Johnna's Pick of the Week (Travel Edition): Tao (NYC and Vegas)

Tao (New York, NY)

Asian food with a fun twist. Decor that plays with the senses. The trendy and fab crowd. And drink concoctions galore. Tao has become a staple in New York as well as its sister restaurant in Vegas. Visitors to these cities often frequent Tao because of its reputation for a good time and flavorful foods. JKGF was on the scene to celebrate a birthday and can now vouch for this restaurant being very group friendly (*Many restaurants have not mastered the whole group dining concept...) The restaurant staff was very accommodating (*as our birthday girl, yours truly, was 2 hours late!) and provided a creative little twist on the birthday cake for the bday girl (*They brought out a fortune cookie the size of your head! It was deliciously filled with a mousse, topped with a few swirls of chocolate syrup and surrounded by fruit;-) Stop in Tao for that special occasion or for a meal before a night on the town...Enjoy!

Our favorites: The Hong Kong XO Shrimp with the long beans and Jasmine Rice and the Thai Crab Cakes with Mango Chile Sauce (*Warning: Crab cakes are pretty spicy.)

Things to avoid: Velvet corn and crab soup with crab stick (*They would've been better off calling this cream of corn...)

The Where:
Tao New York
42 E. 58th st.
NY, NY 10022
(212) 888-2288
http://www.taorestaurant.com/

Tao Las Vegas @ The Venetian
3377 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 388-8338
http://www.taorestaurant.com/lasvegas/

Picture source: http://www.yelp.com/biz/tao-new-york-2