Enso

• Cuisine(s): American, Eclectic, Greek, Japanese, Mediterranean
  Hours: Daily for lunch & dinner. Sushi served 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., dinner 5 p.m. - midnight.
  Price: $$$$
  Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards
• Attire: Casual
  Features: Smoking, Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Private Party, Wheelchair Accessible, Kid Friendly, Vegetarian Friendly
  Serving: Dinner, Late Night, Lunch
  Entertainment: Live Entertainment
• Reservations: Accepted, Recommended
  Parking: Garage, Meters

Description

"Enso is an evolutionary solutions workshop which creates the scientific study of deliciousness." So begins the insanely inventive, thoroughly audacious menu at this new sushi/hibachi/Mediterranean deconstructionist establishment on Lincoln Road. Each of a dozen main courses is categorized as "Study," "Analysis," or "Inspiration"; some come fragmented into four. Yellowtail, for instance, brings hamachi meatballs; a "terrine" of raw hamachi slices with diced apple and pine-nut crisp; hamachi "ravioli" wrapped around diced fruit and foamed with basil; and pliable "chips" of fish with "clarified gazpacho." Each component thrilled, as did all four parts of a chocolate dessert (ranging in form from Kit Kat bar to caviar). Sushi is solid too, and a few ceviches and tiraditos are offered. Yet another option (and best bang for the buck at $19) is to choose from a list of meat, fish, and vegetable skewers - served with rice, flour tortillas, salad, and potato croquette - and cook them at a tableside hibachi. Fancier entrées run $28 to $32. Enso's cuisine surprises with its inventiveness and audacity, but what really shocks is just how tasty most of it is.