Words By Ashley Lock
Food Photo Credit to Mick Jacob
Why the wood-fired East Nashville restaurant from James Beard semifinalist Junior Vo belongs on your Nashville itinerary.
A Reason to Cross the River
At Noko, the Old Fashioned starts with Buffalo Trace single barrel that has been fat-washed with wagyu, then gets sweetened with an oolong demerara. If that makes you want to rethink your dinner plans downtown, head across the Cumberland River to East Nashville.
Noko cooks Asian-inspired food over a wood fire, and it has collected plenty of attention for it. Jon Murray and Managing Partner Wilson Brannock opened it in 2023 with Executive Chef Dung “Junior” Vo, a 2025 James Beard semifinalist. Since then, OpenTable named it one of the Top 100 Restaurants in America, and Eater Nashville called it the city’s Best New Restaurant.
Take Care of Your People
The partners started with one guiding belief: take care of your people, and everything else follows. At Noko, that belief comes with a benefits package. Employees get a yearly travel stipend and two weeks of paid vacation. The company pays for health insurance along with gym or yoga memberships, and staff can use an online therapy service at no cost. One percent of net profits goes to the Nashville Children’s Alliance, a nonprofit working toward healing and justice for children affected by abuse, and Noko co-hosts the annual Dine to Shine gala to raise money for child advocacy services.
For guests, the team calls its approach “affordable luxury,” pairing globally influenced cooking with the welcome of a neighborhood restaurant. The Restaurant Studio designed the warm, modern interiors with the wood-fired oven in view. In the kitchen, Vo works traditional Asian flavors into contemporary Southern technique.
What to Order
Noko is known for the quality of their fish, so start with something raw. The hamachi crudo comes dressed in leche de tigre with serrano, cilantro, herb oil and sesame. The salmon carpaccio gets ponzu and sweet drop peppers, plus a hit of pickled wasabi.
In the summer months, wood-fired peaches go on the burrata with burnt honey and Thai basil, and there’s sourdough to go with it. The flavor changes seasonally, so get it while you can. Put the charred scallion noodles on the table no matter what else you order. They’re stir-fried ramen noodles tossed with charred scallion relish and sesame and topped with an onsen egg, and they’re perfect for sharing.
The smoked half chicken puts Vo’s Asian and Southern influences on the same plate, with ginger slaw and two sauces: peach mustard and white barbecue.
If you’re celebrating, the menu is ready to go big. The Tomahawk Ribeye is 42 ounces of certified Angus beef with truffle butter, so bring people to help. But make sure to still save room for the Brookie from Hifi Cookies, a chocolate brownie and a black sesame cookie served with miso caramel and vanilla gelato.
Book the Table
Noko serves dinner and Sunday brunch, which is a good excuse to cross the river twice if your trip runs through the weekend. The New York Times put it on its list of the 25 Best Restaurants in Nashville Right Now, so reserve at nokonashville.com before you get to town. Then order the Noko Old Fashioned while you look over the menu.
