Tao's

This restaurant is located at the basement of Paradiz centre.

It's a whole new dining experience if you have never been to the place. The first thing and perhaps the most attracting factor of the restaurant is the excellent customer service they provided. The staff are unbelievable friendly. Every now and then, They will pop over and ask for your needs and if you are satisfied with their service and the food they provided. As each dish is being served, the serving staff will provide a little commentary on the food. It may be a little disturbing for people who like their meals in a peace and quiet environment but nevertheless, it's quite refreshing to have friendly staff who pop over to have a little chat with you. They treat their customers like family and one can easily felt the warm and friendly atmosphere at the first step into the place.

Environment aside, let's get to the main focus on food. The menu is planned in such a way that you choose each dish from the different categories. They have starter, salads,soup,main entrees,desserts and beverages and for dinner they throw in the grilled mushroom and mango sorbet.

The starter: bacon & mushroom gratin. This is one unique starter that is worth trying. The mushroom gratin was served up on a tin plate place on top of a ceramic tile. It's was piping hot and the slightly toasted bread are a great companion to the mushroom gratin. Spreading or dipping them with the mushroom gratin bring a rich favour to your mouth. The taste is just right and it really enhance your appetite. Not to mention, the restaurant is quite generous with the toasted bread, often needing 3 slices to empty the mushroom gratin served.

The salad: a few choices are available. The curry yogurt prawn salad is a must-try. The curry yogurt had a slight hint of the usual curry we had and the prawns they used were very fresh. The only downside is the small portion: 3 small prawns.

The soup:fish soup,cream of mushroom,cream of pumpkin and sharkfin melon herbal soup. The most unique of them all is the fish soup, even though it had the most common name. The fish soup is served in a teapot and there's a small cup available where you pour the soup into from the teapot. You drink the soup as though you are drinking wine. The fish soup is refreshing with a few slices of fish inside the teapot which would have to be taken out using a fork. The sharkfin melon herbal soup is quite misleading, cause there's no sharkfin in it. Sharkfin melon should be read as one. It's basically a sharkfin shaped melon served with some common Chinese herbs like ginseng and red dates. Other than the misleading name, this soup is also quite cooling with a slight hint of ginseng favour.

The grilled mushroom: This dish will always be served, one of those dishes that cannot be chosen caused there's no alternative. For mushroom lovers, this is highly recommended. The mushroom is grilled to perfection and the sauce is rather sweet that covers the slight bitter taste of the mushroom.

The mango sorbet. According to the staff, this is to help rinse all the taste in the mouth to prepare one for the main course. It's quite sweet and cooling, served in a small glass.

The main entrees: tao's oven roasted steak, marinated lamb cutlet, stew beef with rice (Japanese style),grilled snapper with Japanese sauce, slow cooked pork back ribs, baby lobster pasta in white wine sauce,tao's grilled chicken,baked Atlantic flounder with cheese. The tao's oven roasted steak has with a few choices of 30 to 70 % rare. The steak is quite thick but in smaller sizes than usual one and served with mashed sweet potato ( not the usual mashed potato) The snapper is very fresh and together with the sweet teriyaki sauce, it's just melt in your mouth. The ribs have the biggest portion of them all and looks and taste very good.

The dessert: creme brulee was highly recommended by the staff , otherwise there's still choices of sesame pudding yangsheng (养生）poached pear green tea or yam ice-cream, home-made chocolate mousse. All equally rich in favour.

The beverages: Their iced tea is another must try. They are super cooling and refreshing, especially after a meal. If not, the usual stuff of coffee, tea and juices are available.

The price is on the steep side. Cost about $28.80++ for dinner and would easily adds up to about $50 after all the cost had been added

Overall, the restaurant is highly recommended. A whole new style of dinning and excellent food.