-
makin’ magical memories at shojin
17May 2nd, 2011LA restaurants, shojinif you are looking for a restaurant in los angeles to celebrate a special occasion with a ton of pals, shojin is your place! the all vegan japanese spot has incredible food and a fancy vibe (despite being located on the top floor of a mall), plus they now serve alcohol. we hit up shojin over the weekend with a few friends to celebrate brittany’s birthday, and it was a blast. the beer was flowing and we got to try a slew of new menu items. party!
spicy rock shiitake tempura: tempura shiitake mushrooms with spicy wasabi mayonnaise. $6.95
because they are the best mushrooms on earth, we started with a few rounds of shojin’s spicy rock shiitake tempura appetizer. deep fried nuggets of goodness topped off with spicy mayo, we were popping this things like candy. seriously, we just kept ordering more rounds of mushrooms for the table because we couldn’t get enough.
maitake mushroom tempura: crispy maitake mushroom tempura served with yuzu citrus pepper sauce. $6.95
we also got an order of the maitake mushroom tempura, which i’d never had before. they tasted great, but they were super heavy in that deep-fried kinda way, so be warned.
stuffed shiitake mushrooms: shiitake mushrooms stuffed with tofu, miso, shiso and mountain potato. served with soy tempura sauce. $7.95
next up, a new menu item…the stuffed shiitakes! (can you tell we are mushroom fans?) these things were just incredible. huge soft mushrooms filled with tofu, miso, shiso, and mountain potato—it was an interesting combo of flavors and textures.
tofu cheese tartare: tofu cheese, avocado, and tomato with soy balsamic sauce. $6.95
we also ordered the tofu cheese tartare, which i’m sad to say was a little underwhelming. it was basically a bunch of soft tofu stacked on top of avocado and tomato. it wasn’t bad or anything, i just don’t think i’d order it again.
tempeh chopped salad: tempeh bacon, olives, grape tomatoes, red and romaine lettuce, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. $6.95
then there was tempeh chopped salad: a generous portion of tempeh bacon, olives, grape tomatoes, red and romaine lettuce in an olive oil dressing. crisp, light, and refreshing…just like a salad should be.
for the main course, we decided to go all out and order a million sushi rolls for the table to share. we started with the dynamite roll, which i didn’t photograph, but it was epic as always. it earned a place on our latest vegan bucket list, so be sure to get it whenever you go to shojin.
sky high roll: tempura avocado roll inside, spicy tuna and crispy lotus root chips on top with sweet soy sauce. $10.95
next up was the sky high roll, which has become another favorite of mine. this thing is SO FREAKING GOOD. plump little rolls filled up with tempura avocado, topped with spicy tuna and crispy lotus root chips. good god, it had me at tempura avocado.
we also passed around plates of spicy terrific roll…
spicy terrific roll: avocado, cucumber and shiso inside, avocado outside. served with wasabi mayo and spicy soy sauce. $9.95
(yes, it was as terrific as it looks!) and caterpillar roll…
caterpillar roll: bbq seitan inside, avocado outside with sweet soy sauce. $9.95
both were excellent. i especially loved the caterpillar roll because it was filled up with shojin’s very own homemade seitan which just can’t be beat.
sapporo on draught
as far as alcohol is concerned, shojin now has a pretty good selection. they’ve got a wine list, some sake options, as well as a few bottled beers and sapporo on draught. we were all about it.
happy brittday!
at the end of the night, shojin supplied brittany with a special dessert and a sweet ass birthday hat. it was so awesome. they also took our picture and gave britt a CD of the music they were playing that night, so she could remember this magical experience forever and ever.
next time you want a special evening, make it a shojin night!
shojin
333 S. Alameda St. Suite 310
(Little Tokyo Shopping Center 3F)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tel: 213-617-0305
15 responses to “makin’ magical memories at shojin” 
-
Looks fantastic!! 😀
[I’m turning 37 on June 15th, I think I might have to go to this place for my birthday.] -
Fritz May 2nd, 2011 at 08:32
Good to see they have a number of delicious-looking gluten-free dishes! Just wish they weren’t so far away from Hollywood! (By the way, hope Princess Beatrice doesn’t see that hat…. : )
-
I had my bday at Shojin a couple years ago–it’s it the perfect place for a vegan bday for sure.
-
Happy birthday (again) Brittany! Looks like an awesome time (except for all the mushrooms).
-
EricM May 2nd, 2011 at 11:10
Happy birthday, Brittany!
Spicy rock shiitake tempura is THE BEST EVER!!!
-
trishells May 2nd, 2011 at 11:25
that spicy rock dish was the bomb diggity!!!
ps- THANK YOU for cropping me out of that lat pic 🙂 -
I concur with having birthday dinners there. I brought some of my hardcore meat eating friends there and they loved it. The food is spectacular and prepared (and plated) so artfully. The customer service is always awesome. We’re talking above and beyond shit pretty much every time I’ve eaten there, which is many, many times. Kudos for posting this. I <3 Shojin!
-
we went there 3 times last week. spicy rock shiitake tempura is the best dish on the menu. other favorites are dynamite roll, spicy miso ramen, seitan steak marinade; and seitan pepper steak.
-
i LOVE shojin, have been going there since they opened their doors. i bought their first totebag (and the more recent one), use it to carry round all my things.
i have tried to celebrate my birthday, and friends birthdays there THREE times, and each time we’ve made a reservation, told them beforehand, and each time we got nothin’ in the way of celebrating. it was very sad.
but i still love them. just won’t try again for a special birthday there.
-
The spicy rock shiitake tempura has been recomended to me by numerous people, but I hated it. It was the ONLY think I’ve ever had I shojin that I didnt enjoy. I think it was the wasabi mayo. Maybe it was a bad batch the day I had it, it just tasted sour or something. Ick!
Shojin is fun for birthdays though. Over the past few years I have taken friends there for their birthdays, I think I need to do the same for myself this year….
2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks
-
vegan mother's day in los angeles: brunch, dinner and treats! | quarrygirl.com May 6th, 2011 at 19:30
[…] with chilled watermelon salad for $9.95. available at all locations. yes please!3.) shojin.duh, shojin is awesome for special occasions. obviously everyone is lagging this year, because they haven’t released their mother’s […]
-
[…] mayo and soy sauce. $10.95the rock mountain roll was phenomenal. it took the components of my (and every shojin diner’s) favorite appetizer (the rock shiitake tempura) and made it into an easy to consume roll. […]
Gauri Radha गौरी राधा May 2nd, 2011 at 08:23