Author: mamygail@msn.com

Food Review: Life-Changing Ramen at Otaku Ramen in Nashville

Of all of the fantastic restaurants I have tried in Nashville (Mas Tacos, Thai Esane, and more) this one is my ultimate favorite.
Here’s the breakdown:

ATMOSPHERE

Located in the Gulch, a very nice and modern part of downtown Nashville, I feel like this is the perfect location in Nashville for this restaurant.  It is very modern on the inside and it has the best ramen I have ever had in my life.

When you first walk in, it seems small and crowded, but there are other rooms around the restaurant that include where we were seated. This room was actually a closed-in patio, full of modern benches for seating.  On each table, was a large mason jar full of extremely nice, thick, paper napkins as well as chopsticks. (A story about that later.)

THE MENU

Drinks:

The drink menu seems a little pricey. For example, a 16 oz Sapporo for $7?! However….our waiter immediately told us they had a special at the moment for this Sapporo for only $3.50. Much better! So, we got one each. We also split a large warm sake, the cheapest one, for $10. That seemed a little pricey as well, compared to the Little Rock area restaurants. But, hey, we were on vacation.

Food menu:

A simple, one-page menu is all you find here. However, even with only seven options for an entree, it took me a long time to decide which to choose. Also, the pictures helped a lot!

THE FOOD

We skipped out on any “snacks” or appetizers and went straight to the ramen.

Tennessee Tonkotsu, $14
Description: pork bone broth, pork confit, mayu (black garlic oil), woodear (type of mushroom), scallion, and egg.

Life. Changing. I can’t describe it any better. The broth was phenomenally fatty and porky. I mean, you can’t go wrong with pork bone broth. The pork confit was to die for. It was so tender and flavorful. My only complaint was I wanted more of it.
The woodear was very tasty and the scallions added a nice freshness.
The egg, I actually ordered an upgrade to the “soy egg”, which cost extra, but was worth it. It was perfectly cooked in soy sauce, so it had a wonderful salty, umami flavor, with the yolk a little runny. Scrumptious!
This was the best ramen I have ever had and is definitely one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. I will definitely get this bowl every time I come here.

Spicy Miso, $14
Description: pork bone broth with miso and korean chili, ground pork, kimchi, menma (Japanese condiment made from lactate-fermented bamboo shoots), bean sprouts, scallion, and egg.

Well, this one was also phenomenal! That delicious pork broth did not taste quite as fatty this time since the miso and korean chili really amped up the spice, but in a good way. It was perfectly spicy for me. It made my nose run a little, but didn’t burn my taste buds.
The ground pork was better than I expected. It was still very flavorful and it was a nice added texture.
I hate kimchi on its own, but in this bowl, it was pretty tasty. It gave a little brightness and sourness to it.
I honestly have no idea what the menma did for the dish. I have never tried that before, so I couldn’t tell you what it tasted like.
The bean sprouts and scallions were a nice, crunchy addition as well.
We ordered the egg as it came this time, no “soy egg”. It was still tasty and perfectly cooked. Though, we regretted not upgrading this one as well to a soy egg.

Drew and I kept switching bowls, and going between the spicy one and the fatty one was perfect. Strongly recommended.

SERVICE
The service was great! Our waiter was very helpful in answering questions and helping us decide what to order. He was quick with drinks and water refills.
Then, as I was getting up to leave, my purse knocked over the mason jar of napkins and broken glass went everywhere! I was so embarrassed and started to try to clean it up, but the wait staff refused to let me and graciously told me it was fine and I was free to leave. I’m so sorry, again!

OVERALL
Overall, this place is perfect. I will return here for every Nashville trip, for sure. I can’t wait to try other ramen bowls, though I’m afraid to digress from the great ones we had this time?

Food Review: Fantastic Thai at Thai Esane in Nashville

I am 99% sure this is the best Thai restaurant I have ever eaten at. Located in the Gulch in downtown Nashville, it is modern and full of options for both drinks and food. Here’s the breakdown:

ATMOSTPHERE

While the outside of this restaurant looks like nothing fancy, especially for the Gulch area, the inside is very nice, modern, and clean. (As were the bathrooms, which is important to me.)

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THE MENU

Drinks:


The drink menu had many unique cocktails, reasonably priced, as well as craft beers and wines.

We decided on the Long Island Thai Tea (Freshly brewed Thai iced tea, Vodka, Rum, Gin, Tequila, Tripe Sec, sweet & sour mix, topped with Sprite.  It was delicious! The Thai iced tea had more of a chai taste than iced tea I am used to. It didn’t taste overly alcoholic, even with all that was included. I would definitely get this drink again.
We also got the Thai Tonic (Gin, Thai basil, cucumber, lime juice, and tonic water.)  This was a kicked up Gin & Tonic, with so many more flavors. You can really taste the Thai basil and cucumber. It was refreshing and delicious.

Food:

You can see the full menu here: menu.

While there are so many options to choose from, from 16 appetizers, to rice entrees, to pan fried dishes, to noodle soups, to house specials, my favorite part of the menu was each item had a picture! I love that.

       

THE FOOD

Papaya Salad (Esane Style) $6.95
Description: Carrots, papaya, tomatoes, lime juice, fish sauce, shrimp paste, tamarind sauce.

For those of you who read this blog, you know I have been bound and determined to try a papaya salad that I like. However, the two I have tried before were sooo spicy, they were inedible.
FINALLY! This papaya salad was not spicy and it was pretty good! I loved the crunch of the fresh veggies. The sauce they used was not overbearing, but had enough flavor that the salad was enjoyable.
My only complaint was there was too much fish sauce. A few bites in, that flavor (which I can only describe as foot funk) became overwhelming and I had to put down the fork.
Drew finished it off and enjoyed it tremendously, however.

Paneang Curry, $10.95
Description: Broccoli and carrots in thick creamy curry sauce.
With choice of chicken, beef, pork, or tofu. Seafood is an extra cost.

Oh Lawd! This was so good. This was the perfect paneang sauce, so creamy and peanut-y. I couldn’t get enough of this. I got it with chicken, which was perfectly tender. I loved the broccoli in it as well, which I don’t see very often. This dish was PERFECT.

Masaman Curry, $10.95
Description: Potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and onions.
Comes with choice of chicken, beef, pork, or tofu. Seafood costs more.

Another home run! This masaman was very delicious, being the quintessential masaman curry I love. The potatoes and carrots both soaked up the creamy sauce so well that they were a softer texture, but full of flavor. I really enjoyed that!
We got tofu in this one was it was cooked perfectly. I hate just a boiled tofu. I prefer a seared one with some outside texture. They seared our tofu bites just how I like them!

OVERALL

Well, I’m going to have to come here whenever I visit Nashville, even though there are so many other great restaurants I have on my list. But when that Thai food craving hits, this place more than hit the spot. It was absolutely delicious and certainly not expensive for all we got.
I will continue to get the paneang curry, as it was the best I’d ever had, but may try something new besides the masaman and the papaya salad, because I’m sure I’m missing out on plenty of other delicious items.