E & O Trading Company

Yes I’ve gotten lazy and this really from my homework discussion. But besides the blah below, I personally enjoyed my experience. I suggest trying the house ginger ale, it’s handcrafted there.
Located in the heart of downtown San Jose, E&O Trading Company is a Southern Asian fusion restaurant. The targeted markets are the local business people and anyone looking for a more upscale dining experience. Several students from SJSU dine in the restaurant as well but are not necessarily the restaurant’s focus. The demographics are not the stereotypical Asians but rather a diverse crowd. The physical design is large and airy with a more cultural interior. There is a main dining room along with a bar/​lounge area. A dining table at the restaurant is kept simple but modern with a plate, cloth napkin, and a pair of chopsticks at each seat with a candle in the middle to brighten the table up. The restaurant is kept moderately dim. The restaurant concept was meant to be a showcase of elaborate design and Southern Asian cuisine. The menus are kept simple on two pages folded towards each other in a thick cover. There are separate menus for lunch and dinner with a majority of dishes being small plates. Prices are kept high with this extravagant concept. With striking décor and spectacular dishes, the restaurant provides a memorable experience for any guest.

Happy hour here is worth a try.
Drinks for 5 dollars, their food menu is limited but that’s fine. Keep it brief. I personally liked the calamari the most.
Bartenders weren’t so friendly but maybe bc I came in on a bad day. Or maybe bc I look young so they don’t care?
Their happy hour runs til 7 or 8pm, which is great because i get off around 6 AND i have to sit thru traffic.

I am SO SAD this place closed Sunday! :(
I only went once during an event at Cinequest and had a couple appetizers. They were so good I had to come back.
I went on a Friday and since they were closing on Sunday, couldnt renew the lease, they had great specials! $ 5 cocktails? YUM!!! We ordered mango mojitos, my fave, and Pom Magaritas. So yummy! And you can’t beat that price.
For food we started with the Chicken Satay, amazing.
Then, Panir Cheese Naan bread, to die for, with a mango salsa on the side.
Mandalay BBQ Spare ribs, gazed with Brown Sugar. WOW
Salmon appetizer skewers… with pineapple and mango.
And Calamari… yum. Didnt care for the tentacles… because they were too hard to chew, but o well.
It was my dads birthday so they also brought out a candle and flourless chocolate cake that I secretly ordered! YUM!!!
Overall it was an amazing experience. maybe because someone gave me a giftcard and I wasnt paying, but either way, the food is amazing! ;)
There is one in SF but the manager said the food isnt the same. Damn :(
REOPEN somewhere else please! :)

Yummy corn fritters and chicken skewers. They make really good cocktails as well! But their most most most to die for item on their menu was the CRAB CAKES !!! AHHHH CRAB CAKES = pure comfort food.
Doesn’t hurt that their bartenders are hot. Hollar!

Came by for lunch the other day and wasn’t impressed. The highlight of my experience was the rather upscale interior compared to the exterior along with the people watching experience that I got from watching people drive on the railroad next to the restaurant…
Per Unilocalers’ suggestions, we ordered the corn fritters which were definitely the highlight of the meal. They were okay in my book.
The Spicy sweet potato naan was not so good. The naan was too thick and the sweet potato was rather spicy.
The mushroom and pork lettuce cups were definitely a miss as the pork reminded me of Mexican food…
The shaking beef was also a disappointment as I wasn’t able to see the beef at first. After going to the bottom of the cilantro salad, there were a couple pieces of shredded beef that was poorly cooked at best…
The chicken pad thai was definitely not worth the $ 14 price tag. The pad thai had a bizarre citrus taste.
For an Asian fusion restaurant, having a chef Jiminez definitely isn’t promising.
…all in all, definitely not worth the $ 30/​head for lunch…

Came here for the first time for the Unilocal Elite event this past Saturday. Wonderful service by all the staff, and all the appetizers I tried (pork/​chicken/​portabella mushroom satay, tomato naan, crab cakes, and their famous corn fritters) were amazing!
conveniently located on the corner of first street, near gordon biersch, and right across the street from a paid parking lot ($ 5).
can’t wait to go and try their other menu options!

Come here for the cute bartenders and fantastic cocktails. This is a great place for a happy hour stop and some snacks. This is a pretty good sized restaurant with zen-​like ambience. I’m pretty sure you’ll have a good time here.
I came here for a Unilocal event and we tried out some new food that they’ll be putting on the menu. Look out for the thai crab cakes; they’re to die for.

There’s some great dishes here. My favorite is the corn fritters. The stuffed naan is also good. The lanai cocktail is also super tasty, it’s basically a bunch of rum that’s been marinating some pineapples for a few days.
As far as Asian fusion goes, this place is a little more upscale than PF Chang’s, and is superior to Straits.

The bf took me and it was pretty damn good! We got 3 small plates and 1 large plate and it was just enough for the 2 of us (we can eat though!)
— corn fritters: a must get. They are so good and come with this yummy dipping sauce
— steak satay: they weren’t bad! Good flavor.
— garlic green beans: only so so, probably wouldn’t get them again.
— fried rice: very yummy
— sundae and banana spring roll desserts: both a must get
They also make their own soda and lemonade! We will for sure be coming back!

I came here for a friend’s birthday dinner last night. We ordered everything on the small plates and large plates menu (literally), so I got to try some of everything via family-​style.
The ambiance of the restaurant is fairly nice, which is typical of Asian fusion restaurants. However, the food itself was just OK. First of all, the food wasn’t exactly Asian fusion. Many of the dishes were just poor renditions of Asian dishes. I get that Asian fusion is not supposed to be authentic, but it seemed like the food was trying to be Asian (yet not fully succeeding) instead of being innovative. In order to be «fusion,» the food would need to be a bit more creative. My friend likened E&O to a slightly more upscale version of PF Chang’s.
The only standout for me was the duck imperial rolls (liked the dipping sauce). The ahi tartar and Indonesian corn fritters were also OK. I did enjoy their cocktail menu — try the pear ginger martini. Skip the flatbreads (bad sauce, bad flatbread) and any of the dishes that resemble fried rice or chow mein… you can find similar dishes of a similar quality at Panda Express.

OMGeeeeeee. If you want tasty and savory food, this place is it. Been coming here for the past four years for special occasions and no occasions!
Usual menu suspects:
— Indonesian Corn Fritters (This item appeared on Food Networks’s «Best Thing I Ever Ate»)
— Pork & Mushroom Lettuce Cups
— Roti Paratha (2 orders b/​c I’m a pig)
— E&O Satay Platter
— Chicken and Asian Pear Salad
— BBQ Beef
— Hakka Eggplants
— Lemongrass Chicken
And for the most important part of the meal… desserts! I love their Bangkok banana gelato sundae or their silk chocolate cake w/​a scoop of coffee gelato! Mmmm that usually hits the spot for me!
Service is a hit or miss. But if you happen to get Marco, you’ll be in great hands!

Great for happy hours.
They have great $ 3 beers on tap and $ 3 appetizers also.
Their corn fritters and satay chicken are awesome. Their calimari is f-​ing BOMB.
It’s quiet, so they’ll show the games, but rarely put on the audio. They only have two TVs in the bar area, so it’s not a great place to watch games.
Great to eat and drink with friends during happy hour.
The servers are probably the nicest in DTSJ. Very attentive too.
Since there’s not really any sports on and there’s no music, the people you get here will be the after-​work, early-30’s crowd.

Great looking restaurant in the heart of downtown San Jose.
We ordered the spare ribs, asian pear chicken salad, duck imperial rolls, and corn fritters.
Spare Ribs were on the dry side, enjoyed the sauce they slathered them with.
The salad was light and tasty. It was good, on par.
Duck imperial rolls alone had a strange taste, but when dipped in the sauce that it comes with, it certainly made it more tastier.
The corn fritter was eh for me despite the high reviews on them.
All in all, an average experience but what’s dropped them to two stars was the price of each plate and an upset stomach within the hour.

I came here with a group of 9 for Happy Hour on a Friday. I was actually surprised that it wasn’t too crowded when I arrived at 5:30. The bar area is extremely small and crowded though. The chairs are also very odd, ranging from regular bar stools to large square stools that I could fit a large flower pot on.
Anyways, my friends mentioned to me that it was very hard to flag down the waitress for a drink so my boyfriend went to the bar directly to order some for us. Apparently some bartenders only serve you one drink at a time but my boyfriend was able to order two. Maybe my friends looked a lot younger, I’m not sure.
The drinks are really good here while the food isn’t so much. I can justify paying $ 5 for a strong, well-​made cocktail but not $ 3/​plate for fried corn and pizza bread with sauce (their naan-​like dish).
FYI their bartenders are extremely watchful about your age. My friend’s younger brother was there and took a few sips of her drink when the bartender took his time to WALK out from behind the counter, come to our table, and ask to see his ID. He mentioned that he forgot his ID and the bartender took away my friends drink and said, «Sorry guys.» WTF?! I understand that he shouldn’t have drank her drink but for the bartender to TAKE it away from her before she even had a chance to drink it AND charge her for it was pretty upsetting and strange.
Overall a solid 3 for this place but only because of their drinks.

I’ve been here a couple of times, and let me just say, they have an AWESOME happy hour menu!
But as far as dinner goes, it’s a total «meh».
It seems like they are always understaffed. Twice I’ve been here, we’ve waited for more than 10 minutes after being seated for our waiter to show up and waters filled. The kitchen seems slow as well… and waiters (both times) forgot our drink orders. If you expect good service, don’t come here.
I do recommend their corn fritters — very delectable! The crunchy batter and poppy corn kernels create a playful texture in your mouth, and the sweetness of the corn and the savory dipping sauce brings depth to the flavor.
I’ve had their ahi tuna salad — it’s more like a slaw… the veggies were drenched in dressing, though they are fresh and crunchy, the overpowering saltiness ruined the dish for me. The tuna pieces were fresh and generous, though.
One of their drinks is called «Dragon Breath» — watch out, it’s got chili peppers in it, and it totally burned alllll the way down!
It has great décor, good ambiance, but the greasy smell from the open kitchen stayed on my clothes and in my hair the whole night, yuckity yuck!

Happy Hour only review. I’ve eaten the world over twice, and can honestly say that Marco, the bartender and server is one of the nicest and most genuine human beings I have ever met. He deserves the tips for his gracious care.
$ 3 for all appetizers and $ 5 for strong, unique cocktails. What deals!
Drink — tiger’s paw 4 rum combination — very tasty and extremely strong for happy hour (many other spots give you ¹⁄₃ to ½ a shot, not here!)
Corn frittatas — one of the best dishes here. Corn that’s been fried together and dipped in teriyaki sauce. Fantastic.
Calamari — a HUGE dish, so good I ordered three. Very perfectly cooked. The meat is plentiful and tasty.
Naan bread — average. Has a marinari and another ranch /​greek sauce. It’s not bad, but not amazing.
Skewers — three chicken skewers in peanut sauce. Friends likeed it.
Corn frittatas and calamari are musts. I highly recommend this happy hour spot.

Cool interior for San Jose.
OK food for San Jose.
Need to get out of San Jose.
I remember hearing good things several years ago about this resto group, but it’s worse than PF Changs. Seriously. Everything was sticky sweet, including the cocktails.

The first time I ate here was when I was dating this chick from SF. She told me we were eating at E&O Trading Company. I was like WTF? Doesn’t sound like a restaurant at all. I thought we were eating at a Pier 1 or something.
It was also the first time I was introduced to Asian Fusion. Before that, I thought it was some white chick getting freaky with a Chinese boy (like myself). Dang this food was good!
I decided to try this joint in Man Jose to see if it fared well. We ordered the Roti Paratha for appetizer, chicken pad thai, firecracker chicken, and a side of eggplant. Food was flavorful, although quite heavy on the sodium. The dipping sauce for the Roti is spicy and seemed to be based mostly on the Rooster sauce. It’s nothing like the Roti Prata at Banana Leaf I’ll tell you that! We ordered a couple of their signature cocktails. It was yummy, but was sucked down quickly because of the internal brining.
What I liked the best about this place is their paper towels in the bathrooms. It’s like a dry version of a Swiffer. It’s durable, absorbent, and can probably double as a emergency diaper if you have a baby. These things are the bomb! It’ll give the Shamwow a run for it’s money. Hear that camera guy?

Came here for dinner with a client, and it was definitely a good choice if you’re in the mood for some Asian-​fusion.
Had their salmon satay skewers (seared just right), salt and pepper calamari (ok), ahi tartar (a bit bland), chicken pad thai (nice with a hint of lime), and last but not least… their Indonesian corn fritters (light, fluffy, crispy, awesome texture and flavors). Each dish came with their own special sauces that made the dishes come together… Also tried their homemade ginger ale (too sweet and syrupy for my taste).
I’ve also been to their SF location, and definitely had a different vibe. This place was much roomier and airier; although the SF location feels more cozy and compact (even though it is probably the same square footage).
Service was very friendly and attentive. 3.5 stars overall… Although, I’d give their Indonesian corn fritters a 4 star rating alone… Definitely their signature dish.

E&O is one of my favorite fusion restaurant located in San Jose downtown accessible by the light rail. I have dined here numerous times and was never disappointed. The ambiance is romantic yet casual. The service is always friendly and attentive.
For your first visit I recommend the following dishes.
Small Plates
Indonesian Corn Fritters — Crispy fried corn dipped in sweet chilli soy sauce. Consider this their house specialty. If you ask your server for recommendation, he/​she is most likely going to tell you about the corn fritters.
Spicy Sweet Potato Flat Bread — For those of you who is not a big fan of fried food, the flat bread is a healthier alternative.
Big Plates
Shaking Beef — Tender cubed beef filet cooked in a tasty garlic sauce. This dish is done almost exactly according to the classic Vietnamese recipe.
Shiso Pepper Grilled Salmon — Simple yet tasty grilled salmon completed with mixed greens.
Other honorable mentions
Duck Imperial Roll
Ginger Portobello Satay
Hardwood Grilled Ahi