So today we have a [drum roll please..................] FAIL. whomp whomp whomp. Yes, and not even a little fail, a big time fail. What's strange though, is from what I can tell, I'm the ONLY human being here in this foodie town of Nashville that thinks this place stinks! So maybe it's just me.... but even if it is, I'm not budging my opinion to give it another chance. It was really that bad across the board.
PM is an "asian bistro" right in the bustling heart of Belmont University. It's pretty much always packed with college aged and young marrieds any night of the week. James and I usually stay away from spots like that until we absolutely must go. Nobody likes to attempt to have conversation during dinner over the noise of the table of twenty next to you. (not to mention they're all 18-20 year old college boys) So we lived in Nashville, literally 7 minutes from the place for 6 months before we tried it. Then our friend Henry Wagons came to stay with us for a few days while he was participating in the Americana Music Festival. (go check out his tunes, good guy.) He had been here a year or two before and he asked someone where he could get the BEST BURGER in Nashville... guess where they took him.... PM, the asian bistro! What? Why? Who knows... I still don't know. Why on earth you would ever put a burger on your asian bistro menu in the first place, I'll never know. But why would you then STRIVE to WIN THE AWARD, literally, for the BEST BURGER IN TOWN when you are an ASIAN RESTAURANT? I don't know... maybe to be different? Culturally acceptable? Politically correct... asians like burgers too...? Anyways, when Henry came back to town he wanted to go back and see if the burger was as good as he remembered. So we went. We were welcomed at the door with the poster that claimed they had won the best burger award four years ago. hmm... what about 2007- 2011? Why still donning the oldies poster? Curious, we went in and he ordered the burger... now I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll come back to the burger in a second.
It was jam packed and there were 5 of us, but the hostess promptly seated us at the bar. Normally I would've hated this idea with that many people but they've so creatively built double sided bar seating! Now instead of having to scream over your friend and knock over their drink to cheers your other friend 4 seats down, you can just happily enjoy each other's company straight across the table. Well done, PM. I was impressed with that. But sadly, that's where the good impression ended. She then handed us the menu.
YIKES! Seriously these prices cannot be real. Let me go remind the owner that we're on a college strip and also in MIDDLE TENNESSEE.
Crab Fried Rice Bowl for $18?! Pad Thai for $17?! We go to this hole in the wall thai place over on the east side for the BEST HUGE PILE of pad thai for $9! And they're actually asian! (having said that however, the chef at PM, Arnold Myint, is southeast asian, but was born and raised here in Nashville) Anyways, we were not off to a good start in my books. I like GREAT food to be great value and if it's gonna be exorbitant, it better be because the service is phenomenal and I'm sitting in a fancy leather chair with fabulous live music playing. This was not the case at PM. Like I said, it is on a college strip. Onwards to what we ordered...
Thai Peanut Chicken Salad: $9. This was mine. It tasted like actual nothing. The chicken literally tasted like nothing. I might as well have been eating tofu. The dressing was clear, which I appreciated, but didn't taste like anything. Literally couldn't get a taste out of it. The crispy wontons, which always taste like that magical taste, you know the one... tasted like nothing. All in all, it was a big pile of skimpy lettuce that tasted like nothing.
The infamous $17 Glass Noodle Pad Thai: Cool that it was inside a thin omelette, well done, PM! How did it taste? Like nothing. No kick, no peanuty goodness, no red chilies, no nothin'. And if memory serves me correctly, no cilantro either. Flavorless. I would've thought at LEAST the comfort food on the menu would be good. And it wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't taste like anything!
The Sesame Seared Tuna Loin salad: $11. I didn't taste this, but by the looks of it, it probably was great. Seems like a very straight forward, simple but tasty dish. And it does seem like a fair amount of tuna for $11.
PM's Char Grilled Burger, complete with bacon, onions, cheese and fries. $9. It was massive, it was juicy and it looked delicious....
Wagons' opinion....?
Not nearly as good as he remembered from a few years back. Maybe that's why they're still rockin' the 2006 poster.
I'm sorry fellow Nashville eaters, but I truly would never return to this establishment. I'm not sure I've ever eaten anywhere else in the world that had not one but TWO dishes that tasted of complete nothingness and charged what they did for it. It's a little noisy, it's a little college-y for my liking, the food is less than mediocre, (although presented nicely) and it's over-priced. If you're looking for tonight's Friday night hang, I would advise you to stay away from PM. (i hate being the bad guy, but i do always want to be honest and give a fair assessment of my experiences!)
Where WOULD I recommend for tonight? All sorts of places! Mafiaozas, Thai Phooket, El Palenque, The Frothy Monkey... just to name a few. (yes they started serving dinner! never tried it yet but it always smells UN.REAL. plus everything else they do is excellent) And honestly, if you're looking for the best burger in town, we all know where it's REALLY at... FAT MO'S. ;)
Lots of love to you all and have a FAB weekend! Happy Friday!
xox
I HATE flavorless food. I guess that goes without saying, but I hate feeling like "I really don't want to finish this. But, I'm not really the kind of person that sends food back, so I just wasted this money." Worst feeling ever! I would have rather eaten at home!! Aww too bad Sid, don't bring us here when we visit. :[
ReplyDeleteWell...sometimes you just gotta tell it like it is. :) dad
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