T.A.O Japanese Street Food And Noodles in Darlington

Fun atmosphere with photo wallpapers of Japanese market streets at night. Great, funny and courteous waitresses. The food is really, really good. We felt comfortable, had an excellent meal and overall had a very nice evening at TAO. Today we're going there again and trying out more delicious dishes - even though we're only spending five days in Darlington and actually wanted to visit other restaurants. Sorry about the half-eaten pictures. We were hungry and when we realized how delicious the food was, we quickly took some pictures. So the portions are much larger. :-) EDIT: At this point I would like to apologize to all the other restaurant operators in Darlington, but this is our third evening here. When we come home and someone asks us what Darlington was like, we reply: "Yummy!".

Nice Chinese restaurant. I tried the ramen soup which was really great. I would consider the decoration too heavy for my taste. But it was a decent place

Best place to eat in Darlington. Everything on the menu is great.

Excellent staff, very friendly and warm. Excellent food, always tastes top notch. Excellent atmosphere when dining in. Most excellent of places to eat in Darlington.

Amazing food great service lovely atmosphere… definitely worth a visit !! 😊

The food was fantastic and to be honest I was a bit out of my normal comfort zone re places to eat, but what a great find, a lovely birthday lunch, the service was really first class. Well worth a visit.

First time coming here and it definitely won't be the last! Food and service are both fabulous. Great portion sizes as well. Can't wait to revisit 😁

Very nice food, good service. If you like Japanese fusion food, this is your place.

The best sushi we have ever had. So fresh and really nicely presented. Service was lovely. Very filling we couldn't eat it all. The salt and pepper chips were devine too

Great street food definitely be going back.

I have eaten almost everything from this menu and we go almost everytime we come to Darlington. Staff are really friendly and make great recommendations and the food is incredible. Not had a bad meal in here. I love it. My children love it. It is delicious. Really reasonable priced too

Recently moved to the Darlo area and wanted to try this restaurant! I had the Pad Ga Prao and my husband had the Sichuan Pork Ramen. My husband loved his ramen! It was a great portion and utterly delicious! My Pad Ga Prao was tasty as well but I did find the portion to be quite small. However, it really did taste incredible! We also shared the shrimp bao and chicken bao. These were to die for! They were beyond tasty and I will definitely be ordering the Chicken bao again!!Will definitely come back again!

Fab food! Really tasty and beautifully presented. We will definitely be back

Absolutely delicious Japanese food and good value for money. I was impressed with the number of vegetarian and vegan options; the vegan street food basket (served in a model wooden boat!) were impressive. The soft drinks menu could have been more extensive, but this is a minor point. A highly enjoyable meal.

This place is absolutely awesome and the food is delicious. The flavours were amazing and the menu offered some great options. We love Japanese food and have been trying to find a 'good' local one for years and this has certainly done it by a country mile! Thank you. Big shout out to Olivia as well - very helpful, friendly and greeted us with a big smile when we came to collect our takeaway.

I must have ordered Tao on deliveroo over 20 times as it is that good. Decided to visit the restaurant and was not disappointed. The place is nicely decorated to give it an authentic Japanese street food vibe. The service is friendly and attentive. The food is absolutely amazing. So fresh and tasty. Plenty of vegan and veggie options as well. Cannot fault this place, i absolutely love it!

Absolutely stunning food and service. Also offers take away which I also used as the food was soooo good.

Absolutely amazing food - delicious and authentic. Great variety of vegetarian and vegan dishes, gluten-free, etc. The staff are so lovely and friendly, the service is great, the atmosphere is convivial. Did I mention the food is amazing...? 😄 Can't wait to go back!

We visited Taostreetfood on June 21st and got seated and served right away. The food arrived in just 5 minutes, which was really quick. I had the katsu curry, and my partner had the pad ga prao with chicken, which he enjoyed because it was nice and spicy. We also shared vegetable gyoza, but we didn't really rate them. I tried the miso soup too, but I didn't enjoy it much. Overall, the feel of the restaurant was great, the seating was comfortable, and the staff were lovely. Everything just felt amazing. It was a lovely end to a perfect day.

Came to TAO tonight with a party of 7 for a friend's 40th. We were looked after by the lovely Natasha. She did absolutely amazing from start to finish. The food was amazing and we all left very happy. Would definitely recommend going here.

Loved it, just loved it, super decor, super service, food to die for.

The food is fantastic. We had lunch there today. Although it's a little pricey, the foid is definitely worth it.

Delicious, authentic Japanese food. Having eaten at both many times, I can honestly say I prefer TAO over the Michellin starred Shoryu in London.

I’ve tried a a few dishes from here. Chicken gyoza, chicken bao buns, chicken katsu curry, fillet steak udon, pad kra pao Everything is delicious and I highly rate it if you are in the area and craving Asian food. The pad kra pao is my most recommended dish and it’s possibly one of the best meals I’ve ever had and definitely in my top 3 favourite foods now.

Amazing food amazing service can't go wrong, highly recommended

Service delightfully, food simply wonderful. Attention to detail and flavour. Generous portions I struggled to finish.

What can I say about TAO other than it has some of the most fantastic street food I have ever tasted, there ramen is out of this world spicy tasty, feels made with love, do yourself a favour and try the beef ramen you will not be disappointed

Love salmon maki rolls. I always order 3 lots. It's a great place and all the food is amazing

Delicious food, friendly service and under £100 for a family of 4 including starters AND drinks! Will be back.

Nice food, could be served warmer. Decent service.

I've eaten in the restaurant before and it was very good . Tonight we had a takeaway and it was incredible . Food that just picks you up when you feel a bit naff , highly reccomend T.A.O . Really nice local business , thanks again

Great bao buns and noodles. Sushi not too bad. Worth a look

Had a table booked and arrived early, were still happy to seat us. Restaurant wasn't to busy, but they only had 1 person serving and taking orders. It took about 10 minutes for them to take our food order as the server was taking all table orders at the same time! They have a "food comes when ready" system, but our side of chilli chips came at the same time as the table next to us who had there mains! Mains didn't come until another 10 minutes and felt asif chips were simply given to us without thought. Who eats the side order of chips on there own?!? We then received an item which we hadn't ordered to the table and I asked for my chips to be remade as they were cold by the time the food had got to us. Overall the food was as always, very very good, but the service and thoughtfulness was lack luster. No blame on the server who was trying to do his best but simply left to do it on his own and the chips coming early was a cop out for kitchen convenice to send chips to another table at the same time. All in all, woul go again.

Gorgeous little restaurant! TAO has some of the most beautiful decor that I’ve ever seen, and the food is equally as stunning. A fantastic selection of food, and a lot of vegan choices (a huge bonus!)

The food was Amazing and the staff was so nice. The atmosphere was also welcoming

*Take Out only review* Had take out last night from T.A.O. We ordered four meals (2 x Teriyaki Chicken Donburi, 1 x Pork Donburi, 1 x Chicken Ramen) and three starters / small plates (2 x Yakitori Cauliflower, 1 x Beef Bao). It wasn’t cheap, we paid around £17 per person, but we’re quite happy to pay that for lovely food. It was good, the food was fresh and plentiful with nice big portions of rice and veggies. The ramen was sent with the broth separate which was a lovely touch and it was fun serving it up. Everything lacked flavour. There was no glaze on the chicken in the Teriyaki Chicken Donburi. The Yakitori cauliflower (Yakitori means grilled chicken, so I assumed this would mean cauliflower with Yakitori sauce) was basically tempura florets and no flavour/dressing. And the pork belly was very plain and not crisp/slow cooked. Also, by the time we drove the 10 minutes home from town, everything was tepid, as it doesn’t come in heatproof containers, and it’s difficult to warm up. Foil trays would probably work better than cardboard containers. We hope to try it in person soon.

Perfect food and friendly staff :)

Atmosphere okay, never told that food isn't expected to come out at same time if you order mains and the waitress was extremely rude and unprofessional

Awesome katsun ramen!! Delicious 🍣!

First sushi we’ve had since coming back from Japan. Soooo good! The price, service and taste was amazing. What a gem in Darlo!

Lovely food, great atmosphere, great service and staff. Will definitely be back, love the sushi and the presentation of the food.

We've been wanting to try this place since we noticed it when passing by in the summer. I really wish we hadn't waited so long. The restaurant is authentically decorated and great fun. The staff were attentive and friendly. We're ramen fans but between the four of us tried things from across the menu, including a couple of the 'small plates' (the cauliflower dish is superb). The food was all excellent and pretty much as expected for this type of place. We will visit again as we're quite keen to try a few more things from the menu.

Superb food as always ,one of my favorite places to pop in ,always busy with super staff 👍

Finally visited after wanting to since they opened and it was so delicious, can’t wait to go back. My friend and I enjoyed everything we had.

Had a great meal here. Lots of choices Small plates or noodles.lots to choose from good value.

Absolutely gorgeous food, fresh and flavourful. The dragon rolls especially are fabulous.

Enjoyed a great first meal at T.A.O tonight! Slight issue with their card payments being unavailable but it was no issue to pop to a nearby bank machine. The selection for vegetarians and vegans is impressive, and we had to get a starter each and one to share just to really benefit! My wife enjoyed a spectacular pumpkin bao bun that was very generously sized. Credit to them also for a great drinks selection with plenty of Asian alcohol available. Our waitress was a little nervous and stumbled her words a bit, but was full of apologies and trying hard! The food came out and generously sized - I had the Teriyaki Vegan Chicken ramen. The broth and vegetables were gorgeous, the chicken a little bit of a letdown flavour-wise but overall the meal was gorgeous. I definitely felt we got value for money, and we were content with the bill when it arrived. The restaurant itself is wonderfully decorated and even though it was busy I didn't feel like I was squashed up against another table. A brilliant all round experience!

Visited last night with friends - the food was fantastic and all three of us were super impressed. Very friendly staff, great atmosphere and amazing food - highly recommended and I'll definitely be going back (regularly) 🍜

Having lived in Japan we were very happy to see this place open. The food is great and it was a good experience.

Cash or bank transfer only. Is it really that bad that they don't want to be charged a fee for the meat convience for the customer? Food wasn't that good. Below average. I wouldn't recommend.

Visited here for the first time whilst I'm in Darlington. Fried chicken Bao bun was great as was the teriyaki chicken donburi. An authentic Japanese restaurant, which I would visit again. Only negative is that they didn't take card payments so you have to pay cash or bank transfer.

Pretty expensive and the food is a bit bland - more spice is needed, but then again, in Japan, anything spicy is not particularly spicy. But the food is very high quality. Payment is by cash or bank transfer, which is easier for me as I prefer cash, but you can use your phone.

It was great awesome amazing day for me to share with you all and great awesome amazing food and great customer service I will be coming back in the near future xxx

Really authentic street food. Great choice and seriously delicious. We shared some small plates first - gyoza, chicken skewers, spicy tuna, tempura prawns and edamame beans. All fabulous. Then opted for teriyaki chicken Don buri - lovely sticky rice, generous portion of chicken with salad and pickled lemons. Will definitely return and highly recommend Only odd thing is that they do not take cards so cash or immediate payment into their account. If you are going to eat there then take cash.

Amazing food and atmosphere with brilliant service! Unbelievably priced to so worth it, definitely a new go to food spot in town 😁🖤

Great range of Japanese cuisine full of flavour and cooked perfectly. The service was spot on attentive and efficient with prices set at a good level, we will definitely return soon.

Food was absolutely amazing. Started off with chicken and pork gyoza’s, hands down one of the best. My husband and I both got a ramen bowl which was amazing too! Staff were very friendly and a lovely atmosphere.

Ceny w lokalu są wysokie, co sugerowałoby bardzo dobrą jakość jedzenia. Niestety zawiodłam się bardzo. Praktycznie nic nie zjadłam z zamówionych rzeczy. Jedynie bułeczka bao była jako tako zjadliwa. Rolki sushi bardzo przeciętne. Jestem ogromną fanką azjatyckiego jedzenia, ale wizyta w tym miejscu mocno mnie rozczarowała. :( * Na załączonych zdjęciach widać tylko część zamówionych dań.

Have been here before and the food as well as the service has been exceptionally good every time we've been. I would highly recommend going several times to try all the food on offer here. We will definitely be returning at a future date

If you like tasteless food that's the place to go,do not understand the reviews saying very tasty,we all had different food all said the same tasteless.will not return drinks expensive and cash only.

Staff are lovely, but afraid that doesn't compensate for the disappointing food. We were a party of 4 who all ordered different dishes. Afraid they were all very bland in flavour. Not cheap, so we expected better. Will not return.

Beautiful food, we’ve waited a while for a sushi bar here in Darlington and I couldn’t recommend more! The food is unbelievable!

Cracking little place. Korean, Japanese selection (plus a pad thai). All straightforward, tasty and good price. Cash only.

Me and a friend visited T.A.O the other day and ordered some grub there. It was both our first time going to an authentic Japanese restaurant. We walked in, and the place was spotless; the staff were really friendly, and the food was divine. I ordered chicken ramen, crispy gyoza (with teriyaki sauce), salmon rolls, and a bao bun filled with katsu curry (can't remember specifically what the name of it was, but it was delicious!), and my friend had beef donburi. We both enjoyed our food, and I was surprised by how large the portions were. I ended up over-ordering due to thinking things would be small, but the portion-to-price ratio was very good! After our bellies were stuffed, we were both pleasantly surprised that we'd only spent under £40 altogether between the two of us. The last thing I have to mention is the decor, which I thought was lovely. I felt right at home in T.A.O, and I will be visiting again. I hope this business thrives!

We went in without a reservation on a Saturday night and got served straight away! The atmosphere is very calm and well presented. The food was delicious both noodles and sushi. Food and drinks at very good prices as well. Very nice spot in the heart of town. Reccomend!

Was going to get there for my mother’s Birthday, first time in Darlington. I mentioned that I’ll get there by 8:30/9pm. They didn’t mention last order’s at 8:45 and they shut at 9:30. I had a look on Google just before I was going to arrive at 8:45, I called them and they were inflexible and unapologetic. I’m sure the food’s good but the staff?

Went with my girlfriend to Tao, it yummy, scrumming in my big fatty tummy!!!! The restaurants music selection was so epic and fire playing mostly k pop ( Stan Newjeans )

Always love coming here - perfectly made food, good service - really accommodating with our big group yesterday! Only thing is, please add in an option to pay by card.

Visited TAO today and we had the chicken katsu curry and chicken donburi with a side portion of salt and chilli chips between us - food was outstanding. Venue is very authentic Japanese. Restaurant doesn’t accept cards - only cash or bank transfer. Would definitely recommend 👍

Have been waiting for good sushi in Darlington for too long and this place didn’t disappoint. Lovely restaurant with friendly staff. We ordered gyoza, takoyaki, sushi and yakitori. All absolutely delicious. Our new favourite place ❤️

Went on a Saturday for dinner, we had to wait around 15 minutes for a table as it’s walk ins only. we ordered straight away as we were on a rush and the waitress was very accommodating. Food came out very quickly and everything was incredibly good. There was a mistake in our order which was rectified very efficiently. We will definitely be back again!

I wish I could order the whole menu! Food is lovely and staff is amazing and always welcoming, restaurant is clean and beautifully decorated. Ideal for a work lunch, meet with friends or a special dinner out with family.

Myself and my young adult Jaden went there for lunch. We got seated at a table straight away. Our server was friendly, polite and informative in regards to drinks and items on the menu. There were a great number of items that we were unfamilier with, and alot we have had elsewhere. We ordered a number of different plates from Sushi, Bao buns and a Donburi bowl to items off the small plates menu like Takoyaki to share between us. The freshness of all the dishes was excellent, as well as the apperance of all the food. We spent around £45 including tea and coffee for the 2 of us. The venue it's self was beautifully decorated and clean. I highly recomened TAO as an alternative place to eat for those that want something other than pizza. parmos or pub food.

The food is nice, but lacking a lot of things. It all looks very pretty and tastes fine, but most dishes don't taste the way they should. The sushi rice was unseasoned so just tasted of plain rice. The Pad Thai didn't have the spicy or aromatic flavours you would expect. All perfectly edible, but not the best.

So disappointed, went today for my husband’s birthday. The salt and chilli squid was inedible, totally overcooked. Neither of us could chew/eat it. Advised our server but it wasn’t taken off our bill. We also had tempura prawns, prawns were lovely but covered in a really thick batter that we had to peel off to get to the prawn. Defo not tempura which should be very light. We also had the aubergine denburi and duck denburi. Both were served with masses of rice, very little vegetables and a tiny portion of duck. The aubergine denburi, the aubergine was well cooked but nothing else was good. The shredded carrot (actually spiralised) was awful. Completely disappointed after having read the TA reviews. We only post this so others will not get their hopes up of a lovely afternoon, it’s not going to happen unfortunately. The guy who served us was very pleasant but he should have taken on board the fact that some of our meal was inedible. Will definitely not return. TA reviews very misleading unfortunately, sorry.

What an amazing place to eat in Darlington, one of my favourite restaurants ever! Everything on the menu is delicious, fresh and with good portions. Sadly they are unable to take bookings, but even if there are a few people waiting for a table you aren’t waiting for long. Service is efficient and friendly, food fairly priced for the quality.

This place is an absolute gem. I took my 6 year old boy this evening and it was fantastic. Can't wait to take the test of the family.

Really quick service along with amazing food, already planning our next trip back! We were lucky not to have to wait for a table but whilst eating the queue got a little long, so just a heads up that you may have to wait for...

Absolutely delicious food. Best place to get sushi in Darlington.

Amazing food, really quick service as well. We're already planning our next trip back!

Loved the food and the service was spot on have been two time now and will go again for sure

Treated to a spot of lunch today and we tried TAO Asian Street Food on Blackwellgate in Darlington. Packed full of flavour. Everything was superb. Highly recommend the Pork Gyozas, Tuna Sashimi, Salt and Chilli Squid, Spicy Tuna Maki Rolls and the Spicy Pork Ramen...

Nice to stay local for this type of cuisine instead of having to travel to Middlesbrough or Durham. There was an issue with a chicken dish, but replaced no questions asked and discounted from the bill. We had the miso soup, beef bão bun, yakatori...

Lovely, we normally go to a place in Middlesbrough but we won't be going there any more, this is our new favourite place!

Went here with friends in both June & July on their recommendation and not having really had much Japanese food before. They'd told us that you have to be there early to get a table because they are really busy and they don't take table...

Best sushi I've had in quite awhile!

Delicious food and brilliant service..Will be back again

Plenty of vegan and Gluten Free options. Great service and such amazing food.

Absolutely recommend, chicken ramen was unreal, had some avocado tuna rolls which were delicious, but the l pulled pork bao buns are out of this world, will deffo go again!

Love this place, the food is to die for. 😋

Very tasty food and quick service

Lovely staff, nice-looking venue and the food is absolutely fantastic. Plates come as they are made, and we pretty much had everything brought to us in a 10-15 minute win of ordering. Oddly, they don't take card. So cash or bank transfer, of which details are on the front counter.

Brought my boyfriend this evening for date night and couldn't be happier. I lived in SEA for years and my one gripe about Darlington has always been (since I moved here 18 months ago) was that there was no decent Asian food. Have been excited to try this place since it opened as wasn't disappointed. It was maybe fate that our server was Vietnamese (Cảm ơn Anh!) and so I got to practice a language I'm quite rusty in but very passionate about and it made the evening extra special for us. Food was excellent, particularly reccomend the California roll! If you order the squid eat it quickly to avoid it going rubbery but that's a squid problem not a chef problem. Absolutely intend to return and am so pleased to have some suhsi and authentic South East Asian food in the area!

Staff were great and food was nice enough but I've been to a lot of sushi, ramen and general Japanese restaurants and the price point is pretty equal to some gorgeous restaurants in London and Manchester but the food isn't the same quality. I don't think I've ever paid £5 for a single Bao before, possibly consider a multibuy discount? I think if you haven't tried a lot of places you'll probably enjoy it as it's something different in Darlington but you might be let down if you have more experience. We got the dragon roll and the prawns digestive tract (poop) hadn't been cleaned out, i can look past this but i know most diners expect this to be done at restaurants.

I get their noodle soups, pricy, but with such a large portion I can't complain, some of the best food in town. I would like a lunch menu, where the portions are small.

Visited here with some whom they and l have spent many very enjoyable weeks in Japan on both work business trips and family holidays. Whilst not 100% as the home base this was very enjoyable with authentic cuisine Amdahl traditional tastes. Well done on trying...

We ordered take out from T.A.O today. We've been hoping for a good Japanese/Asian place nearer to home for a while as Newcastle/York/Harrogate is a bit of a trek, but honestly I'll do it the trek in future. I had Tofu bao buns and my boyfriend had the katsu chicken bao buns - the bao buns were not fluffy as described, they were soggy and heavy, the tofu was incredibly disappointing and tasteless. I had the aubergine donburi and my boyfriend had the pork donburi - both were severely lacking in flavour. Chains like wagamamas and Zaap Thai have set the bar reasonably high, particularly in regards to vegetarian options, but we're both really disappointed, and wish we had gone elsewhere. The staff also don't let people know when they're ordering take out that payments are by cash or bank transfer only. Unfortunately we won't be eating here again. (Just to point out I can't really comment on the atmosphere as we got take out)

Wow ! We had a lovely meal , great atmosphere and very friendly staff . Would highly recommend 👌

Really good lunch. Just ordered a large selection of small plates and sides between 2 of us to share and all dishes were packed full of flavour. The bowl of kimchi was the best I’ve had!

So excited to finally have excellent sushi and other Asian favourites on my doorstep! Already eaten here three times now since they opened and have been impressed each time! The spiky tuna maki is my favourite and I can never resist the chicken gyoza! I...