Nashville’s food scene is bustling. No longer is Music City only known for the likes of hot chicken, barbeque, and other southern delights. Residents and visitors have a taste for international cuisines as well, in particular, Asian. Choose from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and more. Alas, with many choices, deciding where to go can get tricky.
That’s where this list comes into play. Following are the best Asian restaurants in Nashville that have crowds of people flocking to them. These establishments receive two thumbs up, be it for their fresh and healthy ingredients or their spacious and relaxing environments. Any one of these could become a new favorite sushi bar, hibachi grill, BBQ, or buffet.
Nashville’s food scene is bustling. No longer is Music City only known for the likes of hot chicken, barbeque, and other southern delights. Residents and visitors have a taste for international cuisines as well, in particular, Asian. Choose from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and more. Alas, with many choices, deciding where to go can get tricky.
That’s where this list comes into play. Following are the best Asian restaurants in Nashville that have crowds of people flocking to them. These establishments receive two thumbs up, be it for their fresh and healthy ingredients or their spacious and relaxing environments. Any one of these could become a new favorite sushi bar, hibachi grill, BBQ, or buffet.
Revolutionizing the independent restaurant scene for the past 19 years, Virago has done so with upscale cuisine. Their sushi chef, Himmi, is known to craft captivating nigirizushi (rice mounds topped with sashimi) and makimono (rolled sushi) masterpieces. Also, the restaurant is home to Music City’s most expansive Japanese whisky and sake offerings. The dining experience at Virago has been voted “Best Sushi Bar/Japanese Restaurant in Nashville'' six times in a row by the Nashville Scene.
Regarded as the first Vietnamese restaurant in Music City, Miss Saigon is perfect for healthy comfort food. Try one of their many pho combinations–beef, seafood, oxtail, and more–or choose your pho ingredients. Another house special is the Vietnamese Curry, made with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, onions, peppers, taro, and coconut cream, served with the choice of beef, chicken, seafood, shrimp, or tofu. Here’s a tip: this place can get busy during lunch and dinner. That’s no surprise considering their regular winning of the “Best Vietnamese Restaurant in Nashville” awards.
Revolutionizing the independent restaurant scene for the past 19 years, Virago has done so with upscale cuisine. Their sushi chef, Himmi, is known to craft captivating nigirizushi (rice mounds topped with sashimi) and makimono (rolled sushi) masterpieces. Also, the restaurant is home to Music City’s most expansive Japanese whisky and sake offerings. The dining experience at Virago has been voted “Best Sushi Bar/Japanese Restaurant in Nashville'' six times in a row by the Nashville Scene.
Regarded as the first Vietnamese restaurant in Music City, Miss Saigon is perfect for healthy comfort food. Try one of their many pho combinations–beef, seafood, oxtail, and more–or choose your pho ingredients. Another house special is the Vietnamese Curry, made with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, onions, peppers, taro, and coconut cream, served with the choice of beef, chicken, seafood, shrimp, or tofu. Here’s a tip: this place can get busy during lunch and dinner. That’s no surprise considering their regular winning of the “Best Vietnamese Restaurant in Nashville” awards.
Always busy, The Smiling Elephant is known for serving authentic Thai cuisine with bargain-priced promotions. They feature a daily curry schedule with fan favorites like Karee Curry Tuesday and Red Curry Friday. If in the mood for something other than curry, try their signature Pad Thai, which is prefaced on the menu as “not being an Americanized version but prepared traditionally with tamarind sauce and palm sugar.” The Smiling Elephant recognizes the risk of food allergies and dietary restrictions. The chefs can prepare off-menu items if they have adequate ingredients.
Known as “Nashville’s hidden gem for amazing Thai and sushi,” this restaurant's relaxed atmosphere and generous serving sizes appeal to everyone. Popular menu items include Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, and various Bento Boxes. The signature sushi rolls always grab diner’s attention, such as the TNT roll featuring spicy tuna and cucumber, topped with a blend of shrimp tempura, masago, avocado, sriracha, spicy mayo, and scallions. The best time to visit The Eastern Peak is during happy hours, with promotions on beverages and sushi between 4 pm-6 pm on weekdays and 3 pm-6 pm on weekends.
While many Asian restaurants are bound to distinct geographical areas, Sunda New Asian offers a cross-cultural menu that spans both Eastern and Southeastern Asian regional cuisines and traditions. By blending many cooking styles and tastes found in various parts of Asia, this restaurant can accommodate its customer’s experience. Their extensive menu encompasses chicken inasal, Hainanese salmon, dim sum, poke bowls, and that doesn’t even account for the full sushi bar with an assortment of nigiri and sashimi. Sunda’s cross-cultural menu extends to beverages as well.
Making soup exciting is challenging, but this establishment does it with ease. Hot pot cooking is the name of the game, and guests have a chance to combine their favorite ingredients, like meats, vegetables, and noodles, into a savory broth base and sauce. Their seafood hot pot is the newest menu item and is already popular. Sichuan Hot Pot & Asian Cuisine also offers a range of authentic Chinese dishes. Choose between favorites like beef with broccoli, crab rangoon, chicken lo mein, sweet and sour spare ribs, Szechuan shrimp, and more.
This restaurant’s name means ‘to explore’ in Cantonese. And it seems to explore a modern take on China’s night markets and traditional street fare. The menu reflects that with dishes like the foie sui man, Nashville hot chicken lo mein, and Taiwanese seared ahi. While they lean on the fancier side, Tánsuŏ offers daily specials, including Wok and Wonton Wednesdays and Sake Sundays.
Co-owned by celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan, downtown’s Chauhan Ale and Masala House has become a favorite in Nashville’s food scene. The unique dining experience here results from a fusion between the chef’s Indian roots and Southern traditions. Nowhere else in town can you find a menu that’s as representative of cities like Mumbai and New Delhi as it is of Nashville. Papadi chips, spicy lamb keema, Provel cheese, tamarind chutney, and cucumber tomato kachumber. That may not sound like ingredients for nachos, but Chauhan Ale & Masala House begs to differ.
Otaku Ramen is a new hip joint in The Gulch serving traditional ramen and Japanese snacks. This tiny restaurant makes up for its limited seating with ample servings. They feature several ramen options, including the Tennessee tonkatsu and the spicy miso. There are also plenty of add-on menu items, making these ramen bowls customizable. Just as crucial as the ramen is what treats to pair it with. At Otaku, one can find traditional Japanese snacks like gyoza and edamame but it also pulls in the Nashvillian crowd with hot chicken buns and the Tokyo fried chicken mini bucket.
Located downtown, this casual Japanese eatery offers several entrees, including fried rice and noodles, but its sushi menu is more extensive. There’s a broad mix of nigiri, sashimi, and classic rolls, but the Japanese-style specialty rolls are the standouts. Their famous Nashville Roll contains spicy crab, avocado, cucumber, and fried shrimp, with seared salmon, eel sauce, wasabi sauce, and tobiko on the outside. Just as popular is the Crazy Jalapeno Roll with fried shrimp, cucumber, and avocado, surrounded by spicy tuna jalapeno, spicy mayo, and tobiko.
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