line to get into Tao was a labyrinth around The Venetian. As for me with Tao, show me "the way" out of here.
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