Return to Tao

Man, we ate out a lot last month!

After my excursion to Normal Heights with TC, we decided to go again later that week with Bert. This time, I had the coupon from City Beat and I wouldn't forget to order drinks. We went on a Friday night without reservations. I didn't think it would be too crowded. Turns out we only waited 10-12 minutes instead of the half hour.

Here's my new Converse with the folded tongue flap.

Snapshot taken while waiting for our table...

Bert liked the salad - again, spring greens with fruit dressing and fresh tofu made inhouse.

They sat us at the back wall near the register. The walls are literally covered with customer scribblings and praise and such.

Bert pouring his beer...

This is a Japanese beer (can't make out the entire name thanks to Junichi who commented on this post, I was told that this beer is called is  Koshihikari Echigo. Thanks Junichi!) which he liked; it was pretty light.

TC got the Udon Nabeyaki with shrimp tempura. She liked that the heads were attached and had a fun time sucking the juice from the head after viciously tearing it off with her teeth. Look Mommy! Heh.

I should try this next time because I like the thickness of the udon noodles.

Bert got the lemongrass chicken with some sort of wild rice mix instead of white rice. He really really liked this dish. I think the plate is too damn huge though.

I also ordered the same thing as TC but instead of udon noodles, got it with soba. This was $6.36 while the udon was $8. The Lemongrass chicken was $10 something. So, the cheapest item ended up being free. My gripe about the shrimp tempura was that the batter was way too thick instead of nice and light. It tasted "too fried". I also enjoyed sucking the shrimp juice from the head! Please, no nastay jokes here.

Look at that steam rising from the soup! It was so flavorful with these really tasty mushrooms inside plus an egg (that whitish thing). When I poked it, the yolk spilled out so I mixed it into my soup which made the flavor so much better. I normally don't like runny eggs, but in this case, it was really good.

We were served the complimentary ice cream as dessert. The two choices were Mint Chocolate Chip and Green Tea. I thought the mint was a wierd flavor to pair with the mango and strawberry purees and fruit.

Again, our server, the owner was super nice. She remembered me and TC from before and was happy that we brought along Bert.

I think I like eating here at lunch much better. Not as crowded. It was fkg crowded that night and with all the people packed in here, was noisy as fk as well. But the buzz was positive. Not too many families out though.

While we were waiting earlier, we noticed the ice cream place next door. So that's where we were going next...