EN Restaurant and Bar

Shadiness Alert: En closed after receiving bad reviews and was replaced by Luke’s. Totally new business, we were told as we walked by. Ate there (horrible experience– see the Luke’s review
) and saw on my credit card statement «EN of Africa»… shady stuff indeed.

This place is no longer EN. Now it’s some crappy named place with rude staff, untrained bartenders, bland food, and poor seating.
The EN I knew had a courteous staff with an amazing chef. There was a small room in the front that made you feel like you were in a completely different resurgent… effn amazing.
This new place sucks.

Wonderful food, pleasant space. This place no longer exists. I went looking for it 4 weeks ago, a bar named Steve’s or Lou’s is there now. Seeking En and getting Lou was vastly disappointing. Their food was nothing compared to it. They had similar items on the menu but the quality was middling. If anyone can tell me where En went, I would greatly appreciate it. But the place at this address is NOT it

I was curious about this place. It seems mysterious and dark on the outside. After driving by several times, we decided to venture inside. Good thing we did. The drinks were really delicious and they have a great bartending staff that is attentive to your needs. The ambiance of the restaurant is sexy. I only came for drinks that night but felt I had to return and try their food. So I came back a couple of weeks later with my girlfriends and I ordered the oxtail dinner with rice and peas and macaroni and cheese. I must say that the oxtail was delicious and could rival with my mom’s and that is BIG. The rice and peas were also tasty, but the mac and cheese I don’t remember too much about it so that means that it wasn’t great. My girlfriend ordered the salmon dinner and from the looks of her clean plate let’s say it was good because she didn’t have a morsel left on her plate. Overall great dinner and drinks. I will definitely be back.

Stopped by here for a private party. I ordered the Jerk chicken and rum Punch. Both were great. I’d say the jerk chicken was among the best I’ve ever had. Perfectly spiced! The service was super hectic that night, but the wait staff was apologetic and still pleasant. My friends ordered fried shrimp and they thought it was tasty. The mango martini was more alcohol than mango, but the waitress kindly switched out drinks for my friend without hesitation. After the private party ended, the restaurant played old school r&b and hip-​hop. My friends and I enjoyed the music. It sorta got us going before heading out for some real dancing. Overall nice experience and I would definitely return for the jerk chicken.

3 stars is quite generous. The only reason it didn’t get two stars is because I love the bartender Michael. He’s super friendly, attentive, and can make a mean mango margarita. Also they have a great DJ who spins amazing Nigerian and Congolese beats, however everything else is sorta suspect. The décor is straight over the top. Why would you need flat screen TVs in a bathroom? Also, there is some major drams with the cook and the wait staff. We were there pretty late on a weeknight and the cook and one of the waiters got into an all out shouting brawl. I’m talking nose to nose scream fest. It was intense and quite frankly awkward. The food took a really long time to come out and was just ok.
Despite all of this, I have returned a few times to hang out and chat it up with Michael. Life is all about trade-​offs I guess.

I am a huge fan of African food so I was really excited when EN Restaurant opened earlier this year. I admit that I’m trying to save money by eating out less, so I have only been there twice but it was well-​worth it.
What strikes me about EN Restaurant is its décor, into which you can tell there was painstaking thought and creativity. It reminds me of a cool and sophisticated lounge you’d find in the Meatpacking District-it’s almost too cool with its private rooms, and a bit out of place among the more laid-​back places in Fort Greene.
Then there is the service. I’m a stickler for good service, especially in a city as expensive as ours. So I was extremely pleased when my husband and I were warmly greeted by the staff, all of whom were neatly dressed, and attentive throughout the evening.
Finally, the food. I ordered the moi-​moi (a bean cake topped with a tomato paste) as an appetizer and the egusi (a popular Nigerian soup eaten with pounded yam) as a main course. I admit waiting a bit long for both, but was reassured of its pending arrival. Ultimately, both were really tasty, which (almost) made it worth the wait. I admit not having any drinks, which I understand are really good too, so I’ll update my review next time.
In short, I really enjoyed this place; it’s a sexy and adult restaurant that I hope continues to improve, carve its niche, and stay for a long time.

I went to En during their soft opening and was so turned off that I refuse to even consider going back. The first offense was that they didn’t have half the items on the menu. What’s the point in having a menu if it’s not finalized and you only have two entrees available? Because we’d eaten a pretty big lunch my boyfriend and I decided to split a caeser salad and an order of chicken with rice, I also had a glass of wine. The extremely average caeser was and outrageous $ 15 and the chicken and rice dish was tasty but the portion was tiny. Barely enough for one person and trying to share it was a joke. This despite the $ 20 price tag. Although the sauce on the chicken was flavorful, there was nothing gourmet or specially enough about it to justify the price and the salad was underwhelming. We ended up paying $ 45 for a dinner that left us so unsatisfied that we went home and made a frozen pizza.
I might have given the place another chance after they’d ironed out the kinks if they had done anything to make us feel welcome or shown gratitude for us the new neighborhood spot, but there was nothing. No complementary appetizer, half priced glass of wine or anything that said «thank you for your business, we hope you come back and will say nice things about us to your friends.» So, despite living a stone’s throw from this place and despite indications that their menu is more reasonably priced now a days, I have no intention of ever going back.

Okay, so first rule of World Cup club, have the kinds of meals that you want to promote your business with ready to offer to World Cup viewers. An unflatteringly boring egg breakfast with white bread toast and over salted french fries that look like they came frozen, all for a whopping $ 12, is not going to inspire the hooligans to come back anytime soon.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, pay your cable bill. In other words, make sure the cable is going to go out at the 56^th minute.
Expensive. Uninteresting. Unprepared. At least the staff tried hard and were attentive.
Nigeria 0 — Argentina 1

** 2 stars for the food and price, 3 stars for the sorrel cocktails**
I am very fond of African food. Powerful bursting flavours send my tastebuds into ecstatic bliss. The spiciness clears my sinuses. So naturally, I was extremely excited about this place.
The name EN means «come in» in one of the Nigerian dialects (Igbo vs. Yoruba). I’m sorry, I have a memory of a goldfish (like Dora in Finding Nemo). I walk in around 7PM and the restaurant is nearly empty except for one table of 2 in the back, and MR sitting at the bar. The restaurant is beautiful, with a sleek and sexy bar. Once everyone arrived, we were escorted to a 4-​top in a private nook. Intimate, private, and with an impressive ceiling light that changes colours.
The cocktail menu had sorrel** cocktails scattered throughout. Someone tried a sorrel sangria, another had the sorrel mojito. And I had a rum/​sorrel concoction called Tabanca. I did not know what sorrel tasted like, but for some reason, likened it to tamarind. I wasn’t completely off. Sorrel does offer a tangy and sweet kick, excellent for cocktails!
For appetizers, there was the moi moi (bean cake), which I regretfully did not try. We also had jerk wings, and Dingolay shrimps. All unremarkable. And might I add…5 shrimps for $ 13 is extortion, even if imported from Nigeria!
For the main course, I had the okra chicken with pound yam. This dish was excellent, flavourful with just the right amount of tanginess and spice. The chicken was tender and fell off the bone. Too bad the pound yam wasn’t as good. It tasted like mashed potatoes but without any seasoning. No salt, no pepper, no nothing. Bleh. MR had the Egusi with goat and pound yarri. Pretty spicy and tasty. The pound yarri was much better with a hint of lime. I was envious of MR’s yarri.
We did not get dessert as we were pressed for time (Gab’s karaōke outing at Starlite). The meal came to $ 160 for 4 people. Too pricey for mediocre food. I will come back for the sorrel cocktails though. And besides, I live right around the corner.
**I believe that our cocktails had Jamaican sorrel and NOT common sorrel. Not to be confused… Also it seems that the Jamaican sorrel has antihypertensive properties, quick, someone call Big Pharma.

I am Nigerian and I have to say that I was literally blown away by this place. I guess I should begin with the décor of this spot. EN Restaurant was designed with high-​end tastes. From the beautiful tiled walls (which appeared to be filled with an interesting brown sand material) to the leather, side-​studded chairs, and the magnificent bathroom (i mean, this bathroom was so nice, i would eat in it!) the place was perfection. Surprisingly, I would think that a place that looked like this «deserved» to be in Manhattan, but for some reason, I felt that it fit right in here in the Ft. Greene/​Clinton Hill ‘hood. If you are in the neighborhood and/​or reside here, you should really just go and take a look at it to really understand where I’m coming from…
Now, lets talk about the food. Like I mentioned, I am Nigerian, so I was very familiar with the menu. A little disclaimer: I wasn’t born in Nigeria; instead I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, but I was «forced» to eat Nigerian food when I was younger. I am embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t a big fan when I was a young’un, growing up in Los Scandalous. But who can blame me, when, at that age, I was sold on Pizza Hut/​McDonalds/​Del Amo Mall food court, etc. The only «ethnic» food I was down for was Mexican of course, and Chinese food. But, now that I’m an adult and I have a better appreciation of diverse ethnic foods, I was definitely excited to try some traditional Nigerian fare. I started off with the Moi Moi, which is what I would call a bean cake made out of black eyed peas, baked in the oven with corned beef and egg in the center. This was very good. For those of you who aren’t Nigerian/​familiar with Nigerian food, moi moi is very hard to make. Like a lot of ethnic foods, it can take a whole day. This moi moi, however, was made a little differently – instead of soaking black eyed peas for days and mashing them up, I am pretty sure EN’s moi moi was made with a black eyed pea powder mix, which was equally as good. My only complaint (not a real complaint) is that it wasn’t as spicy as I’d hoped. Moi Moi is usually VERY spicy and I think they toned it down a little so that more people can eat it. The next thing I had was Suya, which is a a dried, salted beef on a stick, seasoned with coriander. Now, this is what blew me away. Because I have to admit, that although I’ve always enjoyed Suya at the numerous Nigerian parties I’ve attended as a young child, I always thought that it was made too tough or too dry (usually because food is prepared/​cooked a night before and reheated, causing the meat to be sooo tough). But the Suya here at EN was F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S…the meat was tender (so not expecting that) and perfectly seasoned, but maybe a tad bit on the salty side (nothing a nice glass of wine, which I enjoyed, couldn’t resolve). For my entrée, I had the Ewa. Unfortunately, this dish was very good but just a little boring. Ewa is just a bean dish (black eyed peas again!) made with plantain. It was served with white rice (a staple in Nigeria) and that was it. However, my sister had the egusi soup with goat and fufu (pounded yam). Now, this dish was the highlight for me. I remember my mom used to make egusi for my siblings and I and we would hate it. Mainly because my mom made her egusi soup so watery. But EN’s egusi (like other egusi soups that I’ve had in recent history) is not really soupy, which is what I liked; it has the thickness/​consistency of a stew. Egusi is made out of crushed melon seeds, with stock fish (dried fish), spinach, red (hot) pepper, beef/​goat and palm oil (native to Nigeria). This dish got an A+ from me. I think my mom even liked it better than her own.
I can go on about how great this place is, but you should really just go see for yourself. I will say that the place was packed when we left. Luckily, my family and I got in before the dinner rush because when we were leaving, it looked as if there was a wait. I will definitely be returning soon and am looking forward to eating some more good Nigerian food (wow, still can’t believe that little ‘ol me would learn to not just like, but LOVE Nigerian food!)…

Such a chic, bumpin’ neighborhood spot! I love the slightly Asian inspired décor and the sexy, secluded private nooks they have. So sexy that the couple they seated next to us in that cozy, secluded nook nearly started grinding each other while we sat next to them enjoying our appetizers!
I started off with the Tabanca, a cocktail made with a very lovely sorrel juice. Next, we had the Moi Moi — a tasty appetizer made with black eye peas, as well as an amazing jerk chicken wing appetizer. The wings were fresh out of the fryer, perfectly crispy and covered in an amazing flavorful, spicy blend.
The Egusi with chicken was like nothing we’ve ever tried. It is served w/​a huge mound of either Garri (mashed cassava) or mashed yams. We chose cassava. The chicken was absolutely tender and covered in a sauce made w/​melon seeds and other spices, including dried fish. Some may definitely be put off by the fishiness, but we found the dish to be very unique and filling. It is easily enough food for two ppl.
Our server was a doll. She was incredibly personable and gave us expert advice on the menu.
The TVs everywhere are the only let down here.

Wow! This place is great. Wandering around Fort Greene and only sort of hungry, my partner and I stepped into this newly opened Nigerian restaurant out of pure curiosity. Well, first impression: the atmosphere is very upscale but a bit too clubby for my taste, at once glamorous and cheesy… I would tone it down a notch, but then perhaps — as Garrett J. noted — this is just part of bringing the Lagos experience to Brooklyn.
On to the food… we were absolutely blown away. We shared the Dingolay shrimp appetizer and the Abuja rice with chicken. The appetizer was amazing: juicy, flavorful, lightly crispy fried shrimp with a tartar sauce that we both agreed might have been the best of anything like it that either of us had ever had. The main, likewise, was delicious: a big scoop of tasty, well-​seasoned shrimp fried rice accompanied by succulent chicken in lightly spiced red sauce. Our server was extremely friendly and helpful.
My only real complaint was all the damn TVs everywhere (even embedded in the walls!). I get that sometimes you want to have a TV in an upscale lounge sorta place, but I really felt this was overdoing it. Regardless, I can’t wait to go back.

I understand the restaurant has only very recently opened, so this review needs to be taken in that context.
The owner (s) has done a great job producing a truly-​elegant, intimate dining space. Even the host and other staff were dressed to the nines on my visit last night. EN Restaurant is easily the classiest West African (or West African-​inspired) restaurant I’ve visited, right down to the wine list.
But, at least at this early point in the restaurant’s history, style has won out over substance. The food was beautifully presented but numbingly bland (and kind of cold — sorry, but cold, dry plantains is an inexcusable sin).
There were also a few service kinks that hopefully will be worked out soon (the host was wonderfully attentive, but my assigned server apparently never appeared and someone else had to fill in).

Went to this restaurant last night and the food was delicious. I forgot the name of the dish I chose, but it was a rice dish with chicken and I really LOVED it. I would definitely go back to explore more items from the menu!