En- Round 2

Guess where we went again? EN! We took advantage of the Google Offers "groupon" and had an early dinner at our fav Japanese restaurant.

I have to admit tho, this meal was pretty disappointing in terms of quality. Not quite what we expected from EN.  But I still have to commend them on a visually beautiful meal.

First, bring on the alcohol!

Sake Flight, Plantain Chips

Pineapple sake

I have to comment on this pineapple sake I had. I've ordered this drink every time I've been at EN (so 3 so far). Why? Because it is the most delicious thing you can drink and still be buzzed. Usually, you just taste the fresh sweet citrusy flavor of the pineapple and not really the alcohol, but you definitely feel it so they did not skimp on the liquor.  The past two times a handsome Japanese bartender was the one mixing drinks.  I saw him take out a fresh cut pineapple and actually juice it on the spot! This most recent trip, it was a female bartendar (asian as well), and the drink just came out bland. No strong alcohol flavor but also no pineapple taste either. SO disappointing.

Salt Grilled Edamame

Beautiful dish that has such a zen like presentation. But it is crazy salty! I know, it is rock salt grilled, what do you expect? How exactly are you supposed to eat this elegantly without going into a sodium induced coma?

Blue Crab Miso Soup

This soup was MEH. It wasn't bad per se, but I feel like the crab might not have been super fresh.  Plus, the crab meat was not really edible so I'm not sure what the point was of being in there.

Lobster

I think this lobster was covered with miso. This dish was also crazy SALTY. It overpowered the lobster meat.

Mussels

This dish was decent, still a bit on the salty side, but by this point I don't know if it was the salt from the previous dishes lingering on my tastebud or the actual dish.

Miso Black Cod

Another signature dish of EN's that we typically love. The execution on this was a bit disappointing too. Oye, so sad. The skin was not crispy and the meat was not flakey, but more mushy.

Not sure what happened to EN. We left around 7:30/8:00pm and the restaurant was still quite empty.  Our waiter seemed to be pretty new and not quite sure what he was doing, and it seemed like the entire kitchen staff was new too!

I hope to give EN another chance in the future to redeem itself, but another disappointing meal would mean it gets cross off the "faves" list.