Punk Wok — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I might be the biggest Clay Greenberg fan in Nashville. The Punk Wok owner was previously the head chef at Silo, a popular Germantown restaurant that became an unfortunate victim of the 2020 tornado. For those fortunate enough to have dined at Silo, you’ll know that Greenberg made perhaps the best mac ‘n’ cheese in the city and one of the most perfect Nashville Hot Chicken dishes you’ll ever eat.

Thank goodness he’s back in the restaurant business with three-month-old Punk Wok, another fabulous addition to the burgeoning restaurant scene in Sylvan Park. You’ll find this informal eatery and bar on the lowest level of the Sylvan Supply development that opened in 2020, a converted steel mill that follows a local trend to convert Nashville’s unused factories into gleaming office space, retail, and food.

Reminiscent of the basement sushi joints I’ve visited in Japan, Punk Wok is a cozy space offering various Asian delights with Chinese, Korean, and Japanese inspiration. From lobster wontons and waffle fries with bulgogi to pork belly and the ever-popular Tonkatsu, there is a lot to explore on this menu! My personal exploration would include chicken and sushi.

Karaage is a Japanese technique that produces a bit of an oxymoron, deep-fried foods that are simultaneously light, not heavy. The result as manifested at Punk Wok yields small, tender chicken pieces in a beautifully thin batter fried in a lighter oil, the antithesis of southern fried chicken. Spritz some lemon on it and dip the chicken in the accompanying lemon kewpie, a Japanese lemon garlic mayo, and your taste buds will be elated! I finished the meal with six pieces of unagi nigiri, fresh eel served atop sushi rice. This is definitely among the better nigiri experiences I’ve had in Nashville.

The one thing Punk Wok needs to improve is customer service. When you enter a restaurant (we’ve operated a few in our family), you want to be greeted and welcomed immediately. That didn’t happen. I was not greeted by anyone and had to ask a sushi chef where to sit. Eight employees standing around made direct eye contact with me, with only one other patron in the restaurant, but I still had to wait 20 minutes before being addressed and finally coaxing a menu out of a server. That simply shouldn’t ever happen, especially when they aren’t busy. My water wasn’t refilled either.

After adding the nigiri to my tab, it took another 20 minutes to make those six pieces in super slow motion. Service should be a lot faster with an employee-to-customer ratio of 9-to-1 by the time I ordered the sushi. I didn’t feel welcomed here at all and quite frankly felt ignored. If you feel that customers are an imposition between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m., just shut the restaurant down and reopen for dinner.

But the food sure was darn good. Hopefully service...

Had a grand time visiting. Had this place on the to-do list for months, finally had a chance to visit. Reserved a table via the app and that process was flawless. We chose inside seating but there was tables outside available as well. The table was a bit close to the wall and I hit my chopsticks on it a few times before moving it out slightly. Lighting was also a little awkward for photos but otherwise pleasant. Came in during happy hour and got a bunch of food for a lot less than expected. We did ordering a little at a time and our server Dani was very patient with us. Overall, great experience.

Appetizers: Mushu Egg Rolls - on point. Captured the mushu pork essence perfectly but way less messy to eat. Was not sure if the garnish was for anything, did not add to the plate. Crab Rangoon - tasty take with pimento cheese. Sauce was excellent. Kimchi - good and fresh

Maki: good flavor combinations only downside was nori was consistently chewy, like it's sat out and absorbed too much moisture. Most were true to what you'd expect on flavor from description. Californication - 👍 Nate Gifford is punk af - 👍👍 no sauce needed. The bacon and scorched jalapeno were fantastic elements. We got the hamachi and spicy tuna at the same time and that was a happy accident. They go really well together. Good texture and fish to rice ratio.

I tend to judge sushi places on their Unagi and Salmon so I had to try them here. Unagi Nigiri - over roasted. The piece I had was burnt and tougher than expected 👎🏼 Sashimi: Salmon - good, not the cut style I like but was tasty. Salmon Belly - same on the cut but was more enjoyable because of the expectation of its buttery nature.

Dessert: Ginger Crème brûlée - very tasty, once you get past the overly burnt bits. The caramelization on the edges were a good addition to flavor and texture. The custard was creamy and had a wonderful flavor. I contemplated licking the bowl but was really too full to make that effort.

Definitively recommend. It was a great experience with good food and...

Went to Punk Wok to support my friend who was playing a show there. Got dinner in the restaurant beforehand. The food was double the price it should've been and mediocre in flavor. I let it slide and had a few drinks in preparation for the show. Then came the reason for my abysmal rating. The sound technician was incredibly unprofessional and unqualified. Came in carrying a tangled ball of cables and I knew I was in for a trainwreck. Not only did the show start an hour late, but the sound person had no clue what they were doing at any step of the process. You could not understand a single word the lead singer was saying bc apparently the concept of basic eq is beyond his understanding. This caused the vocal to be quieter than the conversation at the table next to me and disastrously muddy along with the backing tracks being inaudible as well. During soundcheck he stepped out into the "crowd" twice to pretend like he was checking what he was doing and made no adjustments after. Then the show started and he immediately fled to the bar to pat himself on the back and drink a beer. As a working audio engineer here in town, this brazenly unprofessional behavior infuriated me beyond belief. I could not stay for more than two songs before I had to leave. The restaurant is not designed to be a music venue and their staff are woefully unprepared to execute on providing live music as a service. I've been to some less than fantastic shows before, but never have I been so insulted by proxy to what I witnessed there. It's disrespectful to the artists they book and the concert goers that attend. If you're there for music, do not see a show there til they hire someone who knows what they're doing. If you're there for food, just go literally anywhere else for something more deserving of the price. There's nothing at all punk rock about Punk Wok and they...