As a vegetarian and a non-seafood fan, we were two fish out of water at Enso Sushi Bar, located at 1419 19th St. But being two open-minded individuals, we decided we’d try something new, which was literally anything on the menu.
Not really knowing what sushi rolls we wanted to try, we started with some appetizers and took our time figuring out the rest. The garlic edamame was by far our favorite dish. It may as well have been a basket of tortilla chips at?a Mexican food restaurant; we wanted to eat so many that we could have filled up on those before the food even arrived. The fried tofu dipped in the sauce it came with was tasty, but the sauce couldn’t change the funky consistency. We probably should have expected that from tofu, but this visit was all about trying new things.
For the omnivore and our other companion, we ordered the Crunchy Sexy roll, the Enso signature roll, the salmon roll and the yellowtail appetizer.
Crunchy Sexy included crab, shrimp, cucumber and avocado wrapped in seaweed and was covered in tempura-fried rice. It was a very strange mix of flavors competing for dominance.
The Enso roll had cream cheese, cucumber, broiled salmon and rice wrapped in seaweed. It was the meat-eater’s favorite of the fish rolls, possibly because it included cream cheese and not shrimp. The yellowtail fish was excellent as far as fish goes. It had the consistency of chicken, and it did not have an incredibly distinctive fishy taste. It was also flavored well; it was savory with nothing specific overpowering anything else.
For the herbivore, we ordered the vegetarian special, which, obviously, consisted of various vegetables and rice wrapped in seaweed. Since it was one of very few vegetarian sushi options, it’s a good thing it was so good. The different vegetables and flavors worked well together. Even the carnivore said it was her favorite of the rolls, because the ingredients meshed together better than in the other rolls. The lack of raw fish made us both very happy.
The price was also reasonable considering how much food we got. Sushi is usually considered more expensive cuisine but the three of us were filled to the brim on less than $70 total.
The atmosphere of Enso was very Japanese chic, with art on the walls and comfy pillows on the booths, but the wooden chairs’ low backs, although interesting looking, were a bit awkward and uncomfortable.
After our meal, we went to check out the downstairs bar, but unfortunately it was closed.
Overall, we were both surprised at how much we enjoyed food that was outside our comfort zones. Although there weren’t many vegetarian roll options, the garlic edamame and the vegetarian special were filling enough.
For those willing to try anything, Enso offers many different, and interesting, choices to treat your palate to something new.