Tao Noodle Bar Cafe

Reviews

• Colin W.

  star star star star star_border 22 July 2026

  What a great place to eat. Tao Noodle bar has been around for a long time and I'd say there is a good reason for that. I was in it years ago and loved it and then again last night. They have an extensive menu with lots of choices, including a healthy options section.
  
  So last night (before a vegan talk) I ordered stir fried pak choi with oyster sauce (Yes I know that's not vegan) and some soft noodles. Wow was it good, perfectly cooked and seasoned and more than enough to fill me up. I tried some of the salt chilli tofu as well which was pretty amazing too.
  
  The service is great and its a popular spot which I always think speaks volumes. (It was busy on a Tuesday night before payday!) My only downside is the décor which is bright and clean but a little dated. With a few very small touches I'd up this to a 5 star in no time.
  
  Oh and did I mention, its Bring your own! Definitely go try it if you haven't.

• Cindy A.

  star star star star_border star_border 15 July 2026

  Americanize Chinese that also has real Chinese food ( i.e gizzards, intestines, duck feet) AND it has hot pot. Pretty nice. :)
  
  We started with some shrimp chips (on the house) that weren't hot or super oily so I wondered how long they were made before it was brought to us. The service was friendly and apparently if you want to bring your own boozy drinks, you're welcome to bring your wine for a corkage fee of 2 pound or your own beer at 1 pound.
  
  My husband ordered wok fried noodles with beef and I ordered the seafood with vegetable soup and a side of rice. It was okay. Here is where my experience could have been better.
  
  1. Less ground pepper in my soup please. There were so many specks of pepper that my throat burned by the time I was halfway through it.
  2. There is nothing on their menu that comes with rice --verified by a staff member. For a Chinese restaurant, this is absurd to a Chinese girl. WHY???  WHY DO YOU MAKE PEOPLE PAY EXTRA FOR RICE THE FIRST TIME AROUND? It's a staple in our culture. When you go to China, they serve rice with your food. When I eat Chinese at home with my family, rice is served. My parents own a Chinese restaurant. We serve rice with all of our stir frys! If anyone wants an additional rice, this... I would understand. So, I ordered soup to justify the 2 pounds. Because no one orders rice with soup but me.  
  3. This was a cash only facility. Maybe I missed the notification, but we just came from Dublin so we only had euros and a card. Luckily an ATM was just down the street so we could pay... it's 2017, you should have a credit card machine!
  4. Boil the wok noodles a little more. There's a crispy pan fried noodle and there's a I-didn't -boil-you-long-enough texture to noodles that weren't cooked thoroughly. There shouldn't be a cereal kind of crunch to noodles.
  
  I read a few outdated reviews that the service was bad or rushed. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the service here. The girls gave us space and were attentive when it was needed.. So three stars for Tao. Honest effort, but I've had better Chinese because I eat it all the time.

• Alexandra M.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 9 July 2026

  Fantastic food. Horrible service. No indication outside that it is BYOB. Possibly something sketchy going on in the back--just saying, about 15 guys in suits came out from there with big smiles, thanking their server 1000 times and then after it sounded like there was intense rearranging of furniture going on. But I regress...
  
  I got one of the chilli sauce dishes with vegetables and rice and my friend got spicy chicken and noodles and rice. I had to say my order at least 5 times for her to understand that I wanted the vegetable offering from the chili sauce dishes--there are several sauces all with different meats and veggies under them so I was not sure how else to order it and was pointing and she didn't seem to get it. The rice came about 5 minutes after my food and was cold. I couldn't really eat my dish without it, and didn't really want to with it.
  
  However, the flavours in it were amazing. My friend agreed and I don't know the last time I saw him eat so much. In mine though, there were parts that were cooked really well (mushrooms and tofu) and parts that were not at all (the bell peppers were still hard as if they were raw) which was confusing.
  
  Had to ask for refills of water every time (as well as where my rice was because nothing was said when the vegetables were brought over) and ask for the check after waiting for 10 minutes without eating.
  
  I'd get take away next time.

• Ciara S.

  star star star star star_border 2 July 2026

  I've passed Tao Noodle Bar numerous times, yet never called in despite having heard good reports. However, I popped in last night (a Tuesday) for the first time to grab some food while en route to an event and had a very, very enjoyable meal. It's really only a take away with a small amount of seating. More of a café than a restaurant and nothing impressive visually. Nonetheless the food was delicious, menu good and service friendly and speedy. I especially liked the great range of vegetarian options; all the noodle dishes can be served with vegetables instead of meat. Also bean curd (tofu) and aubergines appear on the menu, which is fabulous to see. Additionally Tao have a BYOB policy, so I plan to return with friends and some wine to try more dishes. Whilst there I noticed a lot of people calling in and ordering take away food plus a couple of small groups waiting on tables to free up so they could be seated. Hence it seems to be quite a busy Noodle Bar - might therefore be best to ring ahead and book a table or arrive early if you plan to visit.

• Aidan C.

  star star star star_border star_border 2 July 2026

  Great food, their salted chilli chicken is a particular favourite however the standard of service isn't always fantastic. Usually use them for take out and on the last occasion delivery took two and a half hours and when I rang to enquire after my food the person who answered just said "very busy, sorry" before hanging up. Had I not prepaid I would have definitely sent it back as to add insult to injury it was at best lukewarm when it arrived.