Milk & Honey - Review - The Gulch - Nashville - The Infatuation
"Milk & Honey has had lines out the door since it opened in 2017. The prime location in the Gulch has been there even before the butterfly wing photo mural started drawing tourists like cut-off jeans to a Luke Bryan concert. And while the food and biscuits can still get the job done if you need an affordable brunch or meeting spot, there are way better places around town for both. Let’s start with the biscuits. They’re fluffy on the inside and made fresh each day, but they somehow manage to taste stale and astringent. They’re also hard on the outside, which can lend a helping hand when picking up a sandwich, but is otherwise unpleasant. The rest of the menu takes a “something for everyone” approach, good for the swarms of tourists using the white tables in the cafeteria-esque dining room to plan out their days, but in taste and presentation, it manages to be mediocre at best. The biggest abomination, however, comes in a small white dish and calls itself honey butter. It’s a melted pool rather than a spread, looks like a mixture of tar and gasoline—and tastes like it, too. It’s dropped off and left to coagulate awkwardly before our eyes. If you need a brunch midweek or a quick fix, it’s OK, especially if you snag a spot on the patio that encourages copious people-watching. Otherwise, look elsewhere. Food Rundown Milk & Honey Scone Their namesake scone sounds moist and delicately sweet. What arrives is overbaked with burned edges and a sweet icing drizzle that would be more at home on a cinnamon roll. photo credit: Ann Walczak Hot Chicken Biscuit There is no point in putting an egg on a sandwich if the yolk is broken before it arrives at the table. Using pieces of biscuit or chicken to attempt to scrape the already coagulated eggy goodness off our plate is a real breakfast buzz kill. The hot chicken is decent, with a nice heat level, though it could use some salt. The key here is to dip the sandwich or bites of it into the accompanying country gravy. It adds the seasoning you need and some wonderful richness. photo credit: Ann Walczak Dirty Benny Swapping out the hollandaise on a benedict for red eye gravy is about as southern as it gets. Sadly, this is extremely underwhelming. The gravy is nearly flavorless, the ham is just thin deli meat, and the english muffin is grilled, tasting way too charred. The gravy comes ladled all willy-nilly, too. At least you can break your yolks on this one. photo credit: Ann Walczak Burrata & Fig We love the idea of burrata with prosciutto, arugula, and fig jam on toast, but this is a plating conundrum. The prosciutto is stuck on the plate like it was plopped right out of a package, topped with crumbled blue cheese and fig jam, a ton of arugula, and the burrata. You have to cut it all up and layer it on the toast it’s served with. It’s clunky, unnecessary, and would benefit from being reimagined tartine style. We say pass. photo credit: Ann Walczak Hodgepodge Hash This big ole bowl of southwest is another example of Milk & Honey refusing to season their eggs. It’s also proof you can make anything, including the pebbles of sausage in this thing, taste good if you put enough chipotle crema on it. photo credit: Ann Walczak Burnt Sugar Latte We love a fancy coffee drink, but we still want to taste the coffee. This one comes in a less sweet option, which is quite pleasant and a great way to start the day. Dr. Feel Good Juice Milk & Honey offers fresh juice blends and they’re all good. We’re partial to this tasty version that adds strawberry to a pretty standard mixture of apple, beet, carrot, and ginger. There is some cayenne in here that burns the back of the throat, but some days require an extra kick." - Ann Walczak
