TT got some fantastic news at work a few weeks ago and I just couldn't be prouder of my babel. I've been meaning to take him somewhere special to celebrate but I've been super busy at my new job.
Before I knew it, my birthday had crept up on us and TT was trying to plan dinner to celebrate ME when I hadn't even celebrated HIM yet!!
Tao Downtown has been at the top of both of our "Must-Try" lists so we decided to pop in for a dual celebration Monday night.
Tao's original haunt, Tao Uptown, is up on 58th Street. You'll find it smooshed to the walls with the usual corporate crowd, men in suits, women in blazers, along with some A-listers and your fashionistas.
But the Tao Downtown spot gives the nightcrawelers and the trendies below 42nd Street another place to see and be seen.
You descend into the basement of the Chelsea Maritime Hotel and walk through a series of dark red hallways before opening into the most cavernous underground restaurant you could never have imagined would exist in lower Manhattan.
Would you have EVER seen this coming? I sure didn't.
The descending staircase has small lounge-like table setups where you can actually sit and enjoy a meal while looking out over the rest of the restaurant!
Unfortunately, I thought it was just an extension of the bar and didn't find out food was served on the stairs until much later in the meal. We descended into the main dining room and scooted into a table at the feet of a giant 24-armed Buddha.
Tao is known for two things - dim sum and giant Buddhas. I guarantee if you type #Tao in the search engine of Instagram, you'll see picture after picture of the enormous sitting Buddha at the front of the Tao Uptown dining room.
Tao Downtown's Buddha is not quite as spectacular in size or features but what did make it terribly interesting was the light. The shimmering light shining on the Buddha was constantly changing and therefore changing the colors and outward appearance of the giant statue.
It was a different Buddha every time we turned around!
Enough of the ambiance....let's have a look at the menu.
We started with drinks!
A Thai Basil Smash for the boy, and a Lychee martini for me.
The Smash had Stoli Citrus, Thai basil, and mandarin orange. I'm a huge fan of Thai basil in drinks. It adds such a kick. I always opt for it. The orange was a little too thick, making it pretty difficult to sip the drink with the straw. Not a bad taste but would be better if it the liquid were a bit thinner.
The Lychee martini was FABULOUS. Sweet but not too sweet. I could certainly see a few too many of those leading to a pretty fun night out. As you sip, the lychee at the bottom of the glass slowly begins to peer out from the liquid. Its own little iceberg just waiting to be eaten.
Since it was a double celebration, we really decided to go all out in the food department. Deciding what to order took a bit of work...
...Luckily my side of the table was a little more fun.
Look back at it, AMIRIGHT?
We started with Crispy Rice Tuna and Lobster Wontons.
The Crispy Rice Tuna was such an interesting dish. Served with spicy mayo and kobayaki sauce, the chewy stickiness of the rice is complemented by the fresh tuna on top. The pieces were bite size and the portion was perfect for sharing! Presentation was pretty lovely as well.
I had read about the Lobster Wontons on a number of yelp reviews and blogs mentioning Tao. They are served in a shiitake ginger broth that is no joke. Warm, chewy, salty. Perfectly seasoned and wonderfully drenched in that soupy deliciousness.
As we were fighting over who could use the giant spoon to slurp up the rest of the broth, our Beef Mongolian and Hong Kong Fried Noodles arrived.
Giant pieces of filet mignon cut up and tossed in a tomato-based semi-spicy sauce with snow peas and shimeji mushrooms. The beef quite literally melted in your mouth but I just couldn't bring myself to openly praise the sauce. It was delicious, don't get me wrong, but you could taste the tomato paste and it was strange to see that used so heavily in an Asian dish. I know they call it Asian Fusion but some things, in my opinion, are better left un-fused.
The Hong Kong Fried Noodles were served in an enormous portion. We took almost half home which served as a yummy lunch at my desk the next day in the office. Cooked with chicken, egg, mixed vegetables, and roast pork, it was much like fried rice....just with noodles. I was hoping for a little bit of a different flavor from regular old fried rice but they used the skinny noodles which I loved. It was a solid dish that I would absolutely order again.
To spice things up a little and to check out the skills of the sushi chefs at Tao, we ordered the Chef Yoshi roll on the side.
Tuna, salmon, curry mayo, sweet wasabi.
Hate to say it but I wasn't a fan of this at all. The fish itself was fantastic but the melded flavors, especially the two sauces served on top, made for a strange taste. It was well made but I think next time I might stick to the dim sum dishes.
We ate until we were utterly stuffed then sat back and enjoyed the company and the wonderful ambiance.
I was surprised with a giant fortune cookie just oozing vanilla and chocolate cream. Happy birthday to me!
We left very happy babels.
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