Ouyang House

Ouyang House generated buzz around Nashville because it was the only dim sum spot in Nashville for a while. Sadly they no longer offer dim sum, or the Shanghai menu but the buffet is alive and kicking.
It’s a medium or slightly larger size buffet compared to other Chinese buffets in the area, but most of the difference is made up with things to keep picky kids happy like pizza and macaroni and cheese.
Some of the food is reasonably fresh, but sadly the more authentic Chinese items seem like they have been sitting for hours. I guess this is why Nashville can’t support a dim sum place either.
Or maybe the people who like authentic food were scared off by the oddly loud (like hard to think loud) soft rock of the 80s and 90s muzak blasting in every corner of the restaurant.
If you like to eat a lot and get the most bang for the buck, the lunch buffet is a good bet. If you seek quality or authentic ethnic food, keep looking.

very average Chinese buffet. lots of items but still mediocre at best.
NOTE: DIM SUM IS NO LONGER OFFERED

I’m going to write this review two ways, because I’m partially disheartened to have to give it two stars only. There are two sides to this opinion, so here we go:
A. We arrived and were told that the table was being cleared, wait 15 minutes. That didn’t make much sense. We waited more like 20 minutes, during which time it was apparent that the dim sum room had multiple open tables. Wasn’t sure why they wouldn’t seat us, but once we actually were seated, it became obvious: they were totally overwhelmed with a confused and unseasoned service staff. It took three tries to get tea (it finally came without a cup), had to ask twice for chop sticks when the food finally came, not to mention the dim sum cart sat there for 5 minutes unattended and it was at least 10 minutes before it ever came to our table. The pork shiu mai was pretty good, the baked pork bun was as well. The shrimp dumplings lacked flavor, the ribs in black bean sauce were all fat and no flavor, and the sweet rice sub par. Did I mention how bad the service was? There was one competent waitress in the whole restaurant. I felt really badly for her.
B. All that slammin aside, at least it’s dim sum. Beggars can’t quite be choosers, can we? Given that I lived for dim sum in san fran, and yearn for it frequently out here, I am at least glad there is something, albeit not great, to appease this love of mine in between trips back out west. It wasn’t terrible, that wouldn’t be fair. And once they get their service kinks worked out, that will make the whole experience better. I think they have potential, but need to focus on better quality in the meantime. I’ll give it a few months and try again.

Wow! The local newspaper wrote an article on a new dim-​sum restaurant and makes very positive statements about the food.
They did say that the food is not up to San Francisco standards and they are right.
The place opens at 11:00am; we got there at about 11:10 and the dim sum area was already full of people. Apparently good news travels fast. We waited about 50 minutes for a table. By the way, the main business for this restaurant is an all-​you-​can stomach Chinese buffet. You will need to ask for the «Dim Sum» or «Shanghai» menu area when you see the hostess.
The food had highlights and low-​lights; the turnip cake, fried turnip dumplings, pork ribs, and «sui-​mai» pork dumplings were good. The pot-​stickers, bean curd rolls were very mediocre. I saw pork buns, rice steamed in lotus leaves, chicken feet and duck but I did not try them this time.
If you go, especially on a weekend, call ahead. Apparently, dim sum is also served a la carte during all open hours. It is during the weekends that they have cart service.
The restaurant is new and the service has not fully hit its stride; the help was overwhelmed and everyone was helping do everything.
I may be back one more time to verify my initial opinions. If things don’t improve by then, hasta la vista baby.

We tried the dim sum, the first wknd of Aug. 08. I think they had been serving for just a couple of weeks. (We’ve also heard that the former owner of Shanghai Café, has joined here). The dim sum was ok. I guess the very fact that they have dim sum in Nashville deserves 3 stars by itself. Because there’s not a lot of volume, the fried choises tended to be a little on the cold side. But taste was decent. I’d say they have approximately 20 item choices on their dim sum menue, of which about 10 – 12 options were available on the day we went.