E & O Trading Company

I just tried E & O for the first time. What a wonderful restaurant!! 5 of us tried it for lunch and shared a number of small plates. The corn fritters were fabulous. Very large corn kernels dlicately held together with a crispy light batter. The spring rolls which you eat by wrapping in lettuce were delightful and crispy. There was also a minced beef dish with black sesame seeds that you wrap in lettuce leaves with cilantro. Loved it. Another favorite was the fried rice which I would not have normally ordered by the server recommended it. It was a wonderful and flavorful blend of large prawns, scrambled egg, other veggies and meat, and crispy thin onion rings as a garnish. We also enjoyed the homemade soft drinks and flavorful iced teas. I liked the mango tea and others at our table enjoyed the ginger ale. The things that fell short were a field greens salad - so ordinary compared to everything else - and the crab cakes were a real disappointment - not very flavorful and ... more

I just tried E & O for the first time. What a wonderful restaurant!! 5 of us tried it for lunch and shared a number of small plates. The corn fritters were fabulous. Very large corn kernels dlicately held together with a crispy light batter. The spring rolls which you eat by wrapping in lettuce were delightful and crispy. There was also a minced beef dish with black sesame seeds that you wrap in lettuce leaves with cilantro. Loved it. Another favorite was the fried rice which I would not have normally ordered by the server recommended it. It was a wonderful and flavorful blend of large prawns, scrambled egg, other veggies and meat, and crispy thin onion rings as a garnish. We also enjoyed the homemade soft drinks and flavorful iced teas. I liked the mango tea and others at our table enjoyed the ginger ale. The things that fell short were a field greens salad - so ordinary compared to everything else - and the crab cakes were a real disappointment - not very flavorful and a little greasy. We also shared 3 desserts - desserts were huge! The banana fritter thing was gigantic and intriguing. The chocolate marquise was a very rich triangular slice of almost total fudge with an artful display of mango and rasberry swirls. Although it tasted rich and wonderful, it does not seem to go with the rest of the meal, unless you just can't survive a meal without chocolate at the end ... then go for it! I am craving a return there! It's more fun to go with 4 or more people because you can sample more items. less

First, classifying this as "Singaporean" is very wrong. This is an "Asian Fusion" restaurant, and one of the rare one for which this conceit works very nicely. While the more traditional dishes (such as Satay and Nan) are average at best (the stay sauce with peanut butter rather than ground or pounded peanuts is especially amateurish), the truly fusion dishes are tasted and work very well. We had five people and each ordered two "small" plates. This gave us plenty of food and lots of different tastes. The inexpensive ($5.95) corn fritters were a creative and very tasty affair: whole kernels in a light lattice of batter that tastes somewhat halfway between popcorn and whole corn. Yummy! The fried calamari was some of the best I've had anywhere -- absolutely light but crisp batter and cooked to perfection: not chewy at all! The barbecue ribs were unusually big and very tasty, too. The five-glass beer tasting selection is a huge value. Consider sharing it ... more

First, classifying this as "Singaporean" is very wrong. This is an "Asian Fusion" restaurant, and one of the rare one for which this conceit works very nicely. While the more traditional dishes (such as Satay and Nan) are average at best (the stay sauce with peanut butter rather than ground or pounded peanuts is especially amateurish), the truly fusion dishes are tasted and work very well.
We had five people and each ordered two "small" plates. This gave us plenty of food and lots of different tastes. The inexpensive ($5.95) corn fritters were a creative and very tasty affair: whole kernels in a light lattice of batter that tastes somewhat halfway between popcorn and whole corn. Yummy! The fried calamari was some of the best I've had anywhere -- absolutely light but crisp batter and cooked to perfection: not chewy at all! The barbecue ribs were unusually big and very tasty, too.
The five-glass beer tasting selection is a huge value. Consider sharing it between two beer fans.
I came into this restaurant thinking it would be more style than substance, but this was not the case when ordering the innovative small plates. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I've ever had in a restaurant. Only the pedestrian treatment of true Southeast Asian classics, such as sate (reminiscent of the hugely disappointing and overrated Wild Ginger in Seattle) keep me from giving E & O five stars.
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E&O Trading is a wonderful recent addition to San Jose's bustling downtown revival of restaurants and nightclubs. They have an exotic selection of Indoasian drinks and food. Just entering the place, you feel it is really unique place, with imaginative interior styling and fun furniture and decorations from far away places. They do a great job of setting the mood for their unique Indoasian inspired appetizers and entrees. This is my second visit here. While they do have a menu of full size entrees, on this visit last night, I shared seven different appetizer and small plates with another person, so I could taste a range of their dishes. Our selection included chicken satay with peanut sauce, prawn satay with some kind of spicy sauce, pork satay with a BBQ sauce, imperial rolls, corn fritters, crab cakes, and Nan bread. Overall I was somewhat disappointed on this visit, in contrast to my first visit. I felt that there was an uninspired production feel to many of the dishes ... more

E&O Trading is a wonderful recent addition to San Jose's bustling downtown revival of restaurants and nightclubs. They have an exotic selection of Indoasian drinks and food. Just entering the place, you feel it is really unique place, with imaginative interior styling and fun furniture and decorations from far away places. They do a great job of setting the mood for their unique Indoasian inspired appetizers and entrees. This is my second visit here. While they do have a menu of full size entrees, on this visit last night, I shared seven different appetizer and small plates with another person, so I could taste a range of their dishes. Our selection included chicken satay with peanut sauce, prawn satay with some kind of spicy sauce, pork satay with a BBQ sauce, imperial rolls, corn fritters, crab cakes, and Nan bread. Overall I was somewhat disappointed on this visit, in contrast to my first visit. I felt that there was an uninspired production feel to many of the dishes. The tastes did not jump out and bite like I felt the spices should have. The best dish was the corn fritters, which were quite tasty and rather unique in their preparation and look. I have never seen anything made like that before. The satay's had a sameness too them, even though they had different sauces. The texture and flavor of the crab cakes made them seem like packaged food. The Nan bread was good, but could not compare to the Nan bread I have had at some pure Indian restaurants. The service was delightful, and our server, Jillian had a level of friendliness and warmth that is rare. It may help that she is a "trainer", but at least the service staff has a good level to aspire to. I hope that my food experiences were just an off night, because my first time there about three months ago was much better. less