Tánsuŏ

Reviews 3

MA

Matt Greer Music

Honestly, I think I got revenge spiced by the kitchen at this restaurant. Ill explain below. My wife and I decided to go for a date night. We were excited to try this restaurant as we heard the chef is the same as at Chauhan (which we love). As others have said, the space is beautiful. Very chic, open and hip but without being snooty or taking itself too seriously. We were both immediately impressed by the ambiance. Our server was very friendly and professional, had a great presence and seemed to know just when to approach the table. They were also very helpful in resolving an issue (more on that in a second). Now, the food... Sadly, the food was pretty underwhelming across the board. The apps were okay but rather small for the price. We tried the firecracker wontons, which I now realize they call them firecracker because they are about the size of an M80 (a little firecracker). I mean, they are really tiny but they tasted pretty good. We also tried the Golden Eggs (which arent eggs at all) and those were pretty good but the sauce was absurdly salty. Again, small portion for the cost. We tried two entrees; the filet and the General Tsos. They both came out at completely different times and the rice was missing from one of the dishes for 10 minutes or so. The filet was second out of the kitchen and was fine. Not amazing but fine. The General Tsos however, this is where we get into some serious problems (and pain). The Tsos came out and it was rather uninspiring and also overwhelmingly sweet. The flavor profile had no balance. I specifically tried a somewhat ubiquitous Chinese dish because I wanted to see how this chef would make it great. Sadly, it was rather generic and I remember saying, "Gosh, should have just gone to Pei Wei. I like theres much better." But the main problem, again, was the sweetness. The dish had no depth. We again read the menu and noticed that it mentioned birds eye chilis (those skinny red peppers) being a part of the dish. We had no chilis in ours and determined they were missing. We asked the waiter about it and the waiter agreed they were missing and he took it to have another one made for us. It came back. It still had no chilis. The dish was obviously darker in color. I cautiously took out a piece and cut off a single bite about the size of 1/2" cube and put it in my mouth and started chewing. I immediately regretted it as I was instantly greeted by the most absurd level of spice heat I had ever encountered. That single bite, was without doubt, the hottest thing I have ever eaten. If youve ever had Princes hottest level of hot chicken or a "native" spice level in Thai food, this was several orders of magnitude above that. I was on fire. My face became instantly beet red and I was sweating profusely and I became very very uncomfortable. It ruined my meal and it was a good hour before the spice left my mouth. All this from a single, tiny bite. And then I got to experience the joy of that same bite again the next morning (equally painful). But I digress. So, now, we ask the manager if we somehow offended someone in the kitchen and showed them the dish and explained it was inedible. They smelled it and agreed. They were extremely apologetic and offered to buy us both deserts and let us take home any other entree on the house but we really didnt want anything else. My meal was kind of ruined at that point. We did end up trying one dessert, a pear centric thing which Im told was really good. It still tasted like fire to me so I dont know. So, Tansou. Neat place. Cool vibes. Friendly staff. Food is either meh or downright damaging. I may go back but probably just for drinks.

CH

Chandler Ross

Atmosphere was fantastic. This hospitality group really nails creating distinct vibes. They dont fall into the standard Nashville lane of "Ohh my gosh Edison bulbs hanging over a reclaimed barn wood table, so edgy, so Nashville". My wife commented "they could film a James bond movie in here". If youve seen the Skyfall Chinese casino scene this space had a similar feel to it. Service was OUTSTANDING, Our server had excellent hospitality skills and deep menu knowledge. To be served by someone who was a professional was appreciated. Service 10 out of 10. The presentation, temperature and aroma when the food hit was a great moment and it was IMMEDIATELY followed by, Is that it? I dont drive a hummer and I dont need a 2 lb hamburger but the portions were legit small. Everything was in miniature form. The spring rolls were comically small, Seinfeld would make a whole episode about the size of the spring rolls. Hold your thumb out visualize half of your thumb shrunken slightly and thats the size. The fried rice really perplexed me because I ordered that thinking I would be taking some of it home. Not a chance, it wasnt even enough for the dinner. If we were on a dinner date with another couple you would need to order at LEAST 3 fried rices. They also sliced up 5 microscopic slices of the pork belly and garnished the rice on the side with that. The portions were an issue here. Aside from the size of the food. The flavor was there. I never had a transcendence moment biting into something that made me think "master or Best in Nashville" but I did enjoy every bite. My opinion is that its easy to get an Asian dish lopsided on one flavor/ingredient but when you can balance them the cuisine elevates.They had the balance down. Factoring in portion size and lack of a true blue Holy S*** bite of flavor moment Im giving the food a 5.5 out of 10. This brings me to my next point. I felt the price point was way off and ultimately because the price point was so out of wack I dropped a full star overall because of this. I deliberated for a long time about this restaurant and my ultimate conclusion is that it needs to ripen on the vine for awhile before you go. They literally gave us tweaked menus while we were sitting there about to order. The kitchen needs to have a come to Jesus about plate sizes. Dont tell me its "Family Style" and the portion not be enough for 2 people. Its especially weird to me because Masala (who is affiliated with this spot) had perfect portion size. That being said I think they will figure it out. I would guess by end of August early September 2017 the kitchen will have matured to be where they need to be or management will have adjusted menu price to reflect portion (16 dollars for fried rice?). My suggestion hold off for a few months and let them catch their stride. They might have worked a few kinks out.

A

A Gandhi

Update: On my second experience at Tansuo the food was quite good and our server, Ben was attentive until the restaurant started to get very busy at around 8:00 PM, but all in all the experience was much better than my first. Food score improves to 4 out of 5, and service improves to 4 out of 5. Happy dining! - - - - - Our recent dining experience at Tansuo was not what we had expected from a restaurant with ties to Chef Chauhan. It is safe to say that visually the environment is welcoming, but thats about it. Upon arriving for our 8:30 reservation we were told that our table was not ready so our party of six decided to visit the downstairs bar where the bartenders conventionally ignored all the patrons waiting for a beverage. After about 15 minutes of waiting, our group decided to head to the upstairs bar which was luckily attentive. Another 20 or so minutes later we were sitting at our table and ordered our food. It is also worth mentioning that the rest rooms (both upstairs and downstairs) smelled like they were directly connected by the vent over the deep friers in the kitchen. The food: The sesame golden eggs were the tastiest of the appetizers we ordered, the others (pictured) werent that memorable. The potato birds nest vegetables were nothing to write home about. The pickles as a side were surprising tasty, but the youtiao bread literally tasted like deep fried strips of bread that they decided to deep fry six or seven times - not good. Also, the rice was definitely chewy (as in, not cooked and not to be confused with al dente). The chicken and pork chops were be described as tasty, but the wok vegetables not so much. The highlight from the food that our group ordered was the dessert - the ice cream egg rolls. ...luckily they tasted great. All in all, we werent that impressed. I do have a work dinner coming up at Tansuo that will provide the restaurant a chance for redemption. Ill be sure to report back. Ambiance: 5 out of 5 Decor: 5 out of 5 Service: 3.5 out of 5 Food Taste: 2 out of 5 Food Appearance: 4 out of 5