En⁺

Just landed from L.A.and staying in Kobe for couple of weeks. These guys here are friendly fun and definitely make you feel welcomed to the neighborhood. Have a beer here, get a snack, have some coffee and check out the art exhibition there is always something new.

There are plenty of dodgy bars under the Hankyu tracks, but this isn’t one of them. Here the décor is light, the air is fresh and the food is healthy. At least thats the way it is at lunch whenever I go there.
They have only three things on the lunch menu;
–Chicken curry 700 yen
–Taco rice 700 yen
–Lunch set 800 yen
It’s all good, but I usually fork out the extra 100 yen for the lunch set. It comes with rice, miso soup and lots of healthy Japanese morsels, and the main dish changes every week. There is even a little ramekin of milk custard for dessert.
The other thing I like about this place is the atmosphere. When you first come to Japan you marvel at how polite everyone in the service industry, but after a while you realise that they are just doing things by the manual and there is a difference between politeness and friendliness. At en+ they are polite but they are also friendly. That’s part of the philosophy of the place. They want the customers to make friends with the staff and with each other and the name en+ (en tasu) means expanding circle. At night they have special events to cater to various interests and I get the feeling it would be a good place to meet some cool people.
On top of all that, the walls of the café double as a gallery for local artists which change regularly.
For a little establishment, they pack in a lot of value.