Tao Asian Fusion

I thought this place was great. First of all, the people there were incredibly friendly. The décor isn’t much but I noticed this place is super clean! From the front into the kitchen as far as I could see was spotless. That goes a long way with me.
The food was delicious. I ordered the sesame balls and they were so good I ate all 4 of them. For dinner I had the soy glazed salmon. The glaze was probably of the prepared variety but tasty nonetheless and the salmon was cooked perfectly. Rice was good and the steamed broccoli was not over cooked like some places. The salad before the entrée was nice. They did tell me that the dressing was homemade and everything tasted fresh.
I will be back for sure.

Just stopped in this place because the menu was intriguing. Ended up being a great meal. We had the Asian sliders and Thai peanut chicken. The mochi ice cream was great too. It was amazing, by far the best thing we had this trip to the coast. Highly recommended.

Today was my first Time checking this location out, and I really enjoyed the experience. I ordered Match Boba and I didn’t really love it, and they were kind enough to make me something else. I’m sorry if I offended you in any way when asking for a different drink, and I appreciate you telling me the difference between sweet matcha and natural matcha. :) ended up getting the Passion Fruit and that totally satisfied my boba cravings.

Great fresh food. The staff was friendly and the owner was pleasant. I ordered the chow mien and potstickers yummy !!! Very clean too.

As an Asian from Northern California, it’s safe to say there isn’t a lot when it comes to Asian food on the central coast. But with my last two visits to this restaurant, I’ve been very surprised. The soup and stir fried noodles were super yummy, and the customer service is awesome. I’ll definitely be coming here more often!

The bubba Tea took over 10 minutes to make, the
tea was hot, and the pearls were dry. They simply used water and powder and charge you $ 5 for it.

Went here for lunch, and have really mixed feelings about this place. I really like the space, it’s clean, and the staff are really nice and polite. I think my problem is that it’s just not a good value… I had an order of 4 of the Chicken dumplings (which were delicious, but quite small) and a very small bowl of pork noodle soup and a water, and my check was nearly $ 19.00. I understand that rent is probably pretty high in Pismo, but honestly for $ 11.00, I’d expected a really large bowl of noodle soup.
Unfortunately, I probably won’t be going back. It’s a shame… The Central Coast REALLY needs some great Asian restaurants, and this one has potential but it’s simply too expensive for what it is.

We stopped in Pismo Beach for lunch on our way down to Santa Barbara and drove around the downtown a bit to scope out restaurants. We decided to just park and continue the search just walking. We happened to park just across the street from Tau. My wife walked across the street while I paid the parking and when I joined her she said «This looks like a good place!» She was right. We had the pork sliders and the ahi waffle fries — very tasty. Also almond milk and Thai iced teas – refreshing. Service was efficient and pleasant. The restaurant was not crowded.

The boba drink is average at best, nothing is special. I had tried some at many good place. The food is same, and the price is expensive. That is good with everyone because that is the only one at Pismo. I don’t think that is the good place.

We went looking for something new and exciting but in the end the food was only ok, nothing amazing. What bothered me is that one of the workers/​owner sat and watched tv the entire time we ate. The TV was mounted just above where we sat and although I assume it was mounted there for guests to enjoy, the show/​movie was entirely Chinese. While we ate, said person lounged near-​bye, staring just above our heads for the entire meal.

I was shocked to find that we had any kind of real Asian food on the central coast. We had an order of sesame balls, egg tarts, Asian sliders, steamed jumbo shrimp shumai and «mini pork buns» which were kind of like soup dumplings. The Asian sliders had some kind of mayo sauce that I could have lived without, but still, pretty good. The shrimp shumai were not good, my hubby said that he thought they used too much imitation fish. We couldn’t eat them.: (The mini pork bun soup dumpling things were good. I would order that again. Now, aside from our lack of Asian food, what makes this place a 4 star? Egg tarts! These were as good as, if not better than most I’ve even had in SF! They are dim sum sized, but I like that. Also, the sesame balls were delicious. All in all, I would come back.

I’ve had way better. Came here searching for boba and while we weren’t expecting the best drinks ever since its the only boba place in pismo but this place beyond DISAPPOINTS! We ordered a Jasmine milk tea and taro milk tea. Tell me why when he made both, he filled them ¾ with plain water first?!
The JMT was tasteless and didn’t have any flavor. The taro was so watered down.
And the price – $ 4-​$ 5 for BAD drinks! GO ELSEWHERE for your boba cravings.

Pictures look a lot better than it was. It was definitely hot and fresh but food just wasn’t good. Our Tao boba was warm barely any ice. The sesame balls were delicious !!! May try again, we perhaps just ordered the wrong things. But the establishment was clean and service was friendly.

Oh my lord, I have died and gone to heaven.
Just imagine… perfectly seared fresh ahi tuna, creamy cubed avocado, waffle fries, all on a bed of fresh lettuce and green onions and carrots on top. Oh, and I am so not done. Then this creamy wasabi dressing is drizzled on top.
Seriously, my mouth is watering right now.

I hear Tao is the only place to get bubble tea around Pismo, so there is no competition or standard or bar to speak of. I don’t remember what I ordered, just that it was kind of watered down.
The fried tofu, which a friend ordered, was maybe 10 small pieces of fried soft tofu and a few fried wonton strips tossed in. Not super worth.
In a severely boba deprived pinch, Tao will do. Otherwise, I can wait.

Very cute place on Hinds, close to the beach. Went for our lunch hour and it wasn’t crowded. The man and woman working were very nice. They brew the tea to order. It is excellent tea! I had an unsweetened, and my husband got a bit of berry flavor. The food was delicious and creative. I don’t know who invented the ahi dish with waffle fries, but it is SO GOOD! We also shared a bowl of the shrimp dumplings soup. That is pure comfort food, with a delicious tea smoked egg and baby boy choy. I don’t know any other place in the county serving that. I can’t wait to back. $ 35 lunch, well worth it.

Food is really good. I had the shrimp steemers and the Asian sliders. My bf got the pork curry. Everything was really delish!
Giving four stars because it took forever to get our food. So don’t come here if you’re in a hurry.

Only boba place we found during our stay in Pismo.
I got an Almond Milk Tea with Boba. The boba they used was not fresh

U Want Asian Fusion Food?
Good they have it!
U Want Chinese Style Food?
They have that too!
You want Boba Asian drink?
Yep, they have that too!
Besides the good to excellent freshly made hand crafted food made by the entire family…
you get amazingly nice service by one of the nicest families that I have ever seen in
such a Mom, Pop, Daughter (the Chef), & others in this extended Chinese family.
Since it is a block off the main strip that goes to the Pismo Pier, it is a bit hard to find…
but find it you must…
ESPECIALLY for the mixed meat handmade SPECIAL POTSTICKER DUMPLINGS…
which are OUT OF THIS WORLD YUMMY!
They are filled with a variety of tasty meats including ground DUCK!!!
After reading all the Unilocal reviews, I also had to try their take on Pork Sliders, their take on Spring Rolls, & the Boba.
Well, needless to say, I felt stuffed like a huge Boba after finishing all that.
The Buns that the sliders came in are the very same type that other places use for
Peking Duck Skin… so you take that yumminess & substitute tender yummy Pork.
Very filling indeed!
Their take on Spring/​Egg Rolls was more on the Chinese side, rather than the Thai/​Vietnamese version.
The Boba drink was refreshing & paired well with all else.
It is a humble but spotlessly clean place, where they are super-​attentive to your needs & opinions.
As far as I know, this is really the only Asian Fusion type place within hundreds of miles.
Yep, it is not cheap here… but it is fairly priced for the quality handmade ingredients & the love that goes both in the food & the service.
If you have to pick one thing to eat… go for the DUMPLINGS!
Since my in-​laws run a similar shop in the SF Bay Area, I could relate well to the challenges that they face. I sure wish them the best, they are working super hard to please their clients.
Best of all, they are Super-​nice people who just happen to make some Super-​yummy dishes… that are unique to the area & beyond…
Again, I MUST GO BACK FOR MORE DUMPLINGS!!!
THEY ARE AMAZING!!!
JUST GET THEM…
…oh…they also have some Dim Sum items… which again, are nowhere to be found in the SLO area.

This place is brand spanking new. The interior is airy and bright. We tried the Thai milk tea with boba. The boba was nice and soft. The Thai tea was very sweet but lacked depth of flavor for me. I’ll opt for «lightly sweetened» next time. Overall, a great place to grab a drink. They also have a full menu of foods which I am yet to sample.
++++++
UPDATE
Those who know me will tell you that I wanted this business to do well since it first opened its doors. God knows, Pismo could use a good boba place.
On my visit today I learened that If you don’t specify a drink size, you will automatically be charged for a Large WITHOUT BEING ASKED. The menu only states one price (which is apparently for a small drink) thus any reasonable customer could expect the drink to come in one size at stated price. I don’t know if this business needs to update the menu or what the deal is. It’s not ok to simply upgrade your patrons to a more expensive drink without asking. I asked the older gentlemen taking my order why my total was a dollar more than the menu stated and he unapologetically told me that the menu price is for a smaller size and proceeded to show me the two different cups… This small interaction screams shady business practice to me.
On to the boba. I got the classic milk tea today and the boba was really hard in the centers. Usually boba is my favorite part of getting milk tea but today I tossed half of it.