Suzy Wong's House of Yum

Suzy Wong's House of Yum is a new restaurant from Arnold Myint, who also owns PM and ChaChah. We recently visited the place on a weeknight.

When we walked in, I was immediately impressed with the design of the restaurant. The seating is varied, with sections of regular tables and chairs, tables with booth backs and short chairs, a cozy circular pod, window seating, and a bar area, but everything is purposeful and works together. There is a stretched fabric instillation on the ceiling reminiscent of a paper fan. The lighting is low but supplemented by table votives. At each table there are plates waiting for your group to share food with them. A nice punch is the pop-art style "YUM" on the top plate at each table.

Suzy Wong's focuses on Asian-inspired tapas-like items. Our server, who was extremely helpful, suggested that we order a few items at a time to keep from getting too full too fast. Everything is prepared quickly, so you can order like this and not worry about there being a lot of time before food is brought to your table. We started out with the vegetable gyoza pot stickers ($6), sesame steak yakitori skewers ($7), and steamed barbecue pork bao bun ($3). Everything was delicious. The pot stickers were satisfying without having to resort to meat, and the steak was very tender. The pork but was a little mushy on the inside, perhaps needing to be steamed a bit longer, but overall was very tasty. I added a small side of picked cucumbers ($2) and it was just right for cleansing the palate between items, which were all full of strong flavors.

We progressed on to the "Yum Bowls", which are meant to be served family-style. We first tried the garlic and holy basil egg noodle "lo mein" ($9), which if I remember correctly is indeed in quotation marks on the menu. And for good reason, because this is not your MSG-laden lo mein found in Chinese restaurant buffets. The noodles are coated with a thick sauce, and the entire dish is permeated with lots and lots of garlic, albeit roasted so as to not be quite so pungent. We decided we had a bit more room so we finished our meal with the pineapple red curry shrimp ($9). It was delicious; the pineapple was very, very sweet and a perfect contrast to the red curry, which was full of spicy warmth. We added white rice ($2) in order to sop up as much of the tasty sauce as possible.

Our server was extremely helpful as we built our meal, making good suggestions as we discussed with her what our likes and interests were in food. We also would like to point out the helpful notes on the menu: many items at Suzy Wong's are vegetarian or vegan, gluten-free, or have a soy-alternative available. Those with these dietary concerns or preferences will feel welcome at Suzy Wong's.

I think what impressed me most about Suzy Wong's is the attention to detail. It's evident everywhere. The restaurant is thoughtfully laid out, the food items are interesting and varied, and even the containers for table water have purpose: they're empty wine bottles instead of restaurant-supply plastic carafes (as a side note, I appreciated having lukewarm water instead of ice water. A small detail, but it mattered to me.) It's a nice place to visit if you're wanting some small food dishes, a full meal with lots of variety, late night dining, or a new food experience with helpful servers to make suggestions. We recommend that everyone try Suzy Wong's!

Suzy Wong's House of Yum
1515 Church Street
Nashville, TN
Mon-Tues 5pm - 11pm | Wed-Sun 5pm - 4am
615.329.2913