NYC: Aozora Kaiseki at EN Japanese Brasserie

Pierre and I recently had the Kaiseki dinner at EN Japanese Brasserie, home that incredible fresh tofu. EN offers two kaiseki options: the Soyo Kaze for $65/person and Aozora for $90/person. We went with the latter, figuring that if we were going to do it, might as well go all the way right?

I'm a big fan of kaiseki meals, and though I haven't tried every place in the city which offers this, the dinners I've had at Kajitsu ($70 for 8-courses, all vegetarian) and Kyo Ya ($150 for 11-courses) are my favorites thus far. The $90 kaiseki at EN is a 7-course meal and the most casual of these three restaurants. It's also the most non-traditional, incorporating ingredients such as foie gras. No complaints there...

Photos from the meal:

O-Banzai - lightly seared tuna, garlic shoyu & egg; white asparagus with tosazu gelée; nanohana & sakura ebi ohitashi

Chef’s seven piece sashimi selection served with shiro kombu shoyu

Miso stone grilled Maine lobster and shiso

Corn chawanmushi - fresh corn egg custard

Saikyo miso foie gras & filet - saikyo miso marinated Hudson Valley foie gras and USDA Prime Filet, grilled

Uni cha soba - chilled green tea soba in iriko dashi with Santa Barbara, CA sea urchin and ikura

Ichigo panna cotta - strawberry jam over panna cotta with a strawberry cookie

P.S. Going to do the Kaiseki dinner at Brushstroke tomorrow night - has anyone gone yet? Still debating between the $85 and $135 kaiseki options...

EN Japanese Brasserie
435 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 647-9196