Oldie but Goodie Sushi

Miyako

4832 Thoroughbred Ln

Brentwood, TN

615-373-5911

sushi

My new/old favorite sushi place in Nashville is Miyako in Brentwood, near Vittles and O'Charley's on the corner of Old Hickory Blvd and Franklin Rd.  It has been around for almost a couple decades serving up Japanese food to those in the know.  I just went for the 1st time a few months ago, and I like this place for the consistency in product, good prices, a clean dining room, and relaxed atmosphere.  There really isn't any outstanding sushi in Nashville or surrounding area, so why pay high prices for the same product elsewhere?  Miyako has the best prices around.  The plate shown above was a little over $20 at Miyako and it comes with a bowl of miso soup and a small iceberg lettuce salad.  There is a relatively new sushi and Thai place around the corner from me, and I got same exact plate and it cost over $50 and there were no soup and salad either, those cost extra.  So for 60% less in cost in sushi price for the same quality and quantity, I am going to Miyako.

I also like that Miyako runs like a well oiled machine.  Dirty dishes do not pile up on tables where patrons have paid and left, the floor is not sticky and does not have spilled or ground-in food, and the waitstaff is efficient but not harried.  Miyako is clean and comfortable, which some take for granted in restaurants.  But when you go to a place that is not clean and comfortable, it puts clean and comfortable of good restaurants in to perspective.  So, in comparison, the last time I tried to eat at a sushi joint down the road from Miyako, this other place had dirty dishes piled on tables, food on the floor thrown by children and not cleaned up, there were at least 2 flies in the restaurant, and the staff was harried providing a really un-relaxing dining experience.  I will never go back to the other joint.  I will go back to Miyako because it is consistent and not dirty.

yakisoba

The food at Miyako is what you would expect at any Americanize Japanese restaurant in the Nashville area.  Every meal starts off with miso soup and an iceberg salad with a blob ginger carrot dressing on top.  Neither freebie soup and salad is anything to write  home about, but if you are hungry when you arrive, the soup and salad come out quick and take the edge off while you wait for your freshly prepared meal.  We have gotten sushi, sashimi, bento boxes and yakisoba.  The sushi and sashimi combos are consistent, have the best prices around and are plenty of food for my meal.  The bento boxes are not the most creative, but they are consistent, have the best prices around and are more than enough food for my meal.  The yakisoba is also consistent, straight forward and what you want in a pile of thin noodles.  I really like the yakisoba uses nice thin Asian style noodles in a light teriyaki sauce which is an oldie but goodie flavor I like.   Also, the yakisoba plate is so big, that there is definitely 2 meals on the plate.  So either share the dish at dinner, or bring a tupperware and take some home for your next meal.  

I personally have started bringing my own tupperware container to restaurants, so my leftovers are already in the container I am going to put in the microwave the next day, instead of bringing home a big bulky styrofoam box, and then putting it in my microwaveable container, and have the styrofoam box take up a lot real estate in the garbage can, and then having to take out the garbage in the middle of the night because the garbage can is too full because of the styrofoam, and all I want to do is get into PJs and relax, but I can't because the garbage must go out. Eh, you get the picture.  I am lazy, so bringing my own tupperware allows me to get home and get into PJs and relax sooner.

In general, Japanese food is healthier than some other foods.  Besides tempura, there is very little that is deep fried or ladened with lard.  There isn't a lot of over top flavoring either because the Japanese food aesthetic is to allow the natural flavors of the food to shine on their own.  If I feel like I have a healthy day, I like to cap the day with a little sushi and finish healthy.  Miyako is right down the street from the Maryland Farms YMCA, one of the nicest gyms around with an extensive wellness workout area, women only workout areas, tennis, Olympic size pool, and every group class you can think from aerobics to zumba.  When I have a good healthy day, I like to go to the Maryland Farms Y and workout and then go to Miyako and get some sushi.