City House

While we were in Nashville we had a very nice dinner at City House, a great place tucked away in Germantown. Their Sunday menu seems to be a reduced version of their normal menu:



We were not grabbed by any of the entrées, so we instead ordered all three of the available starters and a pizza:

House Cured Lardo, Purple Hull Pea Salad Served chilled, the salad consisted of the peas (a close relative of black-eyed peas), celery, carrot and onion all covered with very thin slices of lardo. Very nice, simple, fresh dish. The lardo had a fantastic, but not overpowering rich pork flavor.

Stuffed Squash Blossoms, Mozzarella, Anchovy, Preserved Lemon Perfectly fried (with a light tempura style batter) squash blossoms very sparingly stuffed with mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil and garnished with small pieces of preserved lemon. The preserved lemon was not at all salty like most that I've had, which I thought was perfect for the dish. If there was anchovy, we didn't notice it (or miss it, for that matter). Our only complaint was that three squash blossoms seemed a bit stingy for the $10 price point.

House Cured Salmon, Pickled Red Onion, Parsley Beautifully cured thin slices of salmon with a hint of smokiness. The pickled onion and parsley both went very well with it (as did the preserved lemon from the squash blossom dish).

Pizza with Manila Clams, Marinara, Salt Pork European-style thin crust, uncut pizza, perfectly cooked. The marinara had nice, spicy flavor and the matchstick pieces of bacon added a nice fatty, salty depth. It was topped with a bunch of clams in their shells, which we ate separately. They were nice and plump and full of clam flavor. The juice that dripped down onto the pizza added another layer to the taste.

The dishes above were a perfect amount of food for a light dinner for two.

We had an 8:00 reservation, but ended up arriving at 7:30 and they had no problem seating us. I'm glad we arrived early, as the place was nicely busy when we arrived but definitely started tailing off soon after (not surprising, for a Sunday night).

Others have commented on the high noise level. It didn't bother us, but I could see it being a problem if they were packed. I think part of the problem is that their tables are wider than normal (I'm guessing to easily accommodate family style shared plates in the middle) and you are thus farther away from the person opposite you.

Cocktails were also very good - we had a Sazerac and a Genoa (house-infused oranga vodka, Campari, orange juice).

City House
1222 4th Ave N.
Nashville, Tennessee
(615) 736-5840‎