Review Tao's Restaurant - Bulleen

Had a 2-hour 5-course lunch banquet here with my friend. Set menu with varieties. Nice food. Great ambience. Patrons and staff talk quietly so if you are after a place where you can enjoy good food and conversation with a friend, this would be the place !

Had a set lunch here and very full. I love the soy bean ice cream, not too sweet. And the surroundings are very nice. Good for a family dinner.

The fine dining here is absolutely amazing! The 7 course meal is a pure taste bud journey and makes you wonder how they manage to put so much flavour into each dish. I love my massive meals and although portion size is small, after the 7 courses i was totally stuffed. One of the best restaurants ever!

Took my mum here for belated Christmas service! We had the 7 dinner course for $68 and we left feeling so full. Each course was delicately and deliciously made! The customer service was also of excellent standard and we felt very welcomed by the people there. Would definitely recommend Tao's to those who feel like a fancy dinner or some kind of celebration.

I had a pretty mixed experience here. The concept and food quality was well thought out and well delivered, but it was inconsistent in that some entrees/mains were done well while others not so much. The entree and pre main for the vegetarian selection was a bit disappointing. Pretty filling though, and a well rounded dining experience. The wait staff could use some training in general table service.

Nice venue with lovely ambience. Menue is limited to 2 set options and a weekday set with wine. Since we are not alcoholic drinkers, we opted for 7 course meal. The courses were nicely plated and presented but I feel the staff should be trained to do a bit more in terms of explaining each course and how they should be eaten. This gives a nice personalised experience that customers would value. The meals tasted OK.

Visited Tao's for a banquet dinner for a family engagement party. From its rather hidden entrance on Bulleen Road, the restaurant is actually deceptively big with ample parking down the hill behind the property. We had a set menu, which didn't look particularly exciting on paper but turned out to be well presented, good portions, and very tasty. Great value for money, in my opinion.

Pretty great ambience and extraordinary service, food is delicate and touched to details, flavor is on point and we had a wonderful night there~ Will definitely be back for more. The soup and tempura prawn is just amazingly tasty!

Always been happy going back to Tao’s for special occasion. Feels good as the service and ambience makes one feels great to spend an evening here.

每年至少要來個三四次品嚐不同季節的菜色.Great value, great service. Perfect food and menu. One of my favorite restaurant!

Lovely ambiance ,friendly and courteous staff. Meals very well presented and of an excellent standard.

Had Christmas eve lunch here with set menu, decent food and pleasant service. Will come back again.

Nice food and nice atmosphere. Lovely night with uncle and auntie at Tao's.

Great food, excellent service. It was lovely to share with special friends. Will be back

Loved our evening food was amazing staff also excellent

Always great food and great service. The owners are genuine also.

We had a wonderful lunch here. The food was absolutely beautiful and the service second to none. Highly recommended!

Magnificent Women Business Network We have held our last 2 Christmas dinners here and will be going back on the the 6th December for our third. The food and the staff are exceptional. Thanks once again Jack for your continued support

Speechlessly good food! The atmosphere is great! Friendly service! Definitely coming back for more! If you're in town, make sure you don't miss it!

really fabulous venue,attentive but not intrusive service and lovely food...great value! its my fave place and Jack has kept up such a high standard !

Have driven past Tao's a number of times and finally had the chance to visit last night. Unfortunately it did not meet the quality and quantity Asian food is generally known for. The most disappointing and hilarious part of the night was when we received our two miniature dumplings served with what thought a strip of decorative soy sauce but was none other than a strip of sweet chocolate sauce. Drinks were extremely delayed in being served and were only delivered after two or three reminders. Quantity of food was not adequate and for $90 per head with drinks we left all still feeling a sense of hunger. Unfortunately I won't be back...

Absolutely amazing food. Not over filling. Amazing flavours. Coming back here ;)

We loved the starters... Peaceful quiet time away from the crowd and main streets... Interior is outdated, old.. price is reasonable for a fine dinner. We did not enjoy the mains of the set menu (duck curry was normal, dry.. steak just looked fancy)

Heard of this place so many years ago...went for friend’s birthday. It was a great night to had dinner there. Not like traditional Japanese food and it is creative more new style food . Set menu is good you can choose one each. Also provide one or two special dishes. Easy parking. <br/>

I LOVED the set menu at Taos! <br/><br/>We had a 7 course dinner with some really interesting, delicious and filing dishes!&nbsp;<br/><br/>I went for the vegan option and was super satisfied with what I received!!<br/><br/>I have included some pictures of some of the courses :) Definitely keen to go back!

Went for my friend’s birthday and overall, was thoroughly impressed by the food. Although the portions may seem small, as they did serve a 5 course meal, by dessert I was very full. They have an extensive list of options for each course too, perfect for anyone’s taste buds or needs. For example, for the main meal, they have almost every meat available, ranging from duck, steak and even salmon. I highly recommend the miso salmon. The flavour was a bit sweet, but it complimented the salmon very nicely. Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant for a birthday, as the novelty of being able to pick your different courses is very fun.

Tao’s always have provided exceptional service to their customers and ever improving food quality from their kitchen. This year is their 12th anniversary and I have to say being a loyal fan of Tao’s since they have first opened, their presentation and food have improved remarkably. Definitely worth a visit especially for special occasions with very affordable price for such fine dining experience

Overall it was a good meal.<br/>They do a multi-course menu eg; pay $78, select your courses and enjoy.<br/>Compared to ‘feed me’ style menu’s, it was a bit pricey and the quality of food wasn’t up to other Asian fusion restaurant standards that we’ve been to (eg; mr miyagi, Tokyo Tina, rice paper scissors etc;).<br/>Starters were delicious (abalone, cherry tomato and edamame). <br/>The beef tartare, rather than being thinly sliced raw beef was seared strips of beef that I found a bit chewy (although flavour was good).<br/>The chefs selected entree was a chicken skewer and was ok (but it was a chicken skewer so nothing exciting here).<br/>The mains seemed more modern Australian than Asian fusion. I got the duck and my husband got the beef. It came with rice as a side and one piece of broccoli and a baby carrot. Presentation was nice.<br/>Dessert; passionfruit mousse was delish but bright pink (I didn’t associate passionfruit with the colour pink but definitely passionfruit flavoured)!<br/>Service was polite and unobtrusive but water/tea was only topped up sporadically.

Never been disappointed by this restaurant, just celebrated birthday with mum, she was enjoy the environment and food very much. Very good dinning experience for all the family members. Although the rice dish was not the same as I usually have, it’s still good.

Excellent portion and very unique fusion style. The waiting time between each dish is a little wait. Very special deal for the birthday-celebration

Staff is really friendly and nice to their customer.<br/>I love the environment in this restaurant as well, its reminds me of traditional chinese restaurant and make me miss my family. I came here for my flatmate’s birthday, and we have the package dinner (76$ / head ). Honestly, ita pretty worth with the food we get because we can choose 6 type of food. It might not really big portion, but its make you full! Maybe will back again to bring my family to grab a dinner next time ! :)<br/><br/>PS; They allow you to bring your own wine / champange / liquor

Came here for a spring lunch banquet. You get a lot of food for the price but the food was just average. Fish main was over cooked- the salmon was dry. Steak was also a little chewy. Menu isn’t fusion but more confusion- it’s meant to be Asian but there was cream of mushroom soup, seafood chowder, and truffle and mushroom pie mixed in with some Asian food- Japanese (sashimi/ miso salmon) also some Chinese influences. I was left underwhelmed especially given the rating on zomato

This is a fine dining restaurant. We have been here a number of times, last few times was for friend’s wedding reception. This time, we ordered the set menu and their food was very fancy and delicious. Quite expensive to be honest.

The restaurant is quiet and clean, providing great service and high quality dishes. Overall it is a great fine dining experience. Recommend to my friends who look for a fine dining restaurant

I rate this between a 3 & 4.<br/>The food was good and the atmosphere pleasant. A very popular place for birthdays - big or small groups- as we were there to celebrate a birthday in a small group too.<br/><br/>The restaurant was large, with nice half see through curtains as “partition” to provide some privacy. A very clever design as it would provide flexibility for the restaurant to rearrange based on group size. For this reason I think it’s a great place to organise odd group numbers, you won’t have any issues like other not as spacious restaurants.<br/><br/>The food choices are also much more than I remembered (I’d had numerous birthday including my own here many years ago) and the taste and portion are reasonable.<br/><br/>I particularly like the chef’s appetiser for the night where it was a combination of oyster, plum and jellyfish. It does increased my appetite upon tasting this. <br/><br/>My friends ordered the porterhouse steak, which was a decent size for a course main and cooked very nicely (they did not ask how you would like steak cooked). I had the pork chop which was really nicely cooked, soft and sufficient taste without any excess sauce, just the way I like it.<br/><br/>Overall, I think most would find satisfaction with the food choices and the taste of the food. For the price, a 6 course meal with 2 appetisers, 2 entrees, a mani and a dessert, this restaurant is great.<br/><br/>What drives down the rating for this place were the little details: not asking whether anyone has any allergy to start with, not explaining what is in the chef’s dishes upon setting them on the table (we didn’t order this so we have no idea what are they), not pacing the dishes according to when everyone has finished eating (my friend the birthday person was still eating when they served and continued to the next dish) and not clearing the empty dishes before serving a new dish. This may be a problem when you are in a big group.<br/><br/>While there are ample of space and price to value ratio is pretty good, it does go to show the lack of attentiveness (or perhaps lack of staff as it seemed to get better toward the end as most people left) does reduce my impression of the otherwise wonderful experience. This is why the rating is lower than 4 in the lower 3s

I have been to Tao's a few times for dinner over the years and each time I finished, I left feeling very satisfied. On my most recent visit, the three of us indulged in the 8-course Winter 2018 menu: <br/><br/>Chef's Season Platter- Deep Fried Tofu with squid and edamame: the tofu was perfectly crunchy<br/><br/>Entree- Tempura Prawns w Coconut Green Curry: A very generous portion for an entree. The prawns were delicious. The curry was a bit spicy but that's because I can't take spice well.- Crispy Rockling w Squid Ink Mayo: The fish was crisp and cooked to perfection. The squid ink mayo was strong in garlic flavour but still very nice. The serving of this entree seemed relative "smaller" compared to the others.<br/>-Pork Belly Shabu-Shabu w Chili Goma: A light dish with a nice tang from the dressing. <br/><br/>Chef's special- Seafood Macaroni: This was hearty and warm, perfect for winter. The overall dish was a bit dry though. It would have been better had there been more cheesy sauce.<br/><br/>Soup- Stewed Beef Soup: Very flavorsome and made better with the wedge of lemon.<br/>- Cream of Mushroom: This was oh-so rich and creamy, but very tasty. <br/>- Seafood Chowder: Like the cream of mushroom soup, this one was rich too. I liked the abundance of seafood and veggies inside the soup.<br/><br/>Palate Cleanser : This was perfect after having that creamy soup though a bit on the sweet side. <br/><br/>Main-Sizzling Porterhouse w Black Pepper & Mushroom: The presentation was unique as it was served on a hotplate with lots of pebbles underneath. The beef was a it chewy but still tasty.<br/>- Tasmanian Salmon Fillet w Sweet Corn Puree: The salmon was cooked well, and I liked having those crunchy rice pops on top. <br/>- Baked Lamb Racks w Cumin Basil & Dijon Mustard: The lamb dish was ok and more gamy in flavour than lamb usually is. <br/><br/>Tao's rice: I love the rice at Tao's. The addition of fried shallots gives it more aromatics.<br/><br/>Dessert <br/>- Crème Brulee: The top layer was crunchy and the custard underneath was creamy and soft. <br/>- Raspberry Mousse Cake: The outer layer was very sweet and very sour. The inner sponge with the raspberry cream helped to balance out the intense flavors from the outer layer. <br/>- Walnut Chocolate Tart: This was a very rich dessert and definitely needs a refreshing element to go with it.<br/>This is one degustation where you will feel very full coming out off. I think there is good bang for bunk at Tao's and would recommend it. <br/><br/>Instagram @Flabnbone_Food

The service here is really excellent. They are attentive and fast. I have to say the food was a bit of a let down - we did the express banquet and had a range of dishes between the two and wine included . Certainly it is value for money ... however I didn’t love the food ! The sashimi was decent, however the mains both the duck and steak were quite average. Certainly don’t recommend the chicken wings or the oysters.The food is however represented beautifully ! Shame !

Taos had always been a family favourite to us who lives in the area. I can't even remember the number of times that we gave visited this place.<br/><br/>Anyway, always a great place for meet up and enjoying great food. Also love the variety available for summer or winter menu, it is always a good mixture.<br/><br/>Thanks for the complimentary drink, nice mocktail. The service is always nice and friendly.<br/><br/>The only minus will be the middle dish between the entree and soup, could it be adjusted to a vegetable dish as having mini pasta seems to be a bit too filling.

Tao’s Restaurant is an Asian fusion restaurant located at Bulleen. A great suburb, but I mainly come to Bulleen when I need to fix Helen’s watch. I got her a vintage Omega many years ago, and it’s been nothing but trouble! An Omega watchmaker works from Bulleen, so you could say I know my way around the area by now. Well anyway back to Tao’s Restaurant, these guys were one of the original pioneers of Asian fusion. They were doing Asian fusion before it was cool. Unfortunately time may have caught up with them and it feels as though they’ve been left behind. Over the years, the quality of their food has been on a slow and steady decline…

Disappointing! We had the weekend lunch menu and it was mediocre! Put against the price you pay, it’s actually quite bad! The only delicious item was the cream mushroom soup (which I think is not even Asian??). Duck was soggy with an unpleasant smell - close to disgusting. Salmon was bland - and if you don’t do well with salmon, something is seriously wrong. Even food courts do decent salmons just using some teriyaki sauce!! Desserts were alright, but nothing stood out. Now, staff were nice but they clearly didn’t get it right. Toward the end of the lunch hour they started vacuum cleaning the dining hall as we and a few other tables were still sitting. It was still 15-20 mins before their closing time, so it’s not like we were sitting over time. It was really annoying to close our experience with such loud noise!! ... Not worth the money!

Was more like 3.5 stars but we can longer do half stars.  <br/>Had a set menu for a private function. Food was generally very good. Oysters, followed by either mushroom or fish chowder , pork belly or fish,  roast duck or chicken and then soy bean ice cream or cream brulee for dessert. The duck was unimpressive with the skin  soggy with no crunch.

Came here for a friends after wedding dinner. Didnt have high expectation I would never imagine a Chinese "Fine Dining". It turned out to be quite nice. They have like a set menu that you can order your entree, main and dessert from and all of the dishes turned out to be lovely. Asian fusion is a thing now really hope to see more Chinese Western fusion restaurants!

Tao at Bulleen. We had a wedding dinner there and good presentation with the banquet food. Modern Design with Chinese cuisine and introduced a modern way to combine traditional with new Chinese style.

I went for dinner today. Customer service was fantastic! I felt warmly welcomed and was served right away! Staff members were all very kind and I love how they all remember individually what me and my parents each ordered. It’s the little things that count. :) <br/>Food was delicate, carefully made and fresh!!<br/>Portion size is relatively small in comparison to the price, however still highly recommend it! Was an awesome experience :))

I've been to Taos quite a few times and about 80% of the time the quality and taste of the food, the service and ambiance is always great! The food is always fresh and I love how there is a varied menu. The staff are always friendly and the ambiance of the restaurant is what you would expect of a fine dining restaurant. In one of my visits, the food came out very quickly which might have been because there was a very large group of people eating the same time I had. This caused me to rush my meal which made it not as enjoyable as I was stuffing my food down.

Haven't been this restaurant for a long time. Prince increased,but still acceptable, and menu has been updated. Experienced services, when we said we want speed up, everything goes more faster.

Use to go here all the time a couple of years ago. I remember having a memorable dessert where they put mint ice-cream in a mini pot and put in crumbles to look like soil so i was excited to come back. <br/>Went a few days ago and was gravely disappointed. <br/>Firstly, i asked if i could look at the kids menu to which the server looked like he was judging me and told me that it wouldn't be suitable for me(i thought it would be ok because i'm barely an adult anyway). I asked for the kids menu because i didn't see anything i liked on the adult menu so i was forced to choose from the set dinner menu. <br/>I chose the cheaper 48 dollarish dinner set and had the fish with squid ink, as well as the beef on the rocks. <br/>All of the serving sizes appear smaller than what they were a couple of years ago much to my dismay, and their average taste didn't make up for it. My previous good experiences made the disappointment much worse. I left the restaurant feeling a hungry.<br/>However the ambience of the whole place hasn't changed at all which is good but i'm not one to care about that sort of thing, i solely care about food and customer service. <br/>The restaurant was good a couple years back but now has fallen far from its prime. Not the worse place to eat at though. Has average food with small portions. The rating is mostly based on the comparison to its past self.

Just went here for friends’s banquet wedding. <br/>The place is nice and great service. Had so many different great foods but my favourite was the beef ribs, steam salmon with mushroom, creamy soup and they have a pretty good creme brulee too... not sure of they have these on their daily menu but the banquet food was great!

Food was above average. We liked the lamb cutlet, rockling fillet, and porterhouse. <br/><br/>Judging purely on food would easily rate 4 stars, however the service and bathroom has both deducted half of each. <br/><br/>We really didn't know what we ate in the starter as the menu said nothing, and the staff just dropped the food on the table and ran away. <br/><br/>The bathroom, forget about it, you wouldn't want to know. <br/><br/>The fine dinning experience has haunted by the bathroom.

An experience to behold... a degustation of fusion...tastes to tantalise<br/>great service, warm atmosphere, and delicious delicious food... enjoy

Went here for an anniversary dinner last night, and my partner and I each ordered differently so we could try as much as possible! <br/>Everything was delicious, perfectly cooked and flavoursome. Each dish was wonderfully presented with beautiful tableware. Particularly fond of the mushroom soup, Rockling entree, and Yu-Zu tart dessert!<br/>Staff were very friendly and attentive, and the restaurant itself was quiet, warm and wonderfully decorated.<br/>Personally found it well worth the expense, and both my partner and I walked away very full!

Went to Taos' to celebrate a friends birthday. <br/>It's a 4 course dinner. You get to "select one of" from a few dishes per course. We went as a group of 5 and the table had a mixed review of the dishes received. <br/><br/>Tea was served barely luke warm and even when we asked for hot tea, it was still the same luke warm tea. It's pretty bad to serve tea in such a state. Tea is meant to be served hot. At one point we jokingly suggested this was just water with a bit of flavor added to it. <br/><br/>Starter : It's the same for all and we all liked it. <br/>Appetizer : Wasabi crispy chicken was really bland. No one could taste any wasabi or really any particular flavor. The noodles dish and crispy fish dish was well received. <br/>Soup : The bonito mushi soup and the ginseng herb soup was really good. The seafood chowder was hardly touched. <br/>There was a chef special dish at this point. Some of us finished it all, others had a little. <br/>Main: The abalone dish, the king prawn dish were both excellent. The steak was only half eaten. <br/>Rice : all were served special fried rice. All liked this. <br/>Dessert : everyone enjoyed their dessert. The tart, the fresh fruit, the creme brûlée.<br/><br/>The staff organized a surprise for the birthday girl. A dish made of green tea ice cream sandwiched between thin pastry. Nice gesture. <br/><br/>The bathroom is in desperate need for a renovation. <br/><br/>It's really hard to judge this as there were likes and dislikes. As for me, I'd be back as I happened to choose the dishes which was a hit. But this review is on behalf of the whole table.<br/><br/>Bonus - On the month of the birthday person, they get their meal for free! Conditions apply，so check their web site. <br/><br/>.

Had my friend's wedding dinner there on Saturday. The experience was absolutely delightful. Really good service with very nice food. Good price as well. Will definitely come back!

Off the main Bulleen Road not far from the Bulleen M3 exit, with ample customer parking, this standalone restaurant was rather confusingly listed as serving Japanese cuisine on Zomato but with quite an eclectic menu and pictures on review said otherwise. On questioning their staff, they did mention their Chef was a Taiwanese by origin. <br/><br/>Comfortable fine dining in a spacious banquet style interior with high ceiling and full Western table set up.<br/><br/>What was on a Friday casual night family dinner, at a fixed price of $78 per head ($25 per child Yrs 3-10), it was a unique but costly meal experience and the concept could be more flexible to allow for ordering a la carte as sharing dishes would have been more interesting and worthwhile. <br/><br/>Kid's 3 course meal was limited to 2 choices plus juice, and the entire meal was served all at once which felt much like being served airplane food, unusually out of place. The portions were also big for younger children to complete on their own. <br/><br/>The offbeat 7 course menu was interesting, tasty and well presented and just that bit too much in portioning for each of us. It was a buffet of different cuisines served Western style, course by course. Service flow and efficiency were inconsistent where the first 4 courses were served too quickly, (perhaps all ready prepared just need to dish up) and the mains were a much longer wait. <br/><br/>We were rushed at the start to finish before the mains as they needed to clear before serving the next dish as per Western style food service. But the mains took longer and we were starting to lose our appetite by the time it arrived and no communication from any staff. The kids had finished their meal and become bored of waiting for the adults to finish their meal. Tea was not replenished until requested and it took a long while for them to bring more which was awkward when the staff quickly disappeared behind the scenes. Perhaps leaving a teapot on the table would help? <br/><br/>It just didn't feel right as a place to have a casual night out with family and friends, especially if sharing of food or a less rigid style would be preferred. Children's menu was obligatory to order per child in attendance and simply did not feel that necessary. It would be more perhaps for impressing a date or a special occasion and preferably just a meal amongst small group of adults for business/ entertainment purposes. <br/><br/>7 Course Set Meal <br/>1. Chef's Assorted Seasonal Platter <br/>🌟🌟🌟Corn Soup & Garlic Bread<br/><br/>2. Entrée<br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟Wafu Daily Sashimi<br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟Salt & Pepper Crispy Rockling with Squid Ink<br/>🌟🌟🌟✨Seafood Chawanmushi<br/><br/>3. Chef's Special of the Day<br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟 Baked Seafood <br/><br/>4. Soup <br/>🌟🌟🌟✨Bonito Dobin Mushi<br/>🌟🌟🌟Ginseng Chicken Herbal<br/><br/>5. Main<br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟Spicy Seafood Hotpot<br/>🌟🌟🌟✨Tao's Signature Rack of Lamb<br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟Butter Poached Lobster Tail with Shiso Béarnaise <br/><br/>6. Rice<br/>🌟🌟🌟Tao's Rice<br/><br/>7. Dessert<br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟Crème Brulee <br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟Red Bean Mocha Puff<br/>🌟🌟🌟🌟Walnut Black Sesame Ice Cream<br/><br/>Kid's Meal<br/>🌟🌟🌟Chicken with Vegetable Curry on Rice<br/>🌟🌟🌟Cupcake<br/>🌟🌟🌟Daily Fruits<br/>🌟🌟🌟Apple Juice

It was my first visit back to this restaurant in 3 years, and I had bragged to my dinner partner of how good I remember this restaurant to be! The food at this restaurant used to live up to it's name of being modern, creative Japanese,...but not anymore! They obviously have changed chef since then. Of the 7 courses (of which 1 was complimentary), we had to send 4 back as they were lukewarm and the dessert platter was not at all fresh! The complimentary course was nothing to write home about, and I think it was made up to get rid of some old vegetables. It was also that cheesy it was disgusting. Nearly all courses lacked the flavour & wow factor, and they tried to pass what looked to be a flake fish off as Rockling....it was definitely not Rockling! The Cream of Mushroom soup only contained one piece of mushroom and was that pale that you could see the cream component. They definitely have to get a new chef!<br/>The good was the ambience had not changed, and the tea was fantastic along with pallet cleanser. They do have to be commended with setting the table with Knifes and Forks. It's about time all Asian Restaurants do this, as we are in Australia after all! <br/>The bad was that described above along with average waitering service, and the ugly was the bathrooms as they are in dire need of a renovation! We won't be back in a hurry as they never even offered a discount to compensate for bad experience. So, we then happily gave them Entertainment card!

A good place for families and friends. Also see someone else have a function there. Presentation is good and staff are friendly and helpful.

The food was above average but nothing spectacular. By the end of the courses, we were full to the brim. Although $78 is is relatively expensive to other Asian fusion restaurants, there is more than enough dishes, in terms of variety and quantity to tantalise your tastebuds. I wouldn't recommend the seafood chawanmushi or the seafood chowder. Those were both a let down. Otherwise, it was quite an enjoyable experience.

Terrible, take over an hour to serve the main dish. Food quality at take away level, no service at all. Will never go back again . <br/><br/>Well, now it's 9:15( we came at 6:30)the main still not served and I'm with my kids. My husband came to ask when will we have the main dish and we were told there's something wrong the kitchen so they can't cook , aren't they supposed to tell the customer about the situation?! And just let the customer wait and wait? !

Located in leafy Bulleen just 15 minutes from the city centre, Tao's is a tranquil restaurant serving a unique dining experience. The ambience is modern and relaxed with furniture and fittings carefully curated and brought across the seas from Taiwan. The vast space boasts large windows and a balcony area with expansive views of greenery and allowing plenty of natural light to stream in creating a romantic ambience - a perfect setting for special occasions or functions.

Really innovative menu, and such a great twist on modern Chinese cuisine . <br/>I really enjoyed my meal here, service was really great so I will definitely return here.

Came here for a private event a while ago. All the guests were super happy with the service and professionalism of the staff. Food was impressive and everyone left satisfied.

Located just off Bulleen Road, Tao's is a modern Japanese fusion restaurant and a sibling restaurant to the vegetarian cafe, V Series in Kew.<br/><br/>There's ample parking on site and on a Sunday afternoon it was quiet. The interior of the restaurant is spacious with private rooms available but was surprisingly very dimly lit for lunch (not a lot of natural light was let in). Like other reviews, I would have also associated the decor to be Chinese rather than a Japanese restaurant.<br/><br/>Tea was served as part of the meal but wasn't a traditional Japanese tea but instead a fruity tea which I was not a huge fan of. Service was attentive and tea cups were refilled as they were emptied. The restaurant itself is just a little fancy with its degustation offering (set lunch for $58 pp) and while the food was not bad, it was not amazing either. And given we are spoilt for choices in Melbourne, Tao's Restaurant wouldn't be my first choice for Japanese however I would not be complaining if friends or family wanted to come here for a catch up over a set lunch.<br/><br/>Dishes that make up this review:<br/><br/>Chef's assorted seasonal platter<br/>Tao's style sashimi<br/>Ging-sing chicken herbal soup<br/>Sizzling porterhouse with black pepper and mushroom sauce<br/>Tao's rice<br/>Tahini and honey pan cotta with sweet potato<br/><br/>Follow me on Instagram for more photos: @fo0die

Tao's is a nice place to take your partner for a date  or for the special occasion without breaking the bank. It offers Japanese fushion menu and their set lunch and dinner is very reasonably priced. It has ample on premise parking and is family friendly. The food is beautifully presented. The interior decor needs a bit of refurbishment especially the carpet looked a bit worn out. The name and exterior of the restaurant looks like a Chinese restaurant so it can be a bit confusing as it does not offer the typical Chinese cuisine.

Fusion Asian cuisine. First time having lunching here rather than dinner. Good experience, especially the parkland stunning view. The food presentation, service and ambience are the signature. Would recon to those who love Asian food wiz Western style operation.

When for a birthday celebration with family. Experienced a fusion dining , good environment and great service! The food was really good. Worth for a visit

Great place to celebrate something special or just to treat yourself! Lovely staff and delicious food. Highly recommend the dobin-mushi and matcha ice cream but honestly can't really go wrong with most of the dishes here. Beware the spicy seafood hotpot though - it's called 'spicy' for a reason! Really good value for money.

Very special fusion style restaurant. Have been here a few times. Smoked duck breast with pineapple sauce is quite interesting combination and taste. Creamy mushroom soup is a bit heavy to me. Luckily had fish as main dish so got a bit balance as it is fresh and light. Vanilla pana-cotta with berry compote is the highlight of today's dinner, nice and not too sweet, now it's one of my favourite desserts!

I went to Tao's for a large group celebration. The food was delicious and I was full after the 7 courses although some of my friends were not. I've had friends come here for wedding receptions before and for a restaurant which holds large events often they lack a bit a consistency with the presentation. The dishes on the table were put together differently and for a couple of dishes had sauce dripped on the side which was definitely not for presentation. Other than that criticism, lovely food and staff and the venue was nice.

Upon entering, the restaurant had a nice warmth to it with its combination of cultural artefacts mingled into the modern interiors. The food itself had was plated very nicely and in terms of taste did not fall short either. The pork on the hot stone was a particular highlight for me as it had just the right amount of fat content that when it sizzled on the hot stone was delicious

Tao is really a great place to celebrate key dates!<br/>Love 'cream of mushroom' most.<br/>Quality food at a reasonable price, excellent service, definitely will go back again!

Great restaurant located amongst a very nice surrounding. Nice oriental decor. The banquet is great to sample all the dishes they have to offer, you won't leave here hungry, they feed you well. I don't find the food to be amazing or using the best/freshest ingredient. But over all it's still good and worth the money.

Disappointed.<br/><br/>Started on a high note, service was excellent, very attentive. The food was great.<br/><br/>However was let down when they brought out the main. I was told they didn't have any of the pork left that I'd ordered and was given the prawn dish instead.<br/><br/>Here's a common sense suggestion - if you don't have the dish that's been ordered, notify your customer and let them choose the replacement dish they'd prefer, rather than make their decision for them...

This place is very popular especially for special events. It’s a degustation menu with several options to choose from for about $70 a person for dinner and about $50 a person for lunch. You get an entree, soup, main, dessert and a few special extras in between. Taco with salsa and fresh oyster in vinegar sauce

Had 2 of our friends birthday celebration here . Great food , great place . Everything was quite delicate and pretty. Somehow the waiter wasn't too keen, guess he was new . Still a good one . Been here a year ago .

Food in Tao’s is (still) good (fortunately). Sadly I cannot say the same about the level of service we received this evening. The owners might want to give one of its waiters a raise.<br/><br/>1) Our request for warm water took three reminders<br/><br/>    It was very difficult for the staff to provide our child with a glass of warm water even after 3 reminders. My child had choked on some of their food and I was quite patient. Lucky we had a spare tumblr in the car which I had to bring in. <br/>   Must be difficult to provide warm water despite other orders were made and still came.<br/><br/>2) Utensils - what's that?<br/><br/>Kids meal in tao's fine dining.<br/>Wow.<br/>Why? Warm water took forever to come and they kept apologising when we asked. I didn't know they had to go get hot lava to boil water.<br/>See the picture here? No utensils.<br/>Me: so where are the utensils?<br/>Waiter: oh err the small spoon for soup is there<br/>Me: so how about the fried prawns? Use fingers to cut is it?<br/>Waiter: ( finally understood what a knife is for)<br/><br/>See first picture below and see the next picture which represents how the waiter had just chucked the utensils on the table near the child's dish and went off. No, probably doesn't know that in fine dining, the arrangement of utensils is of essence?<br/><br/>3) Ice cream for children's meal<br/><br/>  For the adults, we got our desserts timely but for that one ice cream in the kid's meal, it didn't come until we had to signal to them that the adults have had their dessert and it's only the child's that is still not served. Trying to rewrite fine dining? I hope not...<br/><br/>In conclusion, the food is still good but if for young families with precious younglings, we got quite an experience this evening. Thank you, Tao. Didn't know fine dining was as such.

A very pleasant experience! Have intended to go here for a while but we kept having to postpone it Thank god the maitre'd was still very pleasant when we kept calling to change it! Oopses... So if you live in the north, you'll see this red asiany restaurant every time you drive to doncaster etc <br/><br/>Service - absolutely superb. So efficient and friendly. Quick to top us up w sweet floral tea every time and so quick to clear our dishes for each meal when we were done!<br/><br/>As we went on a weekend you can order the set menu which we didnt mind as we wanted to try a variety anyway. Set menu had choices and it included an appetiser, entree, another special appetiser, soup, cleanser, main and dessert. I chose prawns tempura for entree and it was amazing! Charcoal see weed gave it that smokey flavour. My mushroom soup was nice but after a few spoonful it got a bit too creamy for me. My duck l'orange as main was nice. Ive had better though but i still polished off the whole plate. It came with fried rice too! For dessert i chose the green tea tiramisu and that was a good choice to end the Japanese/Chinese? Fusion experience.. Yummmmy!!<br/><br/>Unfortunately the cocktails didn't do it for us.. Mine tasted like apple juice and a shot of vodka and partner tasted like vodka and vanilla essence? Lucky the tea was endless!!! <br/><br/>Overall still a great experience. Lots of space and different function rooms too! However we still had a very romantic setting/space.<br/><br/>Menu was $68 pp but we got an entertainment book so managed to get $25off!

Not a bad place but went on new years day which was set menus. But will definitely try again. Very nice atmosphere.<br/>Asian fusion type of food with a twist.

Service: perfect. Polite. Unobtrusive. Attentive<br/><br/>Food: Unique flavours and ideas. Modern take on simple traditional meals. Care is taken in every dish to have multiple layers of flavour and interest. <br/><br/>Presentation: always amazing and creative. Everyone taking photos of their food and posting it!<br/><br/>Price: Not cheap. However good value when taking into account the quality and multiple course format. <br/><br/>Vegetarian: very creative use of ingredients to create mock dishes such as salmon and steak. Which also taste great. <br/><br/>In summary. Best modern cuisine in the east!<br/>

Service was not great. Food was average - nothing special nor innovative. Not worth your time and money. You're better off going to plume 5 mins away

Best fusion Chinese western restaurant in eastern area. Perfect for functions and wedding. The decor is zen style and service is excellent

Utterly disappointing experience. After reading so many good reviews, we decided to check it out today. The worst thing of the night would be the tempura prawns. I wonder who came up with this idea of having black batter for tempura, which made it literally look like poo (see attached picture). The tail of the prawn was also embedded within the fried black batter, which if you do not pay attention, you would have chewed into it.<br/><br/>The creme brulee that we ordered was also not set, we could pretty much pour the liquid out of the cup. Seafood chowder was unlike any chowder we've tried before - it is completely baked solid ! <br/><br/>Service wasn't exactly good either. The place was not full, yet we had to wait very long in between the servings. At one point we even had to get tea refills ourselves because the waiters forgot our request multiple times. <br/>For the high price that one has to pay, there are definitely much better choices around. Won't be thinking of going back there again.

Staff are really friendly N services is good. birthday deal is big big advantage for us. I thought the deal just % of discount , but it's birthday person hv free meal. Can't wait for go next time. XD

Good food at a very affordable price. Presentation of the food and restaurant interior are comparable to other restaurants with similar but more expensive set menus. Great place for a large group to get together on special occasions etc...

Taos is a great way to not only celebrate ones age but a great way to save your wallet. Why? Because 50% off on someone’s birthday! Who doesn’t love discounts ahahaha. In saying all this, I visited Tao’s on my birthday. Decided to get the dinner banquet, where you get a choice for the entrees, mains, and dessert!

Celebrated my son's 16th birthday at Tao's to take advantage of their birthday for free promotion. I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. All the courses were of high quality and came out in timely fashion even they were full house.  Will definitely recommend to others!

Not a fan at all.. With Plume just 5 minutes away, I have no idea why anyone would come here!!! I do not recommend this place whatsoever !!!

Tao's offered Japanese fusion set lunch/dinner menu. It will change according to the season and consists of all sorts of dishes and ingredients. Dinner is $68/pp includes: chef special, entree, special of the day, soup, main and dessert. You will ended up with more food due to extra sides between the dishes,for example, plum sorbet before dessert. We were very full at the end of the meal. The overall quality of the food was average but I think the value of money is not bad. For entree, I recommend the tiger prawn. For the soup, recommend the creamy mushroom. For the main, spicy seafood hotpot was nice. For the dessert, recommend the creme brûlée. They also have large table to cater large groups and you can book online.

My wife and I took advantage of her eating free on her birthday and had lunch at Tao's on a Wednesday.    It was very quiet with only a small number of diners.   The off-street car parking was very convenient.  The restaurant has pleasant decor/ambience even though it is showing its age somewhat.   The staff were very friendly and helpful.   It's not your typical noisy Asian restaurant.   The cuisine is fusion, presenting a number of Asian styles (Chinese, Japanese, Thai) in a somewhat western manner.   The set lunch included a reasonable selection of entree, soup, main and dessert.    There was also a chef's selection starter platter - Thai chicken salad and sweet potato.  The sashimi entrée was good quality with 5 selections and reasonable proportions for an entree.  Like many of the dishes, the artistic presentation on large plates made the servings appear smaller than they actually were.   Presentation is a large part of the dining experience with each dish being presented in a unique manner, e.g. my bonito soup came in a small kettle from which I could pour the soup into a small matching drinking cup after I had finished the seafood in the soup.   The pork belly entree was tasty with a tangy sauce. 　Both soups that we chose (ginseng chicken and bonito) were very tasty.    The main course of beef cheek in chilli tomato sauce was amazing - such a rich taste and very tender. The rack of lamb main was also tender and very tasty.   The desserts of creme brûlée and chocolate cake were ordinary but OK.   The timing of courses was good - evenly spaced, unhurried.   The staff checked with us to see if we would like to pause between courses.   Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience with value for money enhanced by the birthday discount.   We will be back for more.

I dined at Tao’s Restaurant a few years ago and had a good impression of the place. The landscaped gardens, pagoda and the natural, wooden interior gives it a feel that it’s in the countryside. A hidden oasis. If you drive past it, you’d probably think it’s a regular Chinese restaurant because of it’s name, but in actual fact it’s far from it.

wonderful morden chinese food. nice date choice. birthday girl got free. dinner took us like 3hr to finish, but worth it. hope they can renew the menu very soon. looking forward to come back.

Was misled by the impression of the environment and the price, but only get very average food for $68 per person for dinner. One off my list ...

Disappointing. For the price charged, I was disappointed with the food. The service was good. The presentation of the food was great. However, many of the dishes not not taste as good as they look; the plates, bowls used were often not functional; the coffees were not hot enough. Probably a 2 - 3 stars out of 5 stars only for the price charged.

Tao’s has an unique philosophy centred around fusion. At its core, the place appears to be Taiwanese, especially with its Chinese name, Oriental style décor, and menu containing Chinese characters. But it’s really a Taiwanese restaurant serving Japanese food, with French, Pan-Asian, and local Australian influences.   It was a the perfect venue for T to have dinner with my parents (for the very first time). The menu provided T with plenty of semi-familiar dishes, just as it provided Mummy and I with a few novel combinations to ooh and ahh over. My dad, being cool the way he is, had actually recommended the venue. Perhaps because of its wide appeal, it’s also a popular choice for doing business and he had visited quite a few times previously. Dad put us all on the banquet menu which gave us the option to choose an entrée, main and desert  each . This is in contrast to most Chinese banquets where dishes are ordered to be shared amongst the table. I giggled a little at the fact that a standard three course menu was being marketed as a banquet menu to inspire patrons to observe a Western sequence and style of dining.

Was excited to try as it always seems to be booked out. Unfortunately they lost us at entree, with plastic found in our food.. They did give us an additional meal on the house and discounted our drinks but that doesn't really make up for almost swallowing a chunk of plastic. Steak was a cheap cut. Ribs were nice. Overall confused with the menu and the food was hit and miss.

The exterior and interior of the place is influenced by the Japanese culture, with a beautiful pond inviting you into its grounds. Perfect place to bring your loved one and experience the romantic ambience. The meals are based from a multi-course selective set menu, with a Taiwanese influence and an eastern and western modern twist to it. The lunch set menu was priced at $48 per person. Before I get into each individual dish, I would like to highlight how polite and well presented the staff were and dishes were perfectly timed. The $48 was worth the experience and the tea was berry flavoured, giving that special touch. The first dish of the afternoon was the starter. It was seared tuna and raw oyster. It sounds quite average but the presentation was on point and both were full of flavour. The tuna was on top of a bed of pickled onion, topped with an sweet onion soy based sauce with a sprinkle of spring onion. It may seem the onion would overpower the tuna but there was a perfect amount of sauce and kick. The oyster was incredibly fresh, immersed in its own liquid. It was creamy, soft and the salinity was well balanced. If you haven’t had a raw oyster before, I warn you that you need an acquired taste. For entrée I had the  Tasmania Salmon Tartare with Horseradish Sauce. The presentation of this dish was pretty and elegant. The raw salmon was cut into little squares, making it very easy to taste the creaminess of the fish and horseradish sauce. It is very light, fresh and the acidity was just right. After entrée came our soups. I picked the steamed chicken shiitake. If you love chicken and mushroom you would LOVE this soup. It is perfect for those cold winter nights. The chic

Service is amazing. They seem to have timed it properly and does not leave a long gap between dishes. The presentation of each dish is good. However, not all dishes blended in well with their flavours.

The six-course set lunch (the only thing available) was $38 as opposed to $58 for a seven-course dinner. The selection of dishes available for lunch was slightly more limited, but those not included for lunch were dishes we’d tried previously anyway. The lunch menu was pretty much the same as my previous dinner visit, minus the chawanmushi. Instead of the chawanmushi as the extra dinner dish, they offered ‘Tao’s Special Rice Meatball’. My choice of dishes were: Starter: Raw Beef Nigiri Main: Hokkaido Style Miso Hotpot Desert: Tao’s Style Sesame Macaron Because I chose the hotpot I wasn’t given soup or the special rice. A2 didn’t want a soup so I picked Teapot Style Bonito Dobimushi and drank it for her. My hotpot came with tofu, a few prawns and assorted vegetables, including a lot of sweet potato and lotus root. Surprisingly, the sesame macaron was the least sweet of the deserts, which suited my tastes. Like on my first visit, I thought the

It is fusion Taiwanese food that’s served here.  And it might be a bit different to what you might expect.  We all enjoyed Tao’s at our last visit. It’s easy to get a booking and with their wide variety of styles and food offered, there’s something for everyone. Some might find the $68 on weekends a bit steep for the kind of food offered however.

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For those that haven’t heard of Tao’s, Its A hidden away restaurant in the outskirts of Melbourne with a reputation in serving modern Japanese cuisine (Though the owners are not of Japanese background) . My thoughts on the matter is that they’re not here nor there when it comes to the style of food that is offered and you’ll see why in a minute.<br/>

The restaurant looks like a Chinese restaurant on the outside, with some Chinese decor inside, but the tables are all rectangular like Western restaurants. E had booked out a room out the back which was actually right next to the kitchen so we could see the waiters coming in and out =/

My overarching impression is that Tao’s is imitating high end restaurants but doesn’t have the substance to back it up – everything looks beautiful but it’s a bit mish-mashy and there’s no cohesion to the meal. There was nothing wrong with the food, but (mint ice cream aside) there was nothing particularly inspired about it either. The waiters were good at getting all the food out at the same time (and making sure everyone has their correct dish), but we had to ask for water about 5 times before we got it, which is one of my pet peeves.

Fine dining and asian cuisine? Definitely yes.

Tao's certainly do not tick any authentic boxes as the food is largely a mix western and pan asian fusion.

A very strange but interesting combination of food.

Dimlit and cosy ambience with very welcoming staff. No a le carte is available, only a seasonal 7 course degustation menu. Entrée & tasting dishes: Tasting platter – marinated tomatoes, mini herb bread, prawn + pumpkin gelatin – provided a refreshing star

Few months ago, my parents celebrated their wedding anniversary at a restaurant in Buleen called Tao's. This restaurant is a hidden secret within the suburbs, situated off the eastern freeway. Tao's is a careful modern fusion of east and west cuisines, un

My friend Kevin was telling me about how good Tao's Restaurant is, and combined with a discount from the Entertainment Book, it works out to good value as well. So Ling and I went there for dinner.

Tao’s serves what I suppose should be called Asian fusion food, as cliche as that sounds. The flavours are most definitely pan-Asian, but the presentation is most definitely not, falling into that ‘modern’ Western genre, with a definite nod to somewhere Patrick Bateman would eat.

Great good and service! Beautiful scenery as well and outdoor decoration.

Not value for your money.. I don't mine paying good money for quality food. We ordered chicken soup, it was a little tiny piece of chicken floating in water and to top it up it was tasteless. Steak for main was a really cheap cut. Came dessert piña colada ice cream was just plain ice cream with bit of some topping. Definitely not going back.

Average food but great value.. $68 for a banquet for a 6 course menu that we can each individually order our own choices was very attractive! (5 courses on the menu and we received an extra one for free on the night!). I first went to the restaurant 20 years ago when it was still an old chinese restaurant, I was a bit reluctant to come to Tao's with my girlfriends last Saturday. But turned out that it is now a fusion restaurant, with updated decor and quite a nice atmosphere. My entree of wagyu tataki was very delicious, I couldn't get enough of it. But it went downhill from there. The soup was a clear mushroom broth that was tasteless. The main was pretty much a cheese filled chicken that you buy from supermarket and heat it up from oven, which was salty and dry. Seafood cheese tart was the same. However their dessert creme brulee was a winner! Overall it was pretty good for the price we paid for I guess. But I am probably not in any hurry in going back there anytime soon.

A bloody joke. This place is an absolute joke, the manager is an absolute douche. First I was seated mind I say in probably the worst seat in the whole restaurant, when the food arrived it had ingredients which i specifically asked to be removed ( allergies). The poor attention to detail is appalling. After I asked to speak to the manager, the manager gave me a grotty look and pretty much told me to eat it or leave. Never coming back here again, I went home hungry and lost a chunk of dough out of my pocket. The staff is also incredibly bad probably because the manager is exploiting them, I asked for a cup and was given a bowl instead. Absolute joke.

Olga and friends. Highly recommended place .Food so tasty and yammy Service 10 out of 10 . Great presentation

Food looks good, taste average and service low average. The menu is different to their online menu, it's more expensive and less choices. Food are presented beautifully. Taste is average. Service just meet average level. All dishes arrive same time, the restaurant is not busy during lunch, however waiters won't even bother asking which dish belong to who, so he just placed any dish in front of us, and we shuffled it to the correct order ourselves. He was so quick walking away that I didnt even have chance to tell him to put it right! And it happened to all 6-7 courses which is so disappointing! Apart from that, I would say it worth a try.

Over priced and no flavor. Won't go back.. they try to twist the dishes but it end up being odd and no real flavor.. it's nor Chinese nor western... but very expensive... never been back again!!!

Disgusting ill conceived food. Gordon Ramsay would say smash all those fancy plates first thing and then decide what cuisine you're making and stick to it. Worst items we hand in our set meal were the pickled tomato to go with the pickled fish amuse bouche. I think they called it a confit tomato. And the fluoro orange between meal prawn shot, which tasted like prawn juice mixed with neat orange cordial. No one on our table of about 20 took more than a sip. We were given cutlery, not chopsticks and that summed up the food style, there was nothing that needed chopsticks here. I would try to avoid the seafood if I were ordering again and my boyfriend's favourite from his meal was the mushroom soup, which tasted like tinned. Maybe the food is better on other days, as I can't understand why anyone would come otherwise. Probably the most telling about their fusion food 'style' was the fact that they gave us a berry flavoured tea and couldn't offer us any other tea.

Wonderful night!. My boyfriend brought me here for my birthday and it was just superb although there were some mishaps along the way. I found that our waiter was a little clumsy but overall quite helpful. Most of the dishes were quite good although some needed a bit more love put into the food. My overall favourite dish was the salmon tartare with seaweed sauce.

Classy and great food.. Could not be better food and service. Presentation and quality superb. One meal wrong order for main but our friend happy with meal as we all were. Plenty of well lit free parking. Pricey but worth it. Corkage for B.Y.O.$20. <br/>Relaxing and very pleasant atmosphere.

Birthday dinner with friends~BYO~quite big garden is worthy of its name~decoration is alright~red wine tomato is interesting~ the original Taos dish like cheese soup and rice has rich flavour~In the end~ the birthday dessert and free birthday meal surprised me~

Review. I have been to Tao's many times with my family. The food is absolutely sensational. The food is consisentently excellent - I have never walked away feeling disappointed with the food or the service.<br/><br/>Jeremy Morrison

Apetiser, entree, dessert, delish! Particularly enjoyed the oyster shooter, salmon tatare, crispy chicken nuggets, sweet chilli prawns, fragrant rice and creme brulee. Nicely presented food. The mains however were disappointing. I had rockling, cooked from frozen fish, hence lacked the natural sweetness, and rubberry, another sign of prefrozen fish, which was also overcooked. The lamb cutlets were over seasoned, and chemically tenderised. The duck was ho hum, and chicken was nothing to get excited about. The service was average. Our group were served by 2 waiters. One was pleasant and attentive. It was obvious that the other waiter would have rather been doing something else that day.