Eno Terra Restaurant & Enoteca — Restaurant in South Brunswick

Eno Terra belongs in Kingston, because use Princeton-area types deserve a world-class, Lower Manhattan restaurant too!

OVERVIEW Eno Terra is a diner's treasure trove. A wine list that offers affordable, but soundly vetted options, alongside top-flight wines from all over the world. While there is an emphasis on Italian wines, there is a thoughtful diversity of bottles to choose among, including ultra dry, medium- and light-bodied, fruitier reds, as well as a ton of whites, sparkling and blush alternatives. Best of all, ask your server if you can discuss wine pairing options with their wine experts, and about 40 people will rush to your table to advise you. And at the same time, if you'd rather go rogue, be the loner in the room, Eno Terra also understands the value of boundaries and will leave you to explore your taste buds entirely without their counsel. The menu always comes with seasonal options, promising you a fresh, new experience each time you visit and the serving and bar staff are deeply informed, seem to have tasted everything and are able to articulate what's on their menu, option by option.

THE FOOD I've had a fair amount of their dinner menu options and they are always transcendent. These people are artisans of fine food. There are no moonlighters or fly-by-nighters on their staff. Their RoadtedPear Salad is incredible the arugula tasts as if it were plucked from the earth minutes before being placed on the plate. The shallots offer that scarcely found subtle balance of zest and sweetness, while the goat cheese sublimely does the other part of the heavy lifting. Milky, creamy and fresh, the cheese adds that unforgettably tangy juxtaposition to the sweetness of the pears and almonds. I've also recently enjoyed their Ricotta Gnocchi Ragu, the Pescatore, Whole Banzino, Roasted Salmon, their Strip and a few specials. The Gnocchi was cooked perfectly al dente, the cream sauce was never overpowering, and the shallots, spinach and seasoning was subtle, light, yet lingering like a great, velvety pinot noir finishes. Each fish dish I've tried, branzino and salmon alike, each had that perfect shiny, flaky appearance and consistency. Unlike that undercooked translucency you may have seen in other restaurants, Eno Terra knows how to prepare bone fish. The salmon is light, tender in its center, but crisp and almost caramelized on the outside. And the chef achieves a perfect sear on the branzino too.

THE ATMOSPHERE Somehow, Eno Terra managed to be colossal in footprint, but intimate in packaging. The place is conspicuously larger on the inside than its modest facade would have one believe. A two-level seating area, Eno Terra offers tables that overlook the main dining area, as well as a large, open bar area with tons of seating at the bar as well. The bar staff, which is where I choose to dine at Eno Terra, is packed with talent. Our bartenders are not bartenders. They're experts in the delivery of the Eno Terr mission statement. Even not knowing what that is, one can quickly see that Eno Terra knows the value of brand and message. I have not had a bad experience at Eno Terra. If my server is having a bad day, I'd never know it. Smiles and thoughtful contributions to discussing their menus is all you'll ever experience.

SUMMARY Eno Terra wouldn't be out of place in Soho any sooner than it would be at any other major metropolitan city around the world. If one encounter Eno Terra in Minsk, Munich, Paris, Rome, LA, Chitown, it would raise an eye row. But in sleepy, charming, historic Kingston, it's a bit more of a get. Kingston, make no mistake, is a Marque town in Central NJ. But Eno Terra is special. Sure they own a few other differently awesome places in the area (See Mediterra, Teresa's in Palmer Square), but Eno Terra is a restaurant that offers diners an opportunity to enjoy a NYC restaurant and wine experience at a price point, I can testify, falls dramatically below East Village prices.

Eno Terra wants you to remember them. They want you to know how seriously they take you...

I came across this restaurant one night, about a year ago, after I had just finished traveling a nearby hiking trail. It was late at that point, and I just wanted to find a place to get dinner before having to drive more than an hour back home (and especially after all that exercise, lol). When I google searched for local restaurants that were still open, I surprisingly wasn't given a lot of options for it being on a weekend. I chose Eno Terra because it was the closest to me, and it did actually look very appealing.

When we got there, I thought the restaurant looked very charming from outside, especially while it was all lit up. It was very nicely decorated, with a prettily lit archway between the parking lot and the entrance, and with interesting sculptures and art all around. When I entered the restaurant, it all looked very classy and elegant, but also... kind of stiff? While the decor was beautiful, it seemed outdated and overwhelmingly dull, which gave off this sort of lifeless and boring vibe. The atmosphere is quite, which is nice for romantic settings and the like, but there wasn't even any music playing that I can remember, and that also just added to the stilted feeling of it all.

The food is super pricey, which we expected after seeing how high-end the restaurant presented itself. We were actually surprised they even surved us at all and didn't ask us to leave, considering we had just finished hiking a fairly muddy trail for multiple hours just 20 mins before arriving, lol. Their menu items all seemed very interesting and delicious, and it was difficult for us to settle on just one meal item each.

The food was definitely high quality, and the presentation of them were excellent. Unfortunately, the serving sizes are very small for what they were each worth, and as high quality as it all was, none of our meals really wowed us. Our servers were nice, and the overall service was fine. I am grateful to our one server who offered us ice wine after asking him advice on choosing a dessert wine for our table. I love ice wines! It can be pretty difficult to find ice wines for sale in general, but especially at that time of year. Them having ice wine definitely won them some brownie points...

First time eating here with my wife. Had much better expectations considering my brother-in-law (foodie, amazing cook) loves the food here.

We arrived for lunch at 12:30 promptly, and it wasn't too busy. We ordered apps; the calamari (excellent, would HIGHLY recommend) and the artisan bread with olive oil (was also really good), and ordered our lunch all at the same time, around 12:45. I ordered the Amish Chicken and my wife had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich.

We got our drinks and appetizers around 1pm and was done by 1:15. Our main lunch didn't come until around 2pm; 45 min later. The food was warm though, it just took FOREVER to get to us. Not sure if they had issues catching the chicken... but honestly we ALMOST asked for our check without the main meal around 2pm but then, of course, our food came out.

The Valet crew was awesome (I was surprised he knew how to drive a manual) and waitress was nice but seemed to be more attentive to a holiday gathering that came in after us (which I get... ish).

As for the main meal, the Amish Chicken itself didn't have any flavor at all; what saved it was the sides which were good and flavorful. The chicken was cooked well and was juicy but it just had ZERO flavor to it. I even had some of the skin (which usually has a lot of the flavor) and I couldn't taste anything special. Calling it mediocre would be a high end compliment.

Same issue with my wife's chicken sandwich. The chicken had ZERO flavor. Cooked well, but no flavor. She LOVED the brocolli rabe and everything else. She said if the brocolli rabe came by itself she would've just ordered that.

We were really expecting more (quicker service, flavorful chicken) and wish our experience was better. Might come back for the calamari and to try some other things, but definitely won't be ordering the...