Nashville Food Friday: Lucky Bamboo

One of the things I miss most about living in New York is the Chinese food. The little town I grew up in had some of the best Chinese food (BBQ spare ribs for the win!) and I was only a short train ride away from NYC's Chinatown. All the dim sum and bean cakes I could stomach were at my disposal. Upon moving to Nashville, all of my dumpling dreams where shattered (well, at least until I found my favorite local Chinese place China Cottage). Lucky Bamboo (recently reopened with the folks from Green Hills' Chinatown) brings a little bit of New York Chinese style down to Nashville. They serve dim sum on the weekends, but on this cold night we went for their specialty: THE HOT POT.

The inside of this place is crazy. It almost reminds me of a Disney themed restaurant in the Chinese portion of EPCOT, or something you might find in Vegas. There is a giant rock fountain in the center of the dining room filled to the brim with really pretty koi.

Opposite the bamboo covered bar is a full wall mural of pandas. Pandas just hanging out, having fun and watching you eat. I could have sworn that their eyes followed me around the room. The place is big, with only half of it being used for diners. Behind a partition is another large dining space with what appears to be a stage and karaoke setup just begging to be used. I wonder if this part of the space will ever be used to serve diners, or perhaps it's just for private parties.

To start we had small BBQ pork dumplings. They took a while to arrive at our table (an appetizer that arrived with the main dishes) but they were solid dumplings. The dough was thick and substantial without being so fluffy that it overpowered the fillings. 

The special of the day was Szechuan pigs feet. Luckily for me I went with a group of friends that are adventurous eaters like myself and it was a no-brainer to order this. The pigs feet were cooked slow and low and then stir fried with the hottest of peppers, peanuts and celery. Pigs feet, if you've never had it, have a very odd texture- a mixture of skin, fat and cartilage. I loved them especially because they soaked up all the flavor and were super tender. This dish was HOT. If you accidentally ate one of the red peppers your mouth was ON FIRE.

Empty hot pot

The main course was the Ying Yang hot pot (this was half of the mild house soup and half of the scorching hot Szechuan soup). Hot pot, if you're not familiar with it, is similar to fondue or shabu-shabu. You're served a boiling hot pot of broth that is kept at temperature with a portable burner, and you select various vegetables, meats, and noodles which you boil in the broth. This is a fabulous meal for a cold night and an even better meal when you go with a group of friends. Hot pot is communal and it's best when you get to order a lot of things and share!

The basics for the hot pot are cabbage, spinach, corn, tomatoes, pumpkin, mushrooms and some crab sticks. In addition to this you're given a menu for what you can put in your hot pot and you pay by the ingredient. We ordered so many things that they didn't fit on the table- but here's a list of all the goodies that went into our hot pot:

• beef
• lamb
• jumbo prawn
• fried tofu
• taro
• bok choi
• enoki mushroom
• bamboo shoot
• woodear mushroom
• udon noodles

Hot pot with tons of stuff

We tended to put the stuff that takes longer to cook into the pot first, like the pumpkin and taro. The meat cooked in under a minute and the cabbage seemed to soak up all of the spice. When things are done you just kind of dig in with a ladle or your chopsticks and pull out what you want. I had fun fishing for things and yelling out "I found a taro, who wants taro?" I honestly loved the hot soup better, mostly because I like the punishment of the hot peppers.

Overall I really enjoyed the hot pot and I would go back for it any time. Even with ordering all of that food our checks were still fairly cheap (split between 5 about $15 per person). Jennifer, our waitress was helpful, polite, and happy to explain everything to us hot pot novices. When next winter rolls around I'm sure I'll want a hot pot just as frequently as pho. Now, I have to go back to Lucky Bamboo for their dim sum and see how that compares to New York.

Nashville Food Friday: House of Kabob

If you are like me, sometimes you just need a hunk of meat on a stick. Thank goodness for Iranian restaurant House of Kabob for offering carnivorous girls like me many options of skewered or grilled protein. Located in a nondescript strip mall off of Nolensville Road, House of Kabob offers top-notch middle-eastern fare.

The decor isn't fancy, but it's clean and well-kept. The color palate tends to be black/dark brown/beige giving it the vibe of a fancy 24 hour diner. Our waiter was helpful, polite and prompt and even on a weekday night, this place was jumping.

Upon arrival you are greeted with pita and a plate of cilantro. The best parts about this little bonus are the chunks of feta sitting on top of the greens. It was salty and had a rather firm texture. I could eat ALL THE FETA.

For an appetizer we chose the dolmeh (ground beef, rice and spices wrapped in grape leaves). The dolmeh was served warm and made into flat patties, different from the cylindrical Greek version that I am accustomed to. The Iranian version also had less vinegar, which was a bummer for me because I can almost drink vinegar straight out of the bottle (no joke- I LOVE THE STUFF). It was served with a light yogurt sauce with cucumbers and dill. The sauce was fantastic. It was so good I asked for some more to smother all over my main dish as well.

For our entree (Steve and I ordered the same thing) we chose the kubideh shank. It had one skewer of kubideh (spiced and marinated ground beef) and one fabulous lamb shank. The lamb was super tender and fell off the bone with a touch of the fork. The sauce was flavorful and used sparingly. The kubideh had a really nice spice blend and despite being skewered, the meat was still tender in the center. I did however enjoy the kubideh much more with the yogurt sauce. The rice was light and fluffy and soaked up all the lovely sauce from the lamb shank. I would be hard pressed not to order the exact same thing next time I go back.

I really enjoyed House of Kabob, and if you are over by Nolensville Rd and need some meat on a stick, you know where to go.

Nashville Food Festivals: Tennessee Flavors

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Tennessee Flavors, a food festival to benefit the Nashville State Community College school of culinary arts. They turned the Student Services Center into a foodie's delight, and some of my local favorites were there including:

• Corsair Distillery
• Etch
• City House
• Noshville
• Yazoo
• The Pharmacy
• Olive and Sinclair Chocolate
• Bravo Gelato 
• Sunset Grill
• Puckett's
• And a whole lot more!

I was very involved with the delicate balance of eating and navigating the extremely crowded school hallways, so I decided to just do a quick photo recap of all the wonderful things that I put in my mouth. This was the third iteration of this event and I really hope they will be doing it again next year! Now, get ready for your mouth to water…

Nashville Food Friday: Virago

While attending a blogger dinner a few weeks ago at Moto, another M Street restaurant kept popping up in conversation. Everyone at the table loved Virago and went on & on about it. Since I have never been (confession: I went once for cocktails ~4 years ago at the old location but ate nothing because I was a broke grad student) we decided it was high time we venture back to the Gulch to check out Nashville's swankiest place for sushi.

Virago is a very cool place. So cool that they kinda hide the door from you. The entry to the restaurant is down a little alley and to the left, with only a tiny sign giving any indication you're in the right place. I'll be honest and say that we scoped out the wrong end of the building before doing a face-plam and walking down the alley to find the actual door. On the way we walked passed this beautiful outdoor patio which I can only imagine is blissful in the summertime.

The decor of Virago has major sex appeal. Everything is dark with low lighting, warm tones and comfortable seats. Everyone looks sexy in low-light and I realized that this is a perfect date spot. Why in my many years of dating in Nashville did no dude ever take me here? WHY? Overall, it reminded me of some of the fancier hotels I have been in. This place is very hip and I thought I wouldn't be cool enough to get a table or get the staff to look at me. I was quite wrong about that. The clientele were just regular people out for a nice meal. There were regularly dressed people my age, some bedazzled ladies ready for a night on the town, and a table that looked like my parents. I guess I shouldn't stress about stuff like this- but I do.

The cocktail list was very impressive and many of the drinks sounded good, making it a tough choice. I ordered the pear-lavender cocktail made with gin, lavender syrup and pear nectar. I really loved this drink and I might come back just to sip it at the bar. It had a gentle floral flavor that enhanced the notes in the gin. Steve ordered the ginger and lychee mojito and it was very sweet from the lychee flavor. But it was a subtle, light sweetness. It was good, but I liked mine better.

For an appetizer we chose the ninja bacon, which is a crispy pork belly covered in squid ink after it's been cooked sous vide for 40 hours. It's served with red curry and coconut milk gels and dehydrated pineapple powder. YOWZA! That's a lot of flavors but it all worked really nicely together. The dehydrated pineapple was light and fluffy and added just a bit of sweet before it melted away in your mouth. I especially liked the mixture of the sweet coconut milk gel with the saltiness of the pork belly. 

We went all out on the sushi. The first roll was the Phantom (tempura calamari, poblano pepper, cucumber, and avocado wrapped in black rice with soy tobiko, balsamic soy, sriracha). This roll was really soft on the palate and it seemed to melt in your mouth. I was quite happy that the soy didn't overpower the roll, making it taste like salt and nothing else. Everything blended well together, and I love the sushi chef's attention to detail in the presentation.

Next up was the honey fire (tempura shrimp, eel, Asian pear, jalapeño and honey fire sauce), which had a pleasing sweet and tangy heat that was very addicting. This sauce would make some killer chicken wings, just saying. I loved the crunch of the fresh roe on top but I wish the eel was just a tad bit warmer. I like my eel warm because it creates a nice opposition to the cold rice and veggies. 

Next up was the white dragon (shrimp, tuna, avocado, cucumber, pickled onions, cilantro and wasabi mayo, wrapped in hamachi and topped with sesame). The hamachi was very fresh and of very high quality. I loved the addition of the fresh scallion which added a fresh cooling flavor to balance out the heat of the sriracha.

For dessert we got a sweet sushi roll: The Hawaii Five-O (soy wrap, hamachi, escolar, hearts of palm, avocado, cream cheese and mango inside, rolled in toasted coconut, wrapped in kiwi, topped with honey fire sauce and macadamia nuts). There was so much going on here, but again the complexity worked out nicely. This roll also used that amazing honey fire sauce, but mixed with the fresh fruit and cream cheese it became more sweet. The toasted coconut covered the rice and was amazingly delicious. The only sad thing here was that the taste of the fish itself got buried under all the other flavors.  

I loved my dinner at Virago. Every dish was well prepared and beautifully presented. The cocktail list is outstanding and the service was topnotch. Now that I know Virago is amazing and not "too-cool-for-school," I'll be back for sure.

Nashville Food Friday: Brunch at The Lipstick Lounge

If you've tried to go out for brunch in East Nashville at some point in the last year I'm sure you know how frustrating it can be. With waits over an hour and a half by 11am, going to brunch can become a fierce battle. Scheming and plotting to beat the crowd, anticipating the spot with the shortest wait time... all this can become exhausting and cause the average Sunday brunch-goer to throw their hands up and scream, "I give up." 

Places that I've been frequenting without a problem for the last 4.5 years now have lines out the doors. To combat the War on Brunch, some places that you would 't even think would serve up biscuits and eggs have opened their doors to the starving masses on Sunday morning. Such was the case last Sunday, after to planning to meet a group of friends for brunch at Biscuit House (finding out there was over an hour wait), and then moving to Mad Donna's (only to find out their wait was even worse). Just as were about to give up we saw a sign in front of The Lipstick Lounge announcing weekend brunch. It was an oasis in the desert of mimosas and pancakes, the coveted spot without a wait, where we were seated immediately.

The Lipstick Lounge is Nashville's only lesbian bar and it's a pretty good time at night. During weekend daylight hours the place is transformed into a bustling dining room. The decor looks like a bar with high-top tables, which makes sense considering it's a BAR. The place was packed out and we were lucky to snag a table, because right after we sat down a line started forming. 

The brunch menu at The Lipstick Lounge is heavily Mexican-influenced. Which is fine by me considering salsa and eggs are a beautiful thing. I ordered the Killer Chilaquiles (eggs, tortillas, and salsa served together) with potatoes and refried beans. Off the bat I was disappointed: on the menu it said "Corn tortillas sautéed in tomatillo salsa, topped with eggs to order" and when I ordered this dish with eggs over easy I thought I had made a wise choice. Nothing is better than runny yolks falling over tortillas. I was bummed when the waitress came back to the table to tell me I couldn't choose the way my eggs were cooked because everything was scrambled together. I decided to go with my original order even if it meant forgoing runny yolks. The resulting dish was still pretty tasty (I love tomatillo salsa) and the eggs were light and fluffy. I wasn't a big fan of the refrained beans as they tasted like they came out of a can and were sprinkled with processed cheese that did not melt. The crispy potatoes were nice! I just wish they were a tad bit more spiced-up to go with the Mexican theme.

Steve ordered the burrito special that had eggs, beans, chorizo, salsa, cheese and sour cream. The burrito was HUGE. The ratio of ingredients was great, and Steve felt it was very satisfying, but the best breakfast burrito in town is still hands-down Mitchell Deli's Sunday special.

It's nice to see more places jumping on the brunch bandwagon. The more restaurants with open doors on Sunday, the less I'm going to have to wait in line. While the brunch at lipstick lounge was ok, it wasn't my favorite. Everything we had was tasty, but it wasn't mind-blowing awesome. It was a solid Mexican-style brunch without the wait. Keep The Lipstick Lounge in mind when you're driving around looking for an East Nashville spot to brunch.