Shojin
I went to Shojin, a vegan Japanese place that just opened in Little Tokyo tonight for dinner. The place is a bit expensive for what it is, but the food overall was decent. Even though I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I enjoyed dessert the best here.
I ordered the traditional vegetable appetizer, which consisted of three small dishes of okara and veggies, burdock and carrot salad, and seaweed (hijiki) salad. The okara was good because there was some konyakku mixed in too. The burdock salad and seaweed salad were also good, but tasted a bit too similar in flavor even though their textures were different.
I had the fried okara “crab” cakes as an entree. The flavor was good, but it could have been a bit more crispier. The green chili pepper sauce that came with it was delicious. It also came with a side of broccolini which was tasty and a side of some type of brown rice porridge which was not as tasty. It was too soggy or mushy for me, but the addition of the squash (pumpkin) made it taste better.
The BF ordered their daily special, which was curry seitan katsu with brown rice. The seitan katsu was great, but we both thought the curry was lacking something. It was salty enough, but not that savory and too sweet. It lacked some sort of depth, but I couldn’t pin my finger on it.
Dessert was surprisingly good. It was a chocolate parfait served with vanilla ice cream. The candied pecans on top were so good we ended up fighting over who got to eat the two pieces. The house made granola in the parfait was also good. I wouldn’t have guessed the whole thing was vegan and made of soy.
Considering that Shojin just opened up and they’re still testing out some dishes, dinner was good. The lady who waited our table was very gracious and receptive to what we thought about our meal. She even gave us some rosemary cookies on our way out that were a nice way to finish the night. I’m interested in trying this place again in a few months and see how their menu has progressed and improved.
Shojin
333 S. Alameda St.
Little Tokyo Square 3F (Suite 310)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tel: 213-617-0305
PandanExpress
Mar 16, 2008 10:36PM
Thanks for the reconnaissance. A friend of mine has a vegan daughter, and it's tough when we go out to eat together to find a place that suits everybody. Vegan asian food can probably be pretty good (even though I love meat) and I'm definitely looking forward to that parfait :)
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Someone posted when the place opened earlier this month about the place asking for a review, I thought I might be the first. I am glad I am a procrastinator so I have your review to think about before going. How much did the meal cost? Also, did you go at dinner or lunch? Lastly, you should warn people not to go forward or backwards from the page on that link unless they do not mind seeing vermin . . . especially from a food site, heh . . . Is the place really Vegan? You said "crab" in quotes . . .
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Our meal for two with a shared appetizer and shared dessert was about $50. I think she may have comped the dessert or forgot to put it on the bill because as I was running it over in my head on the way home, it should have been around $60.
We went for dinner.
Yes, the place really is vegan. I put crab in quotes because it wasn't real crab, but made out of okara, which is the side-product you get from making soy milk.
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