| rev:text
| - Before we even arrived in Vegas, my friend let me know that he had made reservations here for Saturday night. I was skeptical. Call be biased or snobby, but I don't like to pay a lot for Asian food when I can get amazing food in Chinatown for half the price.
But I went along with it anyway.
We arrived a few minutes before our 7:45pm reservation. My friend (who knows more about the NBA than anyone I've ever met) caught sight of a small sign sitting outside the restaurant. The poster showed a just a pair of eyes and some small text. Of course, my friend recognized right away that these were no ordinary eyes. These were Lebron James's eyes. He read the sign with urgency. Turns out, Lebron was going to make an appearance at Tao Nightclub after eating at Tao Asian Bistro. My friend almost fell over with excitement. "I don't care what it costs, that's where we are going afterwards." I laughed and agreed that we would inquire.
We walked through the hall of little basins filled with water and rose petals, and the hostess welcomed us immediately.
She walked us through the restaurant, which is dimly lit and has a huge Buddha on the first floor. The ceiling is decorated with large canvases of calligraphy writing. Stunning displays of portraiture line the back wall and restroom hallway. The hostess seated us on the second floor. The ambiance was just the right combination of bustling, formal/casual, and you know, that Vegas "je ne sais quoi".
Our waiter appeared promptly. He gave excellent cocktail and entree suggestions, and when asked, informed us that I (as a lady) would get in free to the Lebron party, and my friend would pay about $25. Which I'm sure was deeply discounted. Not only that, but we got stamps on our wrists to bypass the line.
I ordered the blueberry/pomegranate martini and it was delicious. My friend loved the Orient Express (a coffee-based martini). The tuna tartare was amazing, and I ordered the special (which was a short rib udon). The food blew our expectations away. Sure, it's a VERY expensive meal, but it's Las Vegas.
I thought they did an excellent job of offering a fusion selection that didn't over-complicate. They stayed true to Asian flavors and I liked that.
The service was hands down the best we experienced in Las Vegas. The chocolate fortune cookies at the end of the meal gave us fortunes that were hilarious, full of sexual innuendo, and right on point.
I would definitely recommend Tao. Our meal was pretty much flawless, outside of the $5 bowl of jasmine rice (really? five dollars? it was perfect rice, but come on, I can feed a family for a month with $5 worth of rice). More to come when I write up the review of the Lebron party at the Tao Nightclub.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)