On our trip to the Gulf Coast of Alabama, we made it to just south of Nashville to stop for the evening. After checking into our hotel in Brentwood, we decided to go look for some food in the immediate area. We had stayed in the area before and we had eaten at a couple restaurants around the hotel, but we were looking for something different. Directly behind the hotel were a number of restaurants - only we didn't know they were directly behind the hotel until we drove to them. Not wanting anything too filling that late in the evening, we took a look at a Mediterranean restaurant, but decided against it. Walking along, I saw a sushi restaurant down the way. My wife agreed that sushi would be a wonderful meal that night, so we went into Suki Sushi to give it a try.
Suki Sushi opened in 2016, part of a complex of a hotel, shops, restaurants and office space situated around the Mooreland Mansion, a Greek-revival old-South antebellum home that was originally built in 1838. It was part of a business park for a number of years before the city of Brentwood took it over for the multi-use City Park complex a few years ago. When they built the Hilton Garden Inn in Brentwood in 2016, they incorporated Moorland Mansion as part of the hotel.
It was just before 9 p.m. when we walked into Suki Sushi. It turns out that we could have easily walked out the back entrance of our hotel and been there in less than two minutes. (see map) We were greeted by a young man by the name of Nestor who told us that we could sit anywhere. We ended up in a booth opposite the bar. The restaurant featured a lively array of lighting schemes that gave a colorful glow to the place. There were a number of backlit squares behind the sushi bar along the short wall of the restaurant. A couple of flatscreen televisions were behind the bar.
Nestor came over and dropped off a couple menus and asked what we would like to drink. I needed a beer - or six - after the long drive we had that day. I ordered up an Asahi and my wife got a water to start out. She was going to have wine - Suki Sushi featured a full bar with mixed drinks, wine and beer. Nestor showed up with my beer and my wife's water and wanted to know if we were ready to order. We felt sort of rushed and my wife said that we needed a minute. Nestor seemed sort of put off by her reply.
Then I realized that they probably closed at 9 p.m. And there is nothing worse than being the customer who comes in at closing time. I said, "Oh, shit. I think they close at 9. I'll bet you he's not happy we walked in this late."
I slammed my first Asahi. And I mean - SLAMMED! I had definitely brought my funnel with me that night, but after a long drive through cool, rainy weather, I needed some beers. Nestor came back about five minutes after he brought my beer and I showed him that it was gone. He asked, "Have you guys figured out what you'd like?"
I said, "Do you guys close at 9?" (It was a bit after 9 p.m. at that point.)
"Oh, no," Nestor said. "We're here until 10."
Feeling a bit better about things, I ordered another beer and told him that we were still trying to figure out what we wanted. He wordlessly walked away. My wife said, "I don't think he's happy we came in this late." Nestor brought my second Asahi to the table and walked away without a comment. I did tell him "thanks" for bringing a much needed second beer to the table.
The menu at Suki Sushi featured your typical sushi items as well as cold and hot appetizers, fried rice and noodle entrees, hibachi dinner entrees and combos, and tempura and katsu dishes. But we were there for the sushi.
By the time my 2nd beer was finished - about 10 minutes after we sat down - we were ready to order. Nestor was somewhat astounded that I needed a third beer when he came back to take our order. "You're my kind of guy," he said to me as he picked up the second empty bottle and asked what we would like to order. What ever indifference we felt from him initially had all but faded away. We realized that he was pretty much laid back and chill in his demeanor. We got along well with him the rest of the evening.
My wife always wants a Kani salad when we have sushi, but they didn't have a Kani salad on the menu. Well, yes, they did, as Nestor said that the spicy crab salad they had was basically the same thing. And it was. It was served in a small stemmed glass bowl and featured crab meat, julienne cucumbers and breadcrumbs mixed together in a spicy mayo. Only we didn't think it was all that spicy. Some people may think so, but I guess we're sort of used to spicy at this point in our lives. But it was still pretty good. My wife got a glass of the house malbec to go with her meal and to help take off the edge from a full day of traveling.
For our sushi that evening, we went with a spicy tuna roll; a spicy salmon roll; two pieces of tuna sushi; two pieces of yellowtail sushi; and six pieces of smoked salmon sushi. Since we were basically the only ones in the restaurant ordering food at that point in the evening, the platter came out pretty quickly. Like the lighting in restaurant, there was a colorful array of sushi and rolls on the plate.
And the sushi and rolls were also very good. I was particularly taken by the tuna. It was fresh and very flavorful. In fact, I asked Nestor when he came around to check on us that I wanted to get a couple more pieces of the tuna sushi. The tuna sushi was just outstanding. By the time I finished the last two pieces of tuna sushi, I was more than full.
For a quick, late evening meal, I thought Suki Sushi really hit the spot. Sushi is great because if you're not full, you can order more. Or it's a light enough meal that it doesn't sit on your stomach if you eat it late in the evening. We thought the spicy crab salad, sushi and the rolls at Suki Sushi were all very good with the tuna sushi being outstanding. Our service from Nestor was good, as well. Especially after we figured out his laid-back demeanor. And the contemporary decor with the lighting scheme in the place made it a very nice and relaxing atmosphere. Suki Sushi was a good find for the first night of our vacation.