Я не очень люблю баклажан, но кабачок с чесноком ем с удовольствием.

Russian can also use the singular to talk about a food in a general sense, especially with vegetables and dishes. So люблю баклажан and ем кабачок can mean I like eggplant / I eat zucchini as foods in general, not necessarily one single physical vegetable.

You could also hear plural forms like баклажаны or кабачки, especially if the speaker is thinking of actual vegetables, pieces, or dishes made from them. Both singular and plural can work; the choice depends on how the speaker conceptualizes the food.

They are in the accusative. The reason they look unchanged is that for inanimate masculine singular nouns, the accusative form is usually the same as the nominative.

So:

• nominative: баклажан
• accusative: баклажан

and

• nominative: кабачок
• accusative: кабачок

That is why there is no visible ending change here.

Because of the preposition с meaning with. In this meaning, с normally requires the instrumental case.

So:

• чеснок = nominative
• с чесноком = with garlic (instrumental)

The ending -ом is the instrumental singular ending for this masculine noun.

It is also the instrumental case, again because of с.

• удовольствие = nominative
• с удовольствием = literally with pleasure

This is a very common fixed expression meaning:

• gladly
• with pleasure
• enjoyably

So ем с удовольствием means something like I eat it with pleasure / I really enjoy eating it.

Russian often omits the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb form or from context.

Here:

• люблю already means I like
• ем already means I eat

Since the subject is clearly the same person, repeating я would be optional. You could say:

Я не очень люблю баклажан, но я кабачок с чесноком ем с удовольствием.

But that sounds more emphatic. The version without the second я is more natural in ordinary speech.

Not quite.

• не люблю = I don’t like
• не очень люблю = I don’t really like / I don’t like very much

So не очень softens the statement. It sounds less absolute and less harsh. The speaker is not saying I hate eggplant, just that they are not very fond of it.

Russian word order is flexible, and changing it often changes emphasis rather than basic meaning.

A more neutral order would be:

...но ем кабачок с чесноком с удовольствием.

But in your sentence, кабачок с чесноком is placed before ем to highlight it and contrast it with баклажан:

• I don’t really like eggplant, but zucchini with garlic — that I eat with pleasure.

So the fronted object adds contrast and emphasis.

Most naturally, it goes with кабачок:

• кабачок с чесноком = zucchini with garlic

So the phrase describes the dish or food item. In practice, the whole idea is still connected to eating, of course, but grammatically it is most natural to understand it as part of the noun phrase.

Есть is the neutral, standard verb for to eat, and ем is its first-person singular form.

• я ем = I eat

Кушать also exists, but it is often felt to be:

• more colloquial,
• more polite in certain situations,
• sometimes associated with speaking to children,
• or stylistically less neutral in first-person adult speech.

So ем is the safest and most natural choice here.

Both но and а can connect contrasting ideas, but they are not identical.

• но = but, with a stronger sense of contradiction
• а = often a softer contrast or comparison

Here the speaker is setting up a clear opposition:

• I don’t really like eggplant,
• but I do enjoy zucchini with garlic.

That stronger contrast makes но very natural.

Yes, absolutely. For example:

Я не очень люблю баклажаны, но кабачки с чесноком ем с удовольствием.

That version is also natural. The plural can sound a bit more like eggplants / zucchinis as vegetables or dishes in general, while the singular can sound more like the food substance or a general category. In real usage, both are possible.

Yes. It is a very common Russian set expression and is often better learned as a chunk.

It can mean:

• with pleasure
• gladly
• very willingly

Examples:

• Помогу с удовольствием. = I’ll gladly help.
• Ем с удовольствием. = I eat it with pleasure / I really enjoy eating it.

So even though it is literally with pleasure, in natural English you will often translate it more freely.