American Style Pies

Pies are awesome. I am a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but will never turn down a slice of apple pie.
One of the things I noticed about Ibaraki was that it is severely lacking in the pie department. Sure, you can get what passes for an apple pie at your local supermarket or a backed apple pie from McDonalds. But none of those pies taste like a real pie should. Finding a proper pie was proving impossible until a few weeks ago when my wife said "There is a place I want to try" which led us to a delicious pie place called Ena RD.

Ena RD.

Ena Road is an American style restaurant located in the Amakawa area of Tsuchiura.
I can't take any credit for finding this place. This was all Mrs. Ibaraki Eats. She found this place by chance on Instagram and made sure that we would try the pies from Ena RD. On a sunny afternoon, we were driving around Tsuchiura when my wife said "Oh! We are close to the pie place!" She navigated me to a neighborhood where we found a very pink restaurant with plastic flamingos outside. I wasn't sure where the parking was so I just parked in front of the restaurant. We headed inside ready to get some pies.

Inside

Walking inside, I first saw a huge Taco Bell sign on a chair. I looked around some more and found A.W. Root Beer, a Mountain Dew rug, Hawaiian jewelry, and many more American items. This place wasn't just a restaurant, it was a store as well. It sold different American pop culture items and things from Hawaii. That's when I realized that the restaurant was giving off an American place vibe. The owners later told me that they used to live in Hawaii. Now I understand everything. I looked at the dining area and saw that it was a small area. It can seat up to 15 people max. We were mainly there for take-out but I made a mental note to eat in one day.
We turned to the pie counter which also had the menu.

Menu and Pie Counter

As I said before, this is an American-style pie place, but they also serve burgers and sandwiches. The drinks and burger options are in Japanese but the main dishes are also in English.
The sandwiches are the clubhouse sandwich and the pulled pork sandwich.
The main pies are apple and blueberry. There are also special pies like the raspberry cream cheese pie and meat pies like the Kalua pig pie.
My wife and I were not eating in today so we decided to take three pies home and have them after our dinner.

Blueberry Pie

One thing I should say about these pies is that they are not regular-sized pies. They are a bit smaller than regular-sized American pies. If you are looking to bring a pie home to a family of four or something, you might want to buy more than one pie.
My wife and I tried the blueberry pie first after our dinner. It looked wonderful. We heated it up in the oven and when it was nice and warm we bit into the pie.
You know what makes me sad? Soggy, soft crustless pies. You know what makes me happy? This blueberry pie with an audible crunch when you bite into it. The crust around the pie was perfect. What I loved most about this pie was how much blueberry filling it had. I thought there wouldn't be much but I was wrong. I liked the blueberries but I could tell that they were not fresh. It wasn't a huge problem but I think this pie would be number one if there were a bit more fresh blueberries in it.

Apple Pie

This may be my favorite apple pie in Ibaraki. Remember how I talked about the crust of the blueberry pie and how great it was? Same thing with this pie, but when it comes to the filling, it is amazing. Big slices of apple that taste fresh and full of that gooey apple pie filling. Biting into this pie was magical. This pie didn't taste like the apple pies I usually have in Ibaraki. Reheated and with weird-tasting apples. No. This pie was full of love for apple pies and it made me a happy man that evening. My wife loved this apple pie and has stated that we need to go back to get more.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Pie

After finishing the apple pie, I thought that was the highlight of our evening. I looked at the raspberry cream cheese pie and thought "No way are you going to top the apple pie." I was wrong. I was so wrong.
This special raspberry cream cheese pie is a pie that all Ibarakians should experience. The mixture of fresh raspberry with cream cheese was already amazing. Add in that crunchy pie crust, and you have yourself an incredible pie. I loved this pie and savored every bite. I recommend having this pie warm. I am not sure how the temperature affects the raspberry and cream cheese, but it does in a delicious way. This is a special pie from Ena Rd, so I am not sure how much longer it will be on the menu. One thing I do know for sure, I am going to get another soon.

Ena RD. was a great experience and I can't wait to go back. I am looking forward to trying more of their pies and maybe even giving their clubhouse sandwich a try. I hope to go back and check out more American merchandise in the store area and talk to the lovely couple who own the restaurant.

So if you are in Tsuchiura and are in the mood for a great-tasting pie, why not head over to Ena RD. and give them a try? Who knows, you might see us there, happily biting down on that amazing raspberry cream cheese pie.
Enjoy!

For more information on Ena RD, check out their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ena_rd.1971/