last hurrah of 2021, at en japanese brasserie nyc

2021 was a lot. An entire year spent in a pandemic. Things got a little better, but also, not at all. Anyways, by New Year’s Eve, I was more than ready to say goodbye to this questionable year. But of course, I could not say farewell without one last celebration. Through food, of course. So, my family and I splurged on a New Years’ Eve meal at En Japanese Brasserie.

To start, we were seated at this communal table, that was centered around a wooden beam, decorated with some trees. I must say, and inventive use of space.

We got the special new year’s menu, which was a tad pricey, but definitely a lot of food. Plus, new year’s eve. You gotta live a little.

The first course was a selection of appetizers, specifically a white truffle mousse, a kumamoto oyster with caviar, uni toast, ankimo (monkfish liver), and wagyu and maguro temari sushi. I thought this was a pretty solid spread of food. I especially liked the rich, creamy truffle mousse, which was full of the truffle flavor. A surprise was the wagyu temari, which I did not expect to like as much as I did, as the thin slice of fatty beef was balanced out by the mound of vinegary sushi rice.

Next was the sashimi, composed of chutoro, or medium-fatty tuna, yellowtail, kinmedai, scallop, hirami, and uni sashimi, with truffle soy sauce. It was a pretty generous amount of sashimi, which I appreciated, and the truffle soy sauce actually went surprisingly well with the fresh fish. Although I love fatty tuna, the chutoro was not my favorite, as the slices were a bit too big and made the fish kind of chewy. I actually enjoyed the yellowtail the most, as it had a very clean flavor and was very tender.

Moving on to the warm courses, the next course was a grilled golden-eye snapper. The fish was very tender and and flaky, although the flavor was a little too subtle, and I wish the yuan marinade had permeated a bit more into the fish.

Next up is the uni chawanmushi, or steamed egg, topped with ikura, or salmon roe. I love steamed egg, as my grandfather makes for me all the time at home, and this was perfectly done. The egg was excellently cooked, and not runny or overcooked, and the uni and ikura added a bit of brininess and bite to the custard, which is otherwise a blank palette.

Next up is the wagyu with A5 miyazaki wagyu beef with salt, wasabi, and garlic chips. I think had I been a fan of wagyu beef, I would have really enjoyed this dish’s simple preparation, as it really allows the high quality of the beef to shine. But to be honest, I do not really enjoy really fatty cuts of meat, so this was probably my least favorite course.

The last savory course was soba, again with A5 Miyazaki beef, as well as mushrooms and shrimp tempura. I really liked this dish, as it was a warm, comforting end to the meal, even though we were stuffed by this point. I will say, I wished the broth had a bit more depth of flavor, as it felt a little one-note.

Finally, for dessert, it was also a bit of a spread. They gave us truffle ice cream, fresh fruit, tofu ganache, cheesecake, a shortbread cookie, and because I am allergic to nuts, raspberry sorbet. Overall, my favorite was the truffle ice cream, as the earthy shaved truffle, honey drizzle, and vanilla ice cream is a very rich and decadent combination. I also unexpectedly enjoyed the tofu ganache, which was essentially a dense chocolate ganache that did not taste like tofu at all. I also liked that it was only gently sweetened, so more of the focus was on the flavor of the chocolate. My least favorite was the cheesecake, as for some reason, it was really salty.

Although I’m not convinced I would spend this much money on this meal again, this tasting menu was overall lovely way to end a not-so-lovely year. Here’s hoping 2022 will be better.