A prospective review of gustatory and olfactory sensations as observed in individuals with obsessive compulsive traits focused on gastronomy.
Tried the peppercheese sandwich from pepperfire this weekend. Plain white bread with a few slices of pepperjack, coated and deep fried. Very similar to county fair food. Very similar to coronary plaque buildup. I think it has something to do with the porous nature of the bread acting like a grease sponge. I’m gonna stick to the chicken.
I’ve always thought the food at Fido’s was great — enough to brave the crowds of hipsters and undergrads for a meal. Finally convinced myself to not order the fish tacos and to order the local burger; it’s usually on the daily menu, not the permanent menu. Patty composed of lamb and beef, cooked medium and dripping with meat juice. Topped with some spring greens, fried onion, and a cheese I can’t recall. Held in a bun reminiscent of a giant King’s Hawaiian roll. Awesome. I just wish it came with a more substantial side like fries.
Ginger comes pretty close to the west coast/best coast. Tried this place a couple weeks ago with a big group, but came back today because my mind and stomach would not stop pestering me until I tried one of their noodle soups. This is how I knew this establishment meant biznass: Thai place not afraid to serve and talk up their noodle soups in a town that thinks pad thai with chicken is the most exotic food in the world. I was weary of pho from a Thai/Laotian place, so I skipped on over to “udon noodles.” Japanese noodles in a Thai place? I must be losing my food nerd credibility ordering that. Knowledgeable waitress eased my fears explaining these are homemade rice flour + tapioca noodles only called “udon” to ease potentially gastronomic xenophobes like myself. Ordered a large bowl with combo of chicken and crispy pork. I should’ve ordered ALL crispy pork; slices of carnitas-like porcine goodness. Broth was totally thickened with cornstarch, flavored with chicken broth and tons of ginger. Topped with fried shallots, green onions. Fish sauce and chili sauce on the side. Broth was very (chinese) homey, with its thick consistency and ginger/chicken flavor. Until I “bammed” it up with almost two tablespoons of the chili sauce. Then the broth became a delicious hellfire, igniting my innards thoroughly. Definitely overestimated my badassness and underestimated the chili. I think I’ve finally found something that reminds me of my time in Thai town, price-wise and taste-wise. Dear Ginger, please don’t change. Stay awesome. Definitely better than all the other cut-and-paste Americanized Thai places I’ve one-and-done’d in Nashville thus far. Will be back.
It was a gorgeous albeit windy day today–the kind of day to spend outside eating hot chicken. With groupons in tow, we crossed the river in typical circuitous Nashville fashion (I absolutely loathe the freeway layout here) to gorge ourselves on Pepperfire’s hot chicken wings. Each order comes with 6 jumbo wings. The counter lady told us it wasn’t as spicy as Prince’s, so we felt justified bravely ordering hot and xhot. After 15 minutes, our orders were ready. Immediately noticeable was a severe lack of chicken grease soaking through the bed of white bread. The chicken however, was still moist inside, cradled within a cocoon of crisp red spiced skin. Somehow, it just tasted healthier than Prince’s since I wasn’t seeing sopping puddles of grease beneath the chicken. Definitely felt less guilty chowing on the spice covered bread. And not because I needed to quell the fires within my guts. The spice mix was not overtly salty, and hot enough to establish a small burn, still allowing for the tongue’s taste buds to appreciate the flavor of the chicken itself, not of the fires/peppers. Reminds me of Korean fried chicken. Awesome. Will be back. Lay off the sides though. I thought the slaw was too sweet and mayo-sloshed, and the fried potato salad was also heavily mayo’d.
I think, technically, the place is called Tavern, but holy crap this place was difficult to Internet. Do you know what came up when I searched for Tavern and Nashville on Google? Pretty much nothing. Granted, they just opened for business last week. However, I thought the Nashville Hype Train would be running at full speed (or at least enough to register some hits on the Internet) well before opening, given that this place is from the same group that owns Whiskey Kitchen and Virago. Meh. Anyway, I think I was privy to the place only because they are located a block away from my apartment. Just knowing that this place was a concept similar to Whiskey Kitchen was enough to draw me in that first week. Countless pitchers of whiskey sour have been downed in the past. Unfortunately, there are no cocktail pitchers at Tavern. It’s a shame. But the menu is one of the most exciting I’ve seen in Nashville. To be honest, though, I think any menu that forgoes pork chops and shrimp and grits is pretty brave amongst this city’s somewhat homogeneous menus. Culinary director Robbie Wilson incorporates some of his upbringing into the menu, which includes such exotic delicacies as loco moco. YEAH BRAH. I haven’t had Hawaiian food in 4 years, there on the menu was a plate lunch! It was pricey at 12 (now 13 dollars I think), but I’m a sucker for comfort food.
Although they advertise themselves as a gastropub, they have a decent list of cocktails gleamed from the bars of NY and Nashville. Ordered a 1920 (gin, basil, ginger) which was not too sweet, fragrant, and had enough alcohol to get me buzzing for my food.
The presentation of their loco moco deviates somewhat from the traditional three-compartment take-out boxes I usually devour them from, but it made me a little concerned when I didn’t see any macaroni salad on my plate. After pointing out the small but critical omission, a small plate of mac salad was brought out. Homemade, but a little too al dente for my taste. The hamburger steak was thick, a little dry, but the savory gravy helped with the toughness. The egg on top was excellently prepared, with just enough heat to solidify the egg proteins, but not enough to prevent egg yolk from spilling over onto the rice and beef, creating the most gnarly taste combo this side of the Cumberland. This is how eggs are cooked. All in all, I think I picked a winner. My other compatriots, however, suffered from what I call price-portion disproportion, meaning they ordered dishes priced like they were dinners, but served in appetizer portions. Two tiny tacos for $8 is a blasphemy; I don’t care if they’re sprinkled with diamonds and gold. I hope they are still working out the kinks in pricing and portion, as they were still less than a week out at the time of this dinner service.
Overall, there’s a lot of potential in this place. Kinda sad to see Lime go since it was the only thing different–now ALL of Broadway/Midtown is one giant dive bar–but as long as they keep serving Hawaiian food, I’ll be back to try more.
Tavern Midtown/Broadway Nashville
This is about a month late, but I don’t think this year’s Restaurant Week was that impressive, so there wasn’t a fire under my butt to run out into the streets imploring people to visit the city’s restaurants for new and exciting foods to try. Why? Because of the 25 or so menus I reviewed prior to choosing which restaurants to visit, I noted that the majority of restaurants on the list were New American/Southern, and all of them had on the menu the following three items: steak, pork chops, and shrimp and grits. Really? So are they relying on people choosing a resto A because they cook pork chops in bacon fat as opposed to resto B that serves fried pork chop? Is that all the creativity this place has? And who honestly thinks paying $20 for shrimp and grits is a good deal? Would anyone ever pay $20 for a few pieces of shrimp on a bed of white rice from a Chinese place? It’s essentially the same. And so that’s how I ended up at Sunset. I had already had my pork chop for resto week. I wanted to eat something else, and Sunset had salmon or shepard’s pie. Somehow EVERYONE in the restaurant I saw ordered the salmon. It was good, though. Succulent, moist on the inside, crisp on the edges, with a nice puddle of juice at the bottom of the plate to bring it together with the broccoli and potato gratin. Worth the $20 I paid for dinner.
Sunset Grill Hillsboro Village Nashville, TN
