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Such a unique and delicious restaurant!!! The service was amazing and we loved sitting at the counter to watch them prepare the food in front of us. Cool vibe too with the vinyl record DJ playing. The squid ink pasta was our fave - will be dreaming of that sauce!!
My husband and I met his brother at Present Tense for dinner on a Saturday night a couple of weekends ago when we were back in town for my husband's high school reunion. None of us had been to Present Tense before, and we were excited to try it (we picked it because the menu looked great and it was central - we were heading to Green Hills after and my brother in law was heading downtown). Present Tense is a Japanese-izakaya inspired restaurant and natural wine bar. It's tiny, with only 14 chef's counter seats, a few indoor tables, and even fewer outdoor tables. We had a reservation for 5:30pm. We waited a bit to be seated but were soon sat at an indoor table (the outdoors remained busier throughout our dinner). Reservations are recommended. We shared several dishes from their menu: a half dozen Miyagi oysters with yuzu leche de tigre and tarragon oil; yellowtail amberjack sashimi with citrus, orange wine, and olive oil; mushroom rice with an egg yolk and hemp seed furikake; Wagyu flat iron steak with black sesame mole and lime; and blood orange and prickly pear soft serve for dessert. We enjoyed everything, and I think it says a lot that argued about our favorite courses; one of us made an argument for almost every course. In addition to our food, we each had 2 glasses of wine or 2 cocktails (wine for me; cocktails for the boys). The wines are natural and interesting, and the cocktails were creative and delicious. The restaurant is modern and cool, and the ambiance was great. If anything is holding me back from giving Present Tense five stars, it is probably the service. It just wasn't the most welcoming/friendliest spot. And beware - the location is great (surrounded by lots of bars to go to after dinner - if you don't stay at Present Tense to keep drinking their great wine), but parking in Wedgewood-Houston is worse and worse all the time as it keeps expanding and growing. We found street parking a couple of blocks away, but our dinner was on the earlier side. Give yourself some time to find parking if you drive there. Overall, we had a really good time at Present Tense. The food was creative and delicious, and we enjoyed eating it and being surprised by it. And I loved their focus on natural wines. I'd come just to drink great wines and have a small plate or two. Anytime, really. Someone invite me, please.
Knocked off one star because honestly it's just a bit overpriced. Their food quality is great, but there are other local restaurants with the same quality that charge $17 for their sashimi and it's the same quantity and this place charges $24... Given their portions, my husband said it should have been a $14 plate and I said $18 MAX so the fact that we checked with one of our fav spots and they charged $17 for it was validation. Also their seaweed bread had zero flavor - fortunately the butter was very flavorful so it made up for it. OTHER THAN THOSE COMPLAINTS, overall tasty food with good quality. Service was good. Ambiance was lowkey. Our favorite bite of the night was the beef tartare on milk bread.
Went here for a late evening dinner on Friday night with my friend and her fiancé. She had made reservations and the restaurant was flexible when we adjusted our time to later. It is challenging to find parking, but we got lucky with a parallel spot on the street. It's located in a building with other venues, including one for weddings! The vibe is super urban & fancy, and I enjoyed the live DJ but the music was too loud. I'm never a fan of restaurants that drown out conversations I want to have, especially when we were seated at the bar. I ordered the lush meadow cocktail, which reminded me of a mojito - my favorite! For food: we shared everything pictured except the tuna toast, and a non-pictured peanut miso soft serve. Technically, I had also ordered a separate soft serve but I think the server got confused because of our group's approach to ordering. I loved every small plate, but here's my ranking: 1) squid ink pasta, 2) crispy tofu, 3) japanese sweet potato, 4) bread, and 5) tuna toast. I had high hopes for the toast, but the bread tasted so burnt & the tuna had a texture I didn't like - but it did taste fresh, thankfully. The squid ink pasta reminded me of Chinese style noodles, which are always Ws. I could have had 10 of the crispy tofus and sweet potatoes.
Came here for a date night dinner and was blown away! It was dimly lit with a live DJ creating a great atmosphere. The food was all so beautifully and precisely cooked and plated. Their shareable plates allow you try multiple dishes-- and trust me-- you'll want to! Our waitress was super knowledgeable and all of our food and drinks came out in a perfect timely manner. I can't wait to go back! What I ordered: Drinks: Greenery & Lush Meadows Plates: Bluefin tuna toast, karaage fried chicken, pork belly, seaweed gnocchi, lamb shoulder skewer & Japanese chocolate mousse
Cool spot with a neighborhood bar feel, but definitely a nice atmosphere for date night as well. Great drink options with competent bar staff for off menu items. Interesting and delicious food options as well. Enjoyable time!
I went to Present Tense with a friend for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I was blown away at the quality and presentation of everything we ordered as well as the service! We enjoyed: Karaage Fried Chicken, Yellowtail Hand Roll, Chicken Thigh Yakitori, A5 Wagyu Strip Skewer, Squid Ink Pasta, Orchid Mist (cocktail), Habanero Gold (cocktail), Blood Orange Soft Serve and Japanese Chocolate Mousse. Plus, they greet you with complimentary popcorn which I thought was so fun! I'm not exaggerating when I say I absolutely loved everything we tried, but if I had to narrow it down to "must-try" items, I would choose the Karaage Fried Chicken & Japanese Chocolate Mousse. I think about those dishes often haha! Thanks for a lovely experience Present Tense team, I can't wait to come back!
Went here for drinks, and definitely want to go back again for more! Atmosphere is super cool and service is excellent and fun! A cool little hidden gem in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.
Dimly lit upscale restaurant on the edge of greatness. Service at the bar fell off as the restaurant filled, bartenders spending more time lining up shaker or literally scratching their heads. The BCF Pork Belly is thick cut, melt in your mouth with lots of flavors. The Yellowtail is good, but thick cut, and doesn't melt. There is a full bar, and a well curated European based wine list.
We visited Present Tense on a Friday evening with friends not really knowing what to expect. We were seated at a nice table outside where we could easily visit with our friends. The menu is a bit fancy and intimidating, so be sure to ask the staff any questions you may have, even with the drink menu. I tried the Andorra cocktail (bourbon, rye, & vermouth) and was quite pleased. It was a delicious way to start the meal. My wife had the one rose choice on the menu, it she was happy with it. The food here is meant to be shared. It's that simple. But, it everything can easily be shared among four people. Some items come with two pieces, others with five. So please ask your server how each dish is served. We ordered the oyster app (2 pieces) and it was delicious. It definitely left you wanting more. We also sampled the sashimi (5 pieces). It was briny and flavorful, but with the skin still on the fish, it was a bit hard to chew. Everyone loved the pork belly (wait, isn't that always true?). There were 4 pieces of deliciously caramelized and glazed pork belly. This was one of our favorite dishes of the night. The diver scallop dish was super tasty, but very small for $23. Only 2 small scallops. We ordered two entrees to share, and both were delicious. The Squid Ink Pasta was the star of the night. A spicy but super flavorful sauce with tiny squid coated perfectly cooked black bucatini pasta. Everyone loved this dish. The Iberico Pork Katsu was a juicy piece of pork pounded flat and fried, topped with spicy mustard and miso sauces. It was cut into eight pieces and was easy to share. We all enjoyed this dish. The food is special here, but you don't get much of it for the price. Present Tense is a nice place to visit once a year, and we really enjoyed our night.
This place was recommended to us, tried it on a Saturday evening. The menu consists of small plates tapas style. Two to three plates per person was recommended l. Pretty busy, jazzy and modern music playing. Dim lights. Parking is hard to come by
Disclaimer: I came here when they had recently opened on May 24th, 2023 so it's a late review, but I did want to write one just to just give some feedback. My friend and I came here on a whim because it had been promoted on Where to Eat in Nashville, which usually we trust. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like it walking in it just fell short in so many ways that maybe eventually they would be able to rectify with some menu changes. ( fyi: just now I did look on their site for the menu and see it's been updated a bit as well!) It just seemed like they missed the mark on food. The up side and reason for the 2 stars is that the service was decent, and it's a cute little place. Unfortunately food wise, it was just mediocre. I feel like they attempt to offer a little bit of what you're familiar with and build on that, but it just comes off as it not being cohesive. The fried chicken was pretty greasy and the sauce just didn't add anything to it. The sweet potato seemed to have no flavor at all really. And my shrimp fried rice (which I no longer see on the menu) seemed almost like it was from a frozen bag. The one thing that I actually really enjoyed was the aged tuna toast. It was good, simple, tasty, and fresh but it didn't save the meal. The prices also just seemed a little high for what we were getting, but considering we didn't really enjoy our experience I do feel that it's normal to feel that way. With such competitive prices around Nashville it hurts when you go out to eat and don't enjoy your meal. So, though overall we left pretty disappointed, I can see the vision. I hope they can maybe tweak some things, add some things and nothing but good experiences follow! Good luck!
2.5 stars. We were really excited to try this place as locals as we are always looking to try new restaurants around town. Unfortunately we didn't enjoy our experience here. As another reviewer mentioned, we too were seated inside but by the outdoor area where everything is open to the outside on a nearly 90 degree day. I felt no AC on whatsoever. This isn't SoCal, it's Nashville. It was insanely unpleasant to dine and eat with that level of heat. I also had the pleasure of sitting next to the tiny walkway smashed by a plant so I was touched every single time anyone went in or out. The drink menu looked cool but we ordered 4 different ones and only thought one was delicious. For the food, some hits, some misses. We loved the pork bao buns and the fish but everything else we found to be mediocre. Even the sweet potato which I was thrilled to try was not great, and not cooked enough. The "ube" soft serve here was downright offensive though. I've been to the Philippines and had legit ube many times over and just love the flavor so much. They put this down and it was neon purple and I was scared already. We tasted it and not only did it not taste like ube but it had the most insane ink-like aftertaste. The amount of food coloring that must be in it.. absolutely crazy. We took two bites each and left it, with our entire mouths dyed purple the rest of the night. The service is what we had the hardest time with though. They have a lot of young kids running the food and nearly every time one of our items was brought out they either couldn't explain what it was or it was missing an ingredient. We waited insane times in between courses. Had to hunt someone down for a refill of water or to order another drink. We got the super expensive bill after asking for it twice, paid and left- hot and bothered. Literally. Not somewhere we'd want to come again.
3 years ago
Extremely well prepared food and cocktails! Whether it is ochre, scallops or oysters the vehicles for his or her sauces are incredible. Assholes stay away. This is a cool place with a great vibe.... read more
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Yummy food, coolest vibe, servers were knowledgeable and so helpful when I was trying to decide what to order and wanted to experience something new. I had the Tuna toast on sourdough bread -it was adventurous for me but it was so incredible! I am in town visiting from AZ for business and WILL be back! Present tense is definitely on my list of favorite places to hang out and catch a bite when I come back to Nashville! read more
2 years ago
Tonight we headed to Present Tense for the Omakase tasting menu. Oh my! What a lovely inventive meal with excellence in every aspect. First up was a raw oyster in a fabulous sauce topped with caviar. Brought out at the same time was tuna on grilled seaweed sourdough - that bread y'all! Next up was a scallop with jellied blood orange followed by yellowtail with yet another amazing sauce. Yes, we picked up the shells they were served in and drained them of every drop of sauce! Next was a giant prawn in a Japanese hollandaise sauce. Another scallop came next but this time it was grilled. Perhaps the biggest surprise was a sweet potato slice in a miso butter (more upturning of the serving dish to get every drop). Red snapper with baby corn in another incredible sauce was followed by yakitori (chicken) topped with mushroom - both were so tender. Squid ink pasta with a bit of pork topped with a perfectly crunchy squid in tuile. Last savory course was a lamb chop with miso labne and eggplant (never one of my favorite veggies it was beautifully elevated tonight and incredibly yummy). Our 11th course was a chocolate peanut butter soft serve topped with a crunchy waffle cookie. This amazing 11 course meal is $99. Incredible value for a fabulous, inventive meal read more
2 years ago
What an amazing and delicious experience! The most interesting cocktails and Japanese inspired food. Loved the vibe too! And the service was great...can't say enough good things. read more
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Beautiful space even though it's in the bottom of an apartment complex and opens into the lobby. Came here with 3 coworkers and we ordered cocktails (everyone was a fan of theirs), hiramasa sashimi, chicken karaage, two pork katsu (we liked it that much), tuna toast, Japanese sweet potato, fluke, squid ink noodles, and swirled matcha and sesame soft serve. This was a lot for 4 people but we basically ate it all. The squid ink noodles are very salty but are reminiscent of dandan noodles. Everything was just really good, but top 3 were the karaage, katsu, and tuna toast. Probably wouldn't order the sashimi again. Service was great as well. Overall, a place worth checking out and returning to, esp if they change up the menu. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
Went with a group of four which allowed us to try many of the dishes and worked out well! The karaage chicken with the dipping sauce was so delicious, highly recommend. We also had the pork collar which came with spicy mustard and bbq sauces, it was a large portion and the pork was lightly breaded and crispy, very good. Also recommend the pork belly bao buns. The pork belly was very tender and the bao buns are made in house which was a plus. Other dishes I recommend are the shishito peppers and okra, oyster mushroom and grilled scallop (pictured). We finished off with Ube/matcha swirl soft serve ice cream which was surprisingly delicious (also pictured). Couple things to be aware of: it's VERY warm in there as I believe it's an open space between inside and outside, today happened to be 90 degrees out and also, they add gratuity to the bill. read more
3 years ago
Follow up to ongoing business. Have been back several times. Enjoyed the awesome menu but decided to get omakase tonight to surprise the ole lady. Third time doing the omakase seating and definitely won't be the last. Perfect menu paired nicely with a wine/ sake pairing. Don't sleep on this gem if you are in the Nashville area. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
After reading about Present Tense on a few food blogs and instagram, I had the opportunity to go today. There weren't many people when we went at opening, but it was starting to fill up by when we left. Now for the review, do yourself a favor and go and splurge on the food! Our server was super attentive the entire time and had me drooling for the menu after it was explained to us. I really haven't had as good service from a restaurant as I did tonight at Present Tense and when I've been to Yolan. Given these are small plates to share, you should go with a plan to get a variety of plates. It was 2 of us and we got 5 plates plus desert and left feeling a bit more than full of delicious food! Now for the good! I got the Hokkaido scallops to start off and there was a dance of wanting to eat it all and never wanting the flavors to end. While it was a little pricey for 2 scallops, the taste was worth it and had me savoring so much. The karaage chicken was so juicy and full of flavor. It comes with a delicious pasty Japanese condiment called yuzu koso, which complimented the chicken so beautifully with a citrus taste. The Kakuni pork belly was small, but was a fun time. The meat was so flavorful and had such a nice kick with the properly burn ends, you get to make mini baos, but if you're with more than 2 people you may want to order more. Finally the red snapper came along with so much flavor. It came with a side of squash that was just as delicious as the fish. The fish is sitting over miso and I ended up using the miso on the pumpkin which complimented it so well(my mouth is watering as I write this lol). For dessert we got the toasted black sesame soft serve. It was a black colored ice cream and was super unique in appearance. The ice cream was like eating a recess pieces or some sort of peanut butter ice cream that was not overwhelming at all. It was such a nice balance. The one thing I would say wasn't as fabulous were the yams, everyone has their own opinions on yams and while still really good, I definitely was expecting a lot more flavor, regardless it was still a fantastic dish! Cannot recommend this restaurant enough, before we left I was already planning my return and what was coming next! Overall great experience, but be ready to spend a dime as the tab adds up pretty quickly, but again definitely worth every bite. The ambiance was also pretty calm and love the low lighting. read more
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As someone that lives in nyc and experiences their phenomenal flavors and seafood, Present Tense is doing everything right. Their sashimi and oysters are some of the best tasting I've had, pork belly is also amazing. All of the flavors are excellent and our knowledgeable server recommended the shishito and okra, which was so delicious. Be wary of your cocktail choice and don't be afraid to ask questions as they include unique, but purposeful ingredients. Would come back any day of the week, their playlist was also awesome and very hip. read more
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More info about Present Tense
509 Houston St
Nashville, TN 37203
Wedgewood-Houston, South Nashville
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(629) 231-4006
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https://www.liveinthepresenttense.com
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