Tag: nashville

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.

Food Review: Fresh to Order in Nashville

Fresh To Order was another stop I had in mind for some healthy food while in Nashville. Here’s the breakdown:

ATMOSPHERE

Fresh To Order was much more of a “fast casual” restaurant than I expected, based on the food reviews online. It was very similar to Panera Bread. The inside is modern and clean. You order at the counter, get your own beverage, and your food is brought to you at your table.

The beverage station not only had your typical soda fountain, but also had many other options, such as sweet or unsweet tea, raspberry mojito lemonade, mango orange juice, or cucumber water.

THE MENU

        

The menu has a wide variety of foods, many healthy options included. There are burgers, veggie burgers, small plates or entrees of different types of seafood, chicken, and veggie dishes.  There are many different “paninis”  (and they mean “panini”…but I won’t get on that soap box again) and salads and a kids’ menu as well.

THE FOOD

Almond Chicken Skewers (full size), $11.90
Description: Almond-rosemary crust, sweet mashed potatoes, Asian slaw, twin sauces.

I ordered this with grilled vegetables instead of the mashed sweet potatoes. The “twin sauces” included a peanut sauce and an orange ginger (or so it tasted) sauce.
The chicken was delicious! It was tender, perfectly cooked, and the almond crust was flavorful with some crunch. The sauces were tasty, too, though the citrus-y one was more flavorful and paired better with the chicken than the peanut sauce did.
The grilled veggies included corn, bell pepper, zucchini, and mushrooms and were flavored nicely and cooked well.
The Asian slaw was a little lack-luster. I love a good vinegar slaw, but this one tasted mostly of strong ginger and not much else.

Coconut Curry Chicken, $11.50
Description: Fresh coconut curry sauce, tender fire grilled chicken, roasted corn relish, wheat berry rice, baby green.

Drew ordered this with grilled vegetables instead of the wheat berry rice.
This dish surprised us. I expected a bowl of coconut curry sauce with chicken in it. Instead, it was a very thick, slightly overcooked, chicken breast covered with a small amount of coconut curry.
While the sauce was delicious, the dry chicken needed much more of it.
The greens in the middle were lightly covered with a balsamic vinaigrette and were a nice, fresh touch.
The veggies, well, we already went over those in the previous dish.

OVERALL

This very casual restaurant has some impressive menu items and many that are diet-friendly. While I may consider getting the almond chicken again, I would skip the coconut curry dishes to try something different, perhaps a salad?
We were not overly impressed here, but we were not disappointed either. So…meh, it was fine.