Add an aesthetic twist on any kind of food and you can bet we’ll be there to try it out. Serving up chic black dumplings, Tao is a modern Cantonese restaurant and bar located in the Sydney CBD with a tasty range of dim sum, meat, seafood, veggie and noodle dishes alongside a fun cocktail list.
With dumplings being one of our favourite foods, the dim sum menu was where our eyes first landed when we looked at the menu. Instantly catching our attention were the prawn and chive har-gao, the truffle xiao long bao and the squid dumplings.
Har-gao is an all-time classic menu order of ours that we always get when having dim sum and Tao’s version were plump with fresh prawn and delicious when dipped into the accompanying sauce. Xiao long bao is another go-to order of ours, and these were filled with tender pork and decadent truffle, bursting open in our mouths with an explosion of flavour. Although something we’d never had before, the squid dumplings were truly the star of the show. Presented in black squid ink wrappers and filled with soft, meaty squid, these steamed dumplings tasted as good as they looked.
Next we tried something new – crystal pork belly. Braised with black soya sauce, plum and rock sugar, it was a big, saucy dish with plenty of flavour. While it was tasty, we definitely prefer our pork belly with crispy skin, but it was fun trying this cut of meat cooked in a different way to what we would usually order.
To finish off the meal we went with a classic noodle dish cooked in a Hong Kong style. Piled high with moreish flat rice noodles and juicy chunks of Angus beef, it was the perfect plate to round off our feast.
When you visit Tao don’t forget to look up – this pretty venue has a glass ceiling you can see the Sydney skyline through, decorated with dainty paper disks hanging from the ceiling. You can book online or walk in anytime and indulge in their tasty contemporary Cantonese cuisine.
