#18 – FRESHLY MADE SCOOPED TOFU at EN JAPANESE BRASSERIE

For the third year in a row, I’m going to attempt to eat every single item on Time Out New York’s annual 100 Best Dishes list. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100. Let the gluttony continue…

I’m not really a fan of En Japanese Brasserie, which sort of surprises me because I absolutely love Japanese food. This place is a little too stuffy and corporate feeling for me. We first came here last year for the monthly Fish Heads and Eel Bones dinner thanks to Time Out’s previous list. It was in the bar area of the restaurant and we enjoyed ourselves.

The second time we came here was for dinner in the main dining room. Nothing was spectacular, everything was way overpriced, and I remember we had some service issues. We left with a rather cold vibe and the food didn’t live up to other high end Japanese experiences I’ve had.

The most recent time was my least favorite. It was for lunch and was specifically to get a second taste of one of Time Out’s list items: the freshly made tofu.

The menu outside lists the tofu as $9 for lunch and I thought I’d come in just for a quick bite of this and leave without spending too much money. I sat down in the rather empty dining room and noticed the menu I was given said the tofu was $11. That’s quite an increase. I inquired about the price and the waiter said, “Oh it’s probably an old menu outside.” No other explanation.

And I’m sure that’s true, but they should probably get their act together and change the menu. Even when I asked about it again he said they’d change it right away. When I left I checked the menu and still it was not changed.

It’s just $2, not such a big deal, right? Probably true, but it’s the principle of it and with tax and tip, I spent over $13 on a not very good snack.

Price aside, I didn’t really like the tofu. I had this for dinner on our second visit and thought it was much better then. I believe it was served chilled the first time around and it was dramatically presented, soft, and clean tasting.

This time I was served a very watery box of tofu. It looked like scrambled eggs that were still in the process of cooking. Maybe it’s because it’s served warm or maybe it’s because it’s lunch time so they skimp on presentation. Either way, this was not terribly appetizing and I only ate it because of the price and my incredible hunger.

They gave me both chopsticks and a spoon and I ended up eating it much like a soup. It starts off tasting fresh with a hint of nuttiness and cereal milk, but it ends with a funny plastic-like aftertaste. I think I prefer my tofu cold. The only thing that saved the flavor is that I doused it with some of their soy-dashi sauce, which has a pleasant sweet, herbal salinity to it.

I don’t understand all the raves for this tofu. Sure, it’s exciting that it’s made throughout the day and it’s presented in an austere setting, but the lunch version was sloppy, watery, and had a slightly off flavor.

Would En Japanese Brasserie’s Freshly Made Scooped Tofu make my Top 100 of the year? I wish, but the warm version just doesn’t do it for me getting a 5 out of 10. I slightly prefer the tofu cold, but I still think it needs a whole lot of sauce to have any excitement.