Fulin's

Yeah, another restaurant review. Though I plan to cook something for dinner tonight; I just don't know what.

But Friday evening, I met Jag after work to hang out a bit before going over to Malia's house for a spa party. I just had a tube put in my left ear that morning, so my only wish was to go somewhere that wasn't loud. We bounced around a few ideas and settled on Fulin's on Old Hickory Boulevard in Brentwood. All I really knew about Fulin's was that it's a favorite of Jack White, who's been frequently seen picking up takeout from there.

At 5:30 on a Friday evening, the place isn't exactly hopping, but the wait staff was ready to get going.

First, a word about the service. Jag is a new fan of sushi (as opposed to me, a former fan of formerly-swimming sushi) so she had almost as many questions as this very high-maintenance vegetarian, so that made me feel a little better. But what made me feel even better than that was having a server (Michael from Hawaii) who was patient and knowledgeable. Who not only answered questions, but made suggestions. And even brought out a few items just for tasting. The attentiveness, interest and ability to answer questions made him certainly one of the top five servers I've ever had. The irony of this is that I mentioned it last night to my friends, Rick and Laura who said that they've gone there on several occasions and while the food was good, their service was so terrible that they had no plans to return. Maybe they'll try it again and call in advance to see if Michael's working.

And I'd say it was worth trying again. The lack of good Chinese food in Nashville suitable for a vegetarian has made me miss several of the really good restaurants in Memphis. So I wasn't expecting a whole lot from Fulin's, particularly since it also serves sushi and bills itself as "Asian cuisine." But I was very pleasantly surprised. First, they have a fairly good selection of vegetarian dishes (soups and entrees) to choose from and I was told that the stocks and sauces bases are (unless noted) soy-based. I was amazed and, of course very pleased.

I started out with a spring roll (with some of the best sweet and sour sauce I've ever tasted), but was also served a complimentary bowl of miso, which was a nice surprise since I'd leaned toward ordering a soup, but was advised to go with the Vegetable Delight. The Vegetable Delight was a combination of lightly-cooked and very fresh-tasting veggies including carrots, snow peas, broccoli, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, asparagus, mushrooms, and baby corn. It was served in a light white sauce and on Michael's suggestion, I got some of the brown sauce on the side. I thought both sauces were excellent and mixed the two together. The entrees come with your choice of white rice, fried rice, or (joy!) brown rice.

I can't say that I'm a connoiseur of Chinese food, but I don't generally prefer typical takeout and instead prefer light, fresh-tasting dishes that aren't served in disturbingly huge portions, though Jag did have to help me out with the vegetables. So I'm really happy to have discovered Fulin's. Though I have to say that when we entered the restaurant, I was a little unnerved by the decor. It was beautiful, reminscent of high-concept chain restaurants like J. Alexander's or P.F. Chang's, but according to the website, it's a small, local chain. So I can continue to be a chain restaurant snob and not feel the need to eat there in shame (like I do when I go to Cracker Barrel).

If you're interested in checking it out yourself (or trying the locations in Mt. Juliet or Hendersonville), you should know that beginning January 31, you can buy $50 worth of gift certificates for just $25 at Half Off Nashville. Only a limited number will be available, though, so you should jump on the offer as soon as it starts up.