For months, one of my friends kept insisting we go to her "Vietnamese crawfish boil place." I love…read moreVietnamese food and I love seafood, so I was curious, but I had never eaten crawfish and certainly never done this fusion style of boil. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We finally got the plan out of the group chat and into real life for a girls' night on Sunday.
Parking is limited but easy right in front, if you come on the earlier side (which we did). Our Vietnamese friend was running late, so my other friend and I placed the order off a very explicit text from her. We did a make-your-own boil: four pounds of crawfish and two pounds of shrimp in Cajun garlic butter, plus red and green sauces on her advice. One tip I wish we'd known going in: there's a Vietnamese menu and an American menu, and we ordered off the American one. The boil wasn't as spicy as we'd hoped, but it still had plenty of flavor and a decent kick. If you're spice averse, the Cajun garlic butter is still a safe bet with a lot of depth of flavor.
The food came fast and took over the entire table. A huge tray of crawfish, shrimp, corn, and potatoes arrived with gloves, a trash can, and a spread of fixings to add more spice and flavor, if you so choose. It is messy and we replaced our gloves and trash can about halfway through. It is also SO incredibly satisfying to crack a shell and eat the meat straight out of it, dripping in butter and whatever seasoning you've mixed up. You work for every bite, which somehow makes the indulgence feel earned. As a first-timer, I'd say crawfish tastes a little like lobster, and I honestly liked it more. Everything tasted extremely fresh, which I suspect is why this place has a following.
When our friend arrived, she added two orders of grilled scallops from the Vietnamese menu. They come in the shell with butter, fresh herbs, and breadcrumbs, and they were outstanding, an absolute must-order item. She called all of this the "appetizer" portion of the meal.
The main event, apparently, was three bowls of Vietnamese udon soup: a heaping bowl of rich broth with aromatics, pork, crab, and shrimp. It was deeply flavorful and a great complement to the boil. The broth really soothed my allergies and I appreciated that the seafood boil was not a salt bomb like other boils I've been to. We finished nearly all the boil and every scallop, then took at least half of each soup home.
With tax and tip, it came to about $99 per person for the three of us. For this much seafood at this quality, that's a great deal.
I'm already planning my next visit and have told everyone I know. (Literally, lol, even friends who don't live in Nashville heard me raving about this spot!) Street Brothers is a hidden gem in Paragon Mills off Nolensville Road, and one of the best meals I've had in Nashville in a long while!