Present Tense

Cannot say enough good things! Great service, cool atmosphere, incredible drinks, food and dessert. Always recommend this spot to those visiting Nashville!!

Great food. Ambiance is a little strange because it is in a hotel lobby. Valet being $10 when no one is in the restaurant is also an interesting choice. The tuna over bread is delicious. Can't miss out on that! Great service. Not a ton of selection if you are picky. If you like cocktails and seafood, def a place to try!

Present Tense was absolutely solid. Tasty good-quality food, a younger vibe, beautiful drinks, and knowledgeable staff! I would give it a 4.1.Overall I think it's priced a little more than it should be, I think each dish could shave off a $2 or $3 but it's not too far off of where I think it stands in terms of quantity and quality. I think the place is a little too big for the atmosphere it's trying to create (a smaller place would make the place feel more alive and vibey - they have loudish music but I feel it's too big to give it that intimate buzzy busy vibe that I feel this place is going for).I'd definitely go back if I'm in the Wedgewood-Houston area.

We visited Present Tense on a Friday evening with friends not really knowing what to expect. We were seated at a nice table outside where we could easily visit with our friends. The menu is a bit fancy and intimidating, so be sure to ask the staff any questions you may have, even with the drink menu. I tried the Andorra cocktail (bourbon, rye, & vermouth) and was quite pleased. It was a delicious way to start the meal. My wife had the one rose choice on the menu, it she was happy with it. The food here is meant to be shared. It's that simple. But, it everything can easily be shared among four people. Some items come with two pieces, others with five. So please ask your server how each dish is served. We ordered the oyster app (2 pieces) and it was delicious. It definitely left you wanting more. We also sampled the sashimi (5 pieces). It was briny and flavorful, but with the skin still on the fish, it was a bit hard to chew. Everyone loved the pork belly (wait, isn't that always true?). There were 4 pieces of deliciously caramelized and glazed pork belly. This was one of our favorite dishes of the night. The diver scallop dish was super tasty, but very small for $23. Only 2 small scallops. We ordered two entrees to share, and both were delicious. The Squid Ink Pasta was the star of the night. A spicy but super flavorful sauce with tiny squid coated perfectly cooked black bucatini pasta. Everyone loved this dish. The Iberico Pork Katsu was a juicy piece of pork pounded flat and fried, topped with spicy mustard and miso sauces. It was cut into eight pieces and was easy to share. We all enjoyed this dish. The food is special here, but you don't get much of it for the price. Present Tense is a nice place to visit once a year, and we really enjoyed our night.

Tonight we headed to Present Tense for the Omakase tasting menu. Oh my! What a lovely inventive meal with excellence in every aspect. First up was a raw oyster in a fabulous sauce topped with caviar. Brought out at the same time was tuna on grilled seaweed sourdough - that bread y'all! Next up was a scallop with jellied blood orange followed by yellowtail with yet another amazing sauce. Yes, we picked up the shells they were served in and drained them of every drop of sauce! Next was a giant prawn in a Japanese hollandaise sauce. Another scallop came next but this time it was grilled. Perhaps the biggest surprise was a sweet potato slice in a miso butter (more upturning of the serving dish to get every drop). Red snapper with baby corn in another incredible sauce was followed by yakitori (chicken) topped with mushroom - both were so tender. Squid ink pasta with a bit of pork topped with a perfectly crunchy squid in tuile. Last savory course was a lamb chop with miso labne and eggplant (never one of my favorite veggies it was beautifully elevated tonight and incredibly yummy). Our 11th course was a chocolate peanut butter soft serve topped with a crunchy waffle cookie. This amazing 11 course meal is $99. Incredible value for a fabulous, inventive meal

Nestled in the heart WeHo, this Japanese-inspired fusion restaurant is a true gem that has captured our hearts and palates. From the moment you step through the door, you are enveloped in an atmosphere that is worthy of its own paragraph: The interior is a visual feast, minimalist design elements, soft, ambient lighting, and lush greenery at each corner and even overhead! It's a comfortable balance between nature and modern sophistication. The culinary journey begins with a menu that reflects a masterful fusion of Japanese flavors with international influences. The chefs here have truly mastered the art of blending tradition with innovation, creating a dining experience that is both familiar and yet delightfully surprising.One of the standout features of this establishment is its sake selection. The knowledgeable staff is more than happy to guide you through the curated list, helping you find the perfect pairing for your meal. This feature is expected to grow even more impressive, as the owners' own proprietary sake will be available on the menu soon. Additionally, there is a large list of interesting cocktails. We did not pick a cocktail, but rather stuck to the sake list for our dinner.The wait staff themselves are a testament to the commitment to excellence that defines this establishment. Our server Miranda was very attentive, knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about her craft, ensuring that every aspect of our dining experience was seamless. Her recommendations were spot-on, and her presence added an extra layer of warmth to the already inviting ambiance.It appears that the menu changes regularly, thus making specific "knockout" dishes less necessary to mention. Nonetheless, an octopus dish, a plate of shishito peppers and okra, and the dan-dan noodles were standout choices. We also saved room for dessert, which was also a strong move on our part: the sesame seed soft-serve was the perfect closer, paired with a sweeter sake choice.In conclusion, this Japanese-inspired fusion restaurant is a must-try in the culinary scene. From the exquisite dishes to the sake selection, and the impeccable service provided by the skilled wait staff, every aspect of this dining experience is a hit.

Disclaimer: I came here when they had recently opened on May 24th, 2023 so it's a late review, but I did want to write one just to just give some feedback. My friend and I came here on a whim because it had been promoted on Where to Eat in Nashville, which usually we trust. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like it walking in it just fell short in so many ways that maybe eventually they would be able to rectify with some menu changes. ( fyi: just now I did look on their site for the menu and see it's been updated a bit as well!) It just seemed like they missed the mark on food. The up side and reason for the 2 stars is that the service was decent, and it's a cute little place. Unfortunately food wise, it was just mediocre. I feel like they attempt to offer a little bit of what you're familiar with and build on that, but it just comes off as it not being cohesive. The fried chicken was pretty greasy and the sauce just didn't add anything to it. The sweet potato seemed to have no flavor at all really. And my shrimp fried rice (which I no longer see on the menu) seemed almost like it was from a frozen bag. The one thing that I actually really enjoyed was the aged tuna toast. It was good, simple, tasty, and fresh but it didn't save the meal. The prices also just seemed a little high for what we were getting, but considering we didn't really enjoy our experience I do feel that it's normal to feel that way. With such competitive prices around Nashville it hurts when you go out to eat and don't enjoy your meal. So, though overall we left pretty disappointed, I can see the vision. I hope they can maybe tweak some things, add some things and nothing but good experiences follow! Good luck!

2.5 stars. We were really excited to try this place as locals as we are always looking to try new restaurants around town. Unfortunately we didn't enjoy our experience here. As another reviewer mentioned, we too were seated inside but by the outdoor area where everything is open to the outside on a nearly 90 degree day. I felt no AC on whatsoever. This isn't SoCal, it's Nashville. It was insanely unpleasant to dine and eat with that level of heat. I also had the pleasure of sitting next to the tiny walkway smashed by a plant so I was touched every single time anyone went in or out. The drink menu looked cool but we ordered 4 different ones and only thought one was delicious. For the food, some hits, some misses. We loved the pork bao buns and the fish but everything else we found to be mediocre. Even the sweet potato which I was thrilled to try was not great, and not cooked enough. The "ube" soft serve here was downright offensive though. I've been to the Philippines and had legit ube many times over and just love the flavor so much. They put this down and it was neon purple and I was scared already. We tasted it and not only did it not taste like ube but it had the most insane ink-like aftertaste. The amount of food coloring that must be in it.. absolutely crazy. We took two bites each and left it, with our entire mouths dyed purple the rest of the night. The service is what we had the hardest time with though. They have a lot of young kids running the food and nearly every time one of our items was brought out they either couldn't explain what it was or it was missing an ingredient. We waited insane times in between courses. Had to hunt someone down for a refill of water or to order another drink. We got the super expensive bill after asking for it twice, paid and left- hot and bothered. Literally. Not somewhere we'd want to come again.

Definitely now among our favorite restaurants in Nashville. We kept saying: "Wow, this is good!" Exceeded expectations in every way. We'd been here once when the space was called The Hart, and it was good -- as Present Tense, it is *fantastic.* We took the recommendation from our server to pick one dish from each of five columns on the menu, and that was the exact right amount of food for two. We loved all of: the kanpachi, the karaage, the pork belly, and the sweet potato. The matcha soft serve was the perfect ending. All three of the cocktails we tried were really lovely, too -- both visually beautiful and well balanced. Service was friendly and incredibly attentive. Looking forward to returning!

Service and cocktails were great but the food was terrible. I took my mom here for the first time and when everything came out and we were trying each dish we were just looking at each other confused. Our tuna toast came out completely black and burnt which was confusing why they would even bring it out like that. The fried chicken was nothing but skin and fat and had a really awful texture, we were actually scared that it might be undercooked. We cut our dinner short before ordering anything else after being so disappointed. When the bill came there was an automatic 20% gratuity which we would've tipped anyway, just would've been nice to know since the website said nothing about it.