Restaurant: Enn Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar
Cuisine: Japanese/Sushi
Price: Pretty expensive
Score: 24
Will I eat there again? NO
I recently heard that a new sushi restaurant had opened in Lincoln, RI. Given the social demographics of Lincoln, and its relative closeness to Providence, I have always been rather surprised that there are not more places to eat. A couple spots exist around the Lincoln Mall, but in general the fecundity of places to dine in Providence stands in stark contrast to Lincoln's culinary options.
I was therefore delighted to learn about the opening of Enn Japanese and Sushi Bar, and had heard third-hand that it was pretty good. Unfortunately, it was not.
The interior design was the first warning sign. Enn is located in what looks like a generic multi-use office building, with a bewildering number of doors on the outside (although only one of them is actually open). The interior was perfectly clean, but completely non-interesting. Everything was rectangular, from the walls, to the art, to the ceiling tiles- it looked like if you walked down the hallway to the restroom you might come out into your dentists lobby. The interior was so wide open that you almost felt exposed, and could have benefited tremendously from some well placed dividers or walls.
Things went from bad to worse with the food. We started off with a sweet potato tempura maki roll- probably the best part of the meal. Nothing great, and it tasted pretty much like your average $3.50 vegetarian sushi roll- except it cost $4.50.
For our entrees we choose the stir fried udon with veggies($9) and the teriyaki pork ($15). The teriyaki pork was purported to be "smothered in Our Special Sauce"- which seemed to be a rendition of high fructose corn syrup, soy sauce, and who knows what else. The pork would have been ok on its own, but the sauce dragged it down. The udon noodles may have set the bar for the least enjoyable dish we have tasted since we started The Fishy Foodie. Remember those asian stir fry frozen kits you used to buy at the supermarket for $3? A bunch of veggies, a couple noodles, and a packet of frozen generic sauce that you heated in a skillet and almost invariably ended up rather soggy and steamed- not stir fried? That is what we got, except it cost three times as much. Not good.
The highlight of the evening was the restroom- very clean, nice hands-free plumbing, the works. Regrettably, I found myself here almost immediately post-dinner. Feel free to make any connections that you want.
Conclusion
Enn received the lowest score that we have given out thus far. High prices, dull food, and bland decor do not a great meal make.
