En Japanese Dining Bar @ Mohamed Sultan

Okay, I have a bone to pick with the good people at hungrygowhere's decision to call EN Dining "no frills" because its ambience and price tags are really anything but.

Located at UE Square with sister establishment Zen Dining, EN is the place to go if you're looking for good Japanese food in a boisterous setting. Modelled after contemporary Japanese izakaya (casual dining restaurants that serve alcohol), EN has built a strong presence among the Mohd Sultan stretch of eateries and is hugely popular with Japanese expatriates. The restaurant also has an al fresco dining area complete with a projector screen (for what else but the screening of football matches).

The biggest thing that sets EN apart from other Japanese restaurants is its focus on food from Okinawa, Japan's southernmost island prefecture famous for karate (think Karate Kid and Mr Miyagi) and its centenarians. So if you're looking to live to a hundred (or more), you'd have to try some of the rarer Japanese treats here.

Okinawan cuisine draws influences from Chinese methods of cooking and incorporates ingredients from Korea and Southeast Asia. Once a flourishing kingdom known as Ryukyu with active maritime trade, the people of Okinawa took to eating pork earlier than the rest of Japan and this is evident in how they can eat every part of the pig (like the Chinese).

Rafute is a signature Okinawan dish and the people at EN do a fantastic job of simmering pork belly until the fat literally melts when you eat it. The broth also has servings of white radish and fat mushrooms, which soak up the goodness of the gravy and acts as a wonderful balance to the heady pork. If you like kong ba pau then eating rafute will probably induce euphoria-laced delirium.

Fans of bittergourd will love goya champuru, a stir-fry that combines Okinawan bittergourd, tofu and luncheon meat (introduced by American GIs during their occupation of Okinawa). Leave some space in your tummy for hirayachi, an okonomiyaki-like pancake without the unhealthy mayonnaise. Also worth trying is the somen champuru, Okinawa's answer to yakisoba, and wash everything down with Okinawan lime juice or refreshing tumeric tea.

Alcohol lovers must try Orion, which is Okinawa's local beer and the restaurant's extensive selection of awamori, a lethal rice wine with an alcohol content anywhere from 25-60%. Pick a medium 25-30% brew and ask for water. Locals in Okinawa dilute awamori with half a portion of water and while seasoned drinkers prefer a more concentrated mixture, awamori does not go down as easily as Japanese sake so knocking back cups of it is generally not advised for first-timers. Ladies might want to try awamori with Okinawan lime juice or pineapple juice, which makes for a very lovely cocktail.

For those who love sushi and sashimi, EN also serves a wide range of raw seafood as well as other typical Japanese favourites. Note that EN always has some special campaign or other, so do check with the waiters. Last month they were having a $1 sushi promotion, and the eatery also offered beer at $1 a mug until 8pm on weekends.

This place is highly recommended if you are looking to try food and drink from Japan's lesser-known prefectures, but remember to book in advance because the place does get crowded quite easily.

A modern Japanese dining bar well known for its signatured Okinawa cuisine, Yakitori-ya and wide variety of appetisers and dishes, En Japanese Dining Bar carries a wide range of Sake, Beer and other alcoholic drinks in their menu as they are Izakaya-styled, or 居酒屋.

Because of the difference in culture, climate and vegetables, the Okinawan cuisine is very different from the mainland Japanese cuisine. Since Okinawans traditionally practiced Shamanistic religion and not Buddhism, pork formed part of the Okinawan diet while people on the main Japanese islands did not eat much meat until the mid-19th century.

As such, one gets to amuse himself with delicious Enoki Bacon Yakitori ($7.00), where nicely grilled bacon was wrapped around a thick bunch of Enoki Mushrooms that was so juicy when chomped.

Another enjoyable appetiser dish was that of the Japanese Styled Beef Carpaccio ($9.00 for half size), consisting of Thinly Sliced Raw Beef topped with Sliced Onions, Spring Onions and Sour Soya Sauce. It was a great harmony between the meat and the intense flavours of the toppings and sauce – a guaranteed satisfaction for all beef lovers!

Having seen prices of their sashimi gone up and slices of their fishes became thinner, I ordered the Imaiyu Salad ($15.00) for my sashimi fix instead. A Fresh Sashimi Salad with Special Blended Vegetable Dressing, chunks of Tuna and Salmon, among others, were scattered copiously within the purple lettuce, rocket and other vegetables. A generous dash of Tobiko also gave it an additional smoky/salty edge to it.

I don’t remembered En having an extensive Sushi menu when I last went but it seemed that they had a shift from the Okinawa cuisine and decided to cater more to their customers from the main stream. Bored of the usual Salmon Belly Sushi, I decided to go Aburi ($3.00 each) instead and have it slightly seared. By doing that it rapidly heats the fat and made the salmon belly creamier and invoked it’s flavour. One also got to enjoy the omega fats trickling down into the sushi rice rendering it tangier.

If all else fail and one is still hungry, that’s where the Unagi Fried Rice ($13.00) comes in. Although slightly greasier than the normal sort, the Smoked Eel brought to the rice a sweeter, and intense fragrance. Generous chunks of eel were graciously mingled over the rice and the serving is more than enough for two.

By and large HFB have to declare that En Japanese Dining Bar is one of his favourite Jap dining restaurant for the value one gets.

You can view the all photos here.

I first came to know about En about 6-7 years ago when it was a niche Japanese resto/bar. Today, true to its original form, it is still unpretentious and good quality Japanese food in Singapore. In the last year or so, my boyfriend and I have been a regular fixture at the restaurant every week (mostly Saturdays). It is like an internal body clock that just tells you "It is En time!" and we look forward to it.

The best dishes throughout the year for us -
- Garlic fry rice
- Wafu steak
- Gyutan (grilled beef tongue)
- Wafu Spaghetti
- Any special sashimi - like the current Aji Sashimi which is a whole fish that you can eat the raw sashimi, then they can take the remaining bones and deep fry it
- the fried stuff are good too - like chicken karage or deep fried oysters

A meal for 2 of us usually cost around $80-100 depending on sake/beer consumption. Another worthy note is that the food prices have not changed in the last 2 years despite rising commodity prices! (I hope I don't jinx it with that comment and they up the prices)

The only downside is this place is so well loved that they don't need to offer any credit card discounts or even have any loyalty program. We calculated that we easily have spent close to $5,000 at En last year with no added benefits. But we shall continue to spend such amount despite current market conditions and have opt to cut cost in other ways, but will never trade down our En!