I thought that this place (UE Square #01-75) has potential, like its sister establishment En just around the block. The biggest gripe I had was the air conditioning. Lol. It needs to be turned up. That aside, this modern Japanese bar and restaurant was better than I had imagined. That came from their surprisingly firm and fresh swordfish and yellowtail sashimi which turned out better than I thought. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of those. The service staff were observant and courteous.
pumpkin cooked in butter ($8)
This was just described as pumpkin that is cooked in butter on the menu. They tasted like they were steamed before frying lightly. There was a hint of butter on the surface of the pumpkin, but I thought it would have been much better if there were a lot more butter. Reminded me of the sweet potato with butter from Kazu. Almost.
grilled asparagus in bleu cheese dressing ($12)
The grilled asparagus were just regular grilled asparagus. The bleu cheese dressing was what made me decide to try this. Came with of bread which one can use mop up the excess blue cheese sauce. The sauce didn't taste as strong as the actual cheese, so I think it might be palatable for people who don't do blue cheese. YMMV though.
maguro carpaccio ($16)
The presentation looked quite fancy for tuna carpaccio. Like En's maguro tataki salad, the carpaccios here were sliced thicker than I expected. Probably the way Japanese interpret theirs. It's the same way at Ma Maison with their scallop version. This carpaccio was served a little over cooked. On top of that (pun intended), the baked garlic chips contended with the puny slices of fish in the ponzu resulting in a flavour and texture that wasn't quite carpaccio like. I wouldn't say that this tasted bad, it's probably overdone in some areas.
grilled squid ($11)
Decent grilled squid here, however was lacking in the char which I enjoy. The only charred parts were the tentacles which made them the tastiest parts.
unagi chahan ($15)
This unagi fried rice was served in ia bamboo "trough" container. There was little salt in the rice. Did not look like it had much ingredients beside the unagi that were already prepared in teriyaki sauce. Despite how it looked, the portions weren't huge and can be easily finished by a single person.
sirloin steak seared rare in ponzu sauce ($30)
The need for something meaty prompted me to order this and at $30, it wasn't cheap. I wasn't expecting much gor the sliced steaks, but it turned out pretty damned good. There was proper searing done on the surface leaving the inside succulent medium rare. The ponzu sauce didn't overpower the flavour of the beef which was filled with yummy fats. This was quite a pleasant surprise. Would order again if I came back.
On the whole, this was a pretty good experience at Z'en. A re-visit in the future would not be out of the question.
pumpkin cooked in butter ($8)This was just described as pumpkin that is cooked in butter on the menu. They tasted like they were steamed before frying lightly. There was a hint of butter on the surface of the pumpkin, but I thought it would have been much better if there were a lot more butter. Reminded me of the sweet potato with butter from Kazu. Almost.
grilled asparagus in bleu cheese dressing ($12)The grilled asparagus were just regular grilled asparagus. The bleu cheese dressing was what made me decide to try this. Came with of bread which one can use mop up the excess blue cheese sauce. The sauce didn't taste as strong as the actual cheese, so I think it might be palatable for people who don't do blue cheese. YMMV though.
maguro carpaccio ($16)The presentation looked quite fancy for tuna carpaccio. Like En's maguro tataki salad, the carpaccios here were sliced thicker than I expected. Probably the way Japanese interpret theirs. It's the same way at Ma Maison with their scallop version. This carpaccio was served a little over cooked. On top of that (pun intended), the baked garlic chips contended with the puny slices of fish in the ponzu resulting in a flavour and texture that wasn't quite carpaccio like. I wouldn't say that this tasted bad, it's probably overdone in some areas.
grilled squid ($11)Decent grilled squid here, however was lacking in the char which I enjoy. The only charred parts were the tentacles which made them the tastiest parts.
unagi chahan ($15)This unagi fried rice was served in ia bamboo "trough" container. There was little salt in the rice. Did not look like it had much ingredients beside the unagi that were already prepared in teriyaki sauce. Despite how it looked, the portions weren't huge and can be easily finished by a single person.
sirloin steak seared rare in ponzu sauce ($30)
The need for something meaty prompted me to order this and at $30, it wasn't cheap. I wasn't expecting much gor the sliced steaks, but it turned out pretty damned good. There was proper searing done on the surface leaving the inside succulent medium rare. The ponzu sauce didn't overpower the flavour of the beef which was filled with yummy fats. This was quite a pleasant surprise. Would order again if I came back.On the whole, this was a pretty good experience at Z'en. A re-visit in the future would not be out of the question.
3 comments:
wats YMMV?
and how much did u spend here
That's Your Mileage May Vary. Meaning that different people may have different degrees threshold or tolerance. In this case, I was talking about the bleu cheese sauce which I thought was quite light and palatable. Others may feel otherwise since taste is subjective.
Oh, the bill was about $200 for 3. It includes a Z'en course, a pot of green tea and a small bottle of sake.
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