ShopHouse aka Asian Chipotle

When I go to Chipotle, it’s not because I’m craving Mexican food.  Chipotle doesn’t even register on my Mexican food radar.  I go there because I’m craving Chipotle. Yes, their food is pretty generic and yes, everything tastes the same no matter what location you go to, but sometimes you just want something generic with no surprises.

So when I heard that ShopHouse, Chipotle’s Southeast Asian restaurant chain, opened a location in Hollywood, I decided I needed to pay it a visit.  The setup is familiar to anyone who’s gone to Chipotle: you pick a protein, a type of starch to have it on, some accompanying veggies, some sauce, and then some sort of extra.

Eggplant, papaya salad rice bowl from Shophouse aka Asian Chipotle.

Will had the tofu bowl on white rice (they’re quick to correct you it’s jasmine rice) with eggplant, tamarind sauce, papaya salad, and some garlic and peanuts sprinkled on top.  It was surprisingly tasty. The eggplant was charred well and to a soft texture, the papaya salad was crisp, and the sauce was flavorful.

Pork and chicken meatballs, green bean, pickled veggie, tamarind sauce from Shophouse.

I opted for the pork and chicken meatballs on half rice noodle half salad (which was just chopped napa cabbage), spicy green beans, tamarind sauce, pickled veggies, and a spoonful of garlic and peanuts.  The meatballs were tender and garlicky, the spices reminding me of my family’s bun cha.  The flavors were definitely bold, but I found it a bit on the salty side, even when I ate it with a bite of rice noodles and cabbage.  The sauce was also a tad salty, so I had to make sure I mixed everything in the bowl thoroughly before digging in.  The pickled veggies were nice and crispy with that slight pungent taste of pickled radish. My favorite part of the bowl was the charred green beans, which had a strong smoky taste and the right amount of spice.

I have to give Shophouse a hand for not shying away from strong Asian flavors like spicy and salty, even if everything I had was a little on the salty side.  For a place that supposedly cares about where they source their food and tries to provide organic options when available, the price of the bowls are not bad.  Sure, the bowls are not going to be as good as a bowl of cha gio bun from places in the SGV, but I don’t think that’s the demographic they’re marketing to.  I know that when I’m stuck somewhere not in the SGV and want some Asian-style food, I would be glad to have a Shophouse nearby.

6333 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Wakasaya in Little Tokyo

Imagine Chipotle, except instead of pseudo-Mexican food, it’s all Japanese food and instead of ordering at a counter, all the ingredients for the combination can be ordered off a menu.  That’s Wakasaya.

I happened upon this restaurant accidentally when I wanted to visit Little Tokyo downtown for lunch. My original plan was to get a bowl of ramen at Daikokuya, but the line was just too long and I didn’t want to wait hours for lunch. I walked through the Little Tokyo plaza and saw Wakasaya and thought, “why not?”

Wakasaya Chirashi

Their main claim to fame is a fully cusotmizable donburi, although it’s more like chirashi for me.  Pick any combination of available toppings, which include staples like tuna, salmon, fish roe, and eel, and they’ll serve it to you over rice.  I went with yellowtail, salmon, and uni.

The fish quality wasn’t terrible, but it just wasn’t good.  For a $15 bowl, I expected better. I could have gotten better quality fish from a supermarket chirashi but hey, at least the rice was warm here. I’m amazed that Wakasaya can stay in business with so many better sushi restaurants within walking distance.

335 East 2nd St
104-106 Japanese Village Plaza Mall

Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 621-2121