Not much trading at E & O

Another restaurant to try in the city of San Francisco is the southeast Asian grill restaurant E & O Trading Co.  Devised as a Chinese restaurant, I felt it was more like American-Chinese fusion and I only wonder why it is labeled with the word trading in its name.  There seems to be quite a number of people that visit and praise  E & O, and it appears to be quite a wait if reservations are not made.  Luckily for the unprepared, their lounge area features lovely plush sofas for the patient, and bar snacks/drinks can be ordered as you wait comfortably.

This finely lit restaurant features two floors but apparently an accidental fire over the past few years forced the owners to close shop for a remodel, so the second floor dining area seems inaccessible.  Maybe the second floor isn't really a dining area?  Whatever the case is, the interior is still decorated mostly of wood and you'd think they would reconsider the building material after the first incident.

For starters, warm edamame beans didn't cut it, but wok roasted mussels (cooked in white wine, garlic, ginger, chilies, soybeans, and cilantro) and portobello mushroom satay (grilled with soy coconut milk glaze) seemed satisfying.  The mussels arrived in an actual wok but whether they were actually cooked in it was difficult to tell.

Seldom do you get a shellfish cooked just right with every bite a tender one.  The texture was different to me, as most Asian restaurants tend to overcook them a bit resulting in an elastic chewy morsel.  This tenderness was indeed different.  Maybe they actually weren't cooked long enough?  Oh the horror!  Too late to complain about that now.  It was also nice that the mussels were de-bearded.  Don't you just hate it when you're eating one and a whisker comes out of your mouth?  It happens!  Just not so much at E & O.  The sauce was the right amount of savoriness and it seems to go along well with the mussels, but it is also seldom to find Chinese-style mussels that are cooked in something other than black bean sauce (especially Lee Kum Kee Black bean garlic sauce), so this was different.  A bit interesting.  Zookeeper really liked the portobello mushroom satay but I thought they tasted exactly like every-day satay.  Grilled mushrooms.  The soy coconut milk glaze drizzled on top of the portobello didn't strike me as something memorable, but the mushrooms themselves were really good.  Not overcooked.  Tender and still retaining its earthy flavor.  Maybe zookeeper just likes mushrooms or maybe it was the tenderness.

I ordered the black pepper shaking beef while my zookeeper ordered the steam arctic char.  The shaking beef was a dish of filet mignon stir fried with red onions, chilies, and tomatoes, then topped with herbs and watercress.  I was slightly disappointed by the dish because it was something that could be ordered at other [inexpensive] Asian restaurants.  Asian cafes ring a bell.  I do want to note the mignon was tender and juicy, but the charred edges give it a bitter finish to the taste.  Then again, how many times have filet mignon not be tender?  The red onions, chilies, and tomatoes were bland so it seems the grilling took a lot of the flavor out.

The steamed arctic char arrived to delight my zookeeper, and it was interesting to see it wasn't charred [pun intended] but steamed with roasted brussel sprouts drizzled with a ginger garlic tamari sauce.  According to zookeeper, the fish was a very buttery melt-in-your-mouth experience so in other words the texture was akin to oily and smooth.

Both dishes were good but neither stood out.  I tried some of it and it was indeed a very tender fish and also very buttery.  I was hoping the grilled brussels sprouts would contrast the fish - take away some of that butteriness.  Indeed it did in a sense.  The over-grilled vegetables left a bitter taste and took away the natural flavors of the sprouts.  Not really what we were expecting.

Somehow it seems the idea at E & O was to roast the veggies to the point where they tasted bitter instead of that subtle sweetness vegetables have.  It was disappointing truly, but this isn't to say the rest of the food was.  Just the two entree maybe.  Just what we tried.  There was really nothing Asian about the food other than maybe the use of watercress and ginger.  The food definitely didn't taste authentic Asian especially considering China Town was a few blocks up the road.  E & O is a nice looking place.  Too bad the appetizer stood out more than the entrees.  Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Price - A little above average but the restaurant is similar to fine dining.

Atmosphere - The interior has this oriental feel to it but it's too dim in some corners and too ambient in others.

Necessity - There are better Asian restaurants a few blocks away.

Details - Nice use of garnishing here and there, and also Asian-style cooking ware to give that Asian feel.

Appeal - Great place for a company dinner or pseudo-Asian dining experience, otherwise don't expect authentic Chinese food.

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