E&O

I once was told by my very eccentric mother in law that the worst compliment/insult she had ever been paid was that she was “nice”. That is how I feel about E&O, it is “nice”. Not great, not awful, just right down the middle.

The food is not particularly inspired, and the dim sum is increibly overpriced. The one dish that I really enjoy is the salted caramel, peanut & chocolate chip mochi. Any salty and sweet dessert pulls me in.

looking for a average food experience and a service comedy all for the price of a 3 star michelin bill at a nobu wannabe? add on top a waiter who takes the piss out of you and charges more wine than you ordered and a manager willing to play the accomplice and the meal is served for you… only you will hardly like it

Having been to E&O many times over the years, what always strikes me as somewhat odd is that very little on the menu ever seems to change. The thing about E&O is that it isn't really a destination restaurant; you don't cross town for it because the food or service is amazing. It's a trendy neighbourhood joint (that used to be trendier) and has now found an even keel, serving trustafarians and tourists and shoppers alike.

The menu is pan-Asian encompassing dishes from all over the far east with a dim sum and sushi section as well as a small selection of sushi, salads, bbq dishes and curries. Yes, the menu is essentially designed with size 0 locals and ‘Yummy-Mummy’ types in mind, which is ok I guess and dishes are good, but they aren't outstanding. Combinations are interesting yet some items like the dim sum, can be sloppy lacking the usual delicate preparation that you get at most Chinese restaurants. To be honest, if it is dim sum you are after, you're better off heading over to Royal China at Queensway. But if it's a general mish-mash of basically good (sort-of) Oriental dishes you are after, then you could do a lot worse than E&O.

The bar is also a key feature at E&O, drawing in crowds both day and night. In fact the dining room itself has little character and can often be a tad soul-less at times. However, if you are in the area, don't be detered from stopping by, especially with a group of friends as E&O can be a great place to meet, eat and drink all under one roof in a very trendy part of town. Beware though, what tends to be trendy never comes cheap and if they don't get you on the food, they sure as hell will on the drinks!

The food at E&O has always been pretty good, even though it misses a certain edge. It doesn't serve the most outstanding asian fusion food in London and the menu certainly isn't the most groundbreaking, but not many restaurant can do sexy-dining-room as well as they can, even if their most popular dishes are ever so slightly more delicious somewhere else. Last weekend was no exception. We arrived for saturday dinner to a buzzy bar and a street filled with beautiful people.
Nobody rushed us to get to our table (reservation 9.30) so we had a drink first. Once we were seated, service was friendly and professional. Everything we ordered was nice, but nothing was crazy-delicious – typical of E&O. The seabass sashimi with truffle dressing and yuzu, was too light on both the truffle and the yuzu. Black cod was of course very good, but then I found the tempura a little oily. The pumpkin and shiitake vietnamese lettuce parcels (choi bau) were lovely and fresh but too disparate: too much pumpkin v too little shiitake. We found the Pad Thai a little too sweet and in need of more spring onions. Finally the wagyu beef tataki was delicious as were the asian greens in garlic we ordered to go with it.
Overall you do leave E&O satisfied and full and with a feeling that, that night, you have dined at a cool place, so I will continue to go back there as I have done in the past, mainly for their nonchalant ambience.

We went to E&O for a friends borthday on Saturday night (15th May 2010). As soon as we sat down at ten past 8, we were reminded that we ahd to give the table back at 10pm. We ordered a bottle of champagne and waited for the final member of the party to arrive. at twenty past eight the waiteer urged us to order our food as they had to turn the table. Food was very nice but its the atmosphere you pay for.
Ive marked the service low not because of any mistakes or delays with the food but because they brought the bill without us asking for it.
Better food at lower prices can be had at Nobu in Berkeley Square.

Updated

Went back again a few times here – constant table turning has really annoyed me, plus the whole table allocation meant i was given tables near the loo/bar area where you just know youve been placed because you dont seem hip enough or ‘look’ right! Its a shame because the food is good – id recommend insisting you dont get those particular tables when you actually book or just go elsewhere to some of the many other haunts in Notting Hill. Its sad because i think the treatment of customers in this way has really put me off recommending this place anymore.

Previous review

I'd wanted to go to E&O for ages having heard the great reviews. I called up on the Thursday morning and the only tables available were half 6 and 10 so took the earlier option. For anyone else, remember to book early to get yourself a reasonable time. When we got there, the dining area was empty but many had congregated at the smaller bar area.

Foodwise – i started with baby pork ribs which didnt have too much meat on them and seemed covered in black bean sauce – nothing special. My main was much more delicious – a medium rare sirloin steak with some sort of horseradhishy sauce and soy, together was ‘proper’ egg fried rice and bok choi. I thought it was beautifully prepared and the flavours worked together perfectly. My friend had squid to start which again didnt seem much to rave about but had the biggest plate of pad thai you could imagine! Also extremely tasty but in my opinion, very gingery.

Pudding, i had the non Japanese chocolate pudding which was divine – though i felt myself thinking a la Masterchef ‘Ive had this soooooooo many times before, it had better melt in the centre’ – but it did and was excellent, together with some sort of green tea ice cream. Friend had the banoffi pie – hardly very japanese but very light, just enough of every ingredient to make it a very well made pie!

The food here is great – id recommend passing on the starter, and really going all out with mains and puddings because the mains were huge. The final bill was £85 for both of us – three courses and drinks. There is a great selection of cocktails, both non alc and alc. My only issue was table turning. Even though we had been told the table was only good till half 8, they seemed to be rushing us out at 8 – giving us only 1.5hrs to eat. However there were people waiting for the tables so i think it's the fault of the restaurant to try and squeeze as many sittings in as possible. It's not a lounge around/long chat sort of place, its super trendy and more a get in, taste the food and get out asap. Definitely worth trying out once if you can but time your sitting well (maybe 7pm) so you dont feel the annoying proverbial boot later on.

Lunch at E&O this week was my second meal at a Ricker restaurant and did not disappoint. I love the feel of these restaurants; there's always a good atmosphere and they're busy without being too noisy. While the food was of a very high standard, some dishes are definitely better value than others. The fish in the mixed sashimi plate was perfect and a tower of tuna tartare melt in the mouth. A main of BBQ lamb was pink and juicy and some of the best lamb I've recently had. For modern Asian food with a twist, then E&O is hard to beat.