Where to find some of Nashville's best bowls of ramen, chili, chicken noodle and more

With temperatures dropping into the 20s, few dishes can warm the body better than a big ol' bowl of hot soup. (Sure, you can try to light your inner fire with hot chicken, but sometimes that hot chicken, uh, bites back.) In honor of the coldest time of year, a few of the Scene's hungriest food experts have compiled a list of some of their favorite bowls of comfort food, including options that are spicy enough to clear out the sinuses, and thick and fatty enough to stick to your ribs for days. Seeing as how the frosty temperatures will no doubt stretch into February (and dare we even suggest it, March — remember last year's second coming of the ice storm?), you'll definitely have plenty of time to slurp every steaming bowl on the list.

Tennessee Tonkotsu

Otaku Ramen, 1104 Division St., 615-942-8281

A few disappointed diners trudged away from Sarah Gavigan's latest noodle joint when they learned it didn't offer takeout. Those who stuck around, however, now understand why the little Gulch ramen eatery in the former Rumours Wine Bar space already has lines out the door. So far our favorite is the Tennessee Tonkotsu ($12): thin noodles nestled in a bowl of fragrant pork bone broth, topped with a soft-boiled egg and a crisp little cutlet of pork confit, which delivers a NASA-sized payload of umami. Make sure you order a side of the Szechuan bomb: a thimble-sized ball of spicy paste you're supposed to add to your noodles, but which we consumed in tiny bites that lit up the tongue's pleasure centers like the ConEd power grid. JR

'Let's Start With a Soup'

Butcher & Bee, 902 Main St., 615-226-3322

Even though it's only been open a short time, Butcher & Bee has already earned a buzz for its seasonal fare, made with fresh local ingredients, and the cheeky names of its dishes. The "Let's Start With a Soup" is actually a soup in name only, because you could stand a spoon up in this bowl of thick and creamy roasted butternut squash whipped with milk and parmesan cheese. Stick-to-your-ribs hearty, this dip ... er, soup, manages to highlight delicate flavors even in the face of such a full-bodied structure. Sort of like applying eye-liner to George Washington's bust on Mount Rushmore. CC

Pozole Verde

Mas Tacos Por Favor, 732 McFerrin Ave., 615-543-6271

Sure, the Chicken Tortilla Soup at this tiny East Nashville stalwart might garner more attention with its recipe reprinted in national magazines and scattered across the Internet on multiple Pinterest pages, but owner Teresa Mason's real secret weapon is this bowl of rich bone broth studded with hominy and perfumed with lime, cilantro and green chiles. This specialty from the state of Guerrero on Mexico's Pacific coast is accented with a crispy bite from sliced radishes floating on the surface of the bowl. ¡Ay, caramba! CC

Chicken Noodle Soup

Thai Esane, 907 12th Ave. S., 615-454-5373

Thanks to its thick, doughy, made-in-house noodles and flavorful broth, Thai Esane's chicken noodle soup — though not particularly complicated — is a league or two above most standard chicken soups. Also floating in the broth are cilantro, generous chunks of chicken, fried shallots and green onions, and while the soup is well-seasoned and somewhat garlicky, it registers at a relatively low point on the spicy scale. If you're looking to heat things up, a few squirts of Sriracha will do the trick. If you're in the Gulch area and in need of a quick cold remedy, you won't do much better than this one. DPR

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

Cochon Butcher Nashville, 1120 Fourth Ave. N., 615-567-5887

Gumbo at Cochon Butcher is not an okra conveyance method — a bowl loaded thick as stew with ingredients to mask either weak or pasty liquid. (I've had both around here, and never gave either a second chance.) The star of their soupy gumbo is a roux as dark and deeply flavored as chocolate, the better to offset the fat moist shreds of chicken, morsels of sausage and skinny disks of late-year okra. A quart (takeout only, as best I could tell from the menu) runs $18, but a big pot of aromatic rice stretches it just fine. JR

Adas Be-Silik

Epice, 2902 12th Ave. S., 615-720-6765

Epice is a Lebanese bistro in 12South — the sophisticated sibling to the popular Mediterranean micro-chain Kalamata's. Two soups are available on the regular menu, but the adas be-silik, a vegan soup of lemony vegetable broth with lentils and Swiss chard, stands out as truly delicious and unique. Because of the brightness of the lemon, the soup is delicious lukewarm during the summer or steaming hot during colder months. It's hearty without being heavy, so it pairs well with the salads for a solid lunch or light dinner and makes for an excellent start to a meal. LL

Chile

Varallo's Chile Parlor & Restaurant, 239 Fourth Ave. N., 615-256-1907

Established in 1907, Varallo's bills itself as Nashville's oldest restaurant, and their no-frills chili — spelled "chile" on their menus and signage — is a time-honored Music City tradition. The chili itself isn't necessarily exceptional. It's certainly hearty and flavorful enough, but its primary selling points are its affordability (less than $5 a bowl) and the add-ons: Try it with short spaghetti, tamales or both (the latter is called the "3 Way"). Nestled on Fourth Avenue beneath a conspicuously quaint red cottage roof, the family-run restaurant is your best downtown bet for a bowl of tasty, bone-warming glop. DPR

Matzoh Ball Soup

Noshville, 4014 Hillsboro Circle, 615-269-3535

While many Nashvillians continue to wail and gnash their teeth over the closing of the original Noshville location in Midtown, there are still outposts in Green Hills and at the airport to satisfy your jones for a proper bowl of matzoh ball soup. Don't bother ordering it by the cup — the tennis-ball-sized globes of delightfully doughy matzoh meal would overflow the lip, leaving no room for the spiral noodles and rich salty broth that will cure whatever ails you. There's a reason that this dish is lovingly known as "Jewish penicillin," but its appeal is decidedly ecumenical. CC

French Onion Soup

Germantown Cafe, 1200 Fifth Ave. N., 615-242-3226

It was a dick-withering night in Germantown, and all the bars playing David Bowie just made me sad. All I had was a pocketful of change, and all I wanted was a $5.95 bowl of soup. So thank you, Germantown Cafe. What my sweet server Allex set before me wasn't someone's take on French onion soup; wasn't someone's reinterpretation of French onion soup; wasn't a molecular onion reduction in some kind of artisanal crouton WTF. It was a French onion soup so utterly satisfying and soul-fortifying, so warming on a cold, sad night, that I chipped every flake of gooey crusted Swiss cheese off the porcelain bowl and ate it like an otter chomping on seashell. I think I might've licked my fingers in the car. Godspeed, Thin White Duke. JR

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