Our experience at Enzo got off to a rocky start (and had a disappointing ending) but what happened in the middle was quite lovely. Overall a very confusing experience, but I'll try to make heads or tails of it for you, and perhaps you will give them a shot.
First, their kitchen closes at 9pm. When we called to make a reservation, we did not know this, and were met with a rather hostile response when we attempted to book a table. So hostile, in fact, that my husband gave up and hung up the phone. It may have ended there, but I was determined to treat him to some sushi and a reliable source told me this was the best to be had, so I called back and spoke to a different person who happily helped me make a reservation for their latest possible booking - 8pm.
Upon arrival, we ordered hot sake and a five-sourse tasting menu. The waiter described it to us, explaining that their sushi is not served with soy sauce but rather different sauces that would compliment the different hand rolls. We started with a delectable duo of hot appetizers - giant shrimp on skewers with a mushroom and port sauce, and scallops that were sent straight from heaven. The next course was a hand roll served with a sesame sauce, featuring tuna and tempura and it totally blew our minds.
It goes prety downhill from there. The third course was a fruity hand roll, served with a miso-scallion sauce, that missed the mark. It was quite sweet, and that sweetness overpowered any other flavours that may (not) have been present. The fourth course was fine, though forgettable, but the fifth was just awful.
The fifth and final course was a handroll with crab, salmon, and asparagus - a rather chewy combination, though that may not have mattered so much if it hadn't been for the sauce. Here, we welcomed back the sauce we had so enjoyed in the first course: the musroom-port reduction that had been married so beautifully to the giant shrimp. Unfortunately, the flavour completely overpowered the delicate fish and asparagus in the hand roll and left us to judge it based on the aforementioned chewy texture. For the first time in my life, I saw my husband refuse to continue eating. We each tried a piece, choked it down with sake, and left the rest on the plate. We waited nearly ten minutes for the waiter to return (perhaps he thought we were simply taking our time) and explained the issue to him. Rather than apologizing or offering us something else, he agreed with us, explaining that this dish is a hit-or-miss. Apparently there is a 50-50 split and customers either love or hate this dish. Bizarre, then, that the restaurant would choose to serve such a dish as the grand finale to their tasting menu... Perhaps even more bizarre than the decision to repeat a sauce during a tasting menu.
Final judgment: some of the food was great, some of the service was great, but this place has quite a bit of growing up to do. read more