To Live and Eat in L.A. – A Vegan Food Photo Blog

When I first introduced you to Shojin last year, the vegan Japanese restaurant downtown, I had no idea this restaurant would quickly become not only one of my personal favorites, but also one of Los Angeles’ best overall Japanese restaurants, vegetarian or otherwise. One of the most impressive things about Shojin is that they’re not content with just having a set menu, they’re always adding new items from fancy new desserts to adventurous entrees that I’m practically powerless to resist. Their menu is constantly growing and there are usually always a number of specials on offer that go even above and beyond their regular selection.

After having not visited Shojin for far too long I ended up recently getting to eat there twice in one week, much to my delight. For the first occasion I took myself there on a date as my reward for having survived 2 1/2 weeks of hell, aka, jury duty. The second trip was for my best girlfriend Michelle’s birthday dinner. If I had my druthers I would happily eat at Shojin seven days a week… I could never get tired of this food.

I’m combining both these meals for the sake of this blog post and will show you all the appetizers, main courses and dessert together so it doesn’t get too confusing. Put on your bib, this might make you drool a little bit…

Sushi. Nearly every Japanese restaurant serves it, and many restaurants these days are jumping on the vegetarian bandwagon and offering fish-free versions of it. No one however does it quite like Shojin. Shown above is the half-order of the Dragon Roll: “shitake mushroom and avocado inside, BBQ seitan and avocado outside with sweet soy sauce”. I really can’t think of any sushi that I’ve had anywhere else that came close to being this delicious. Their BBQ seitan is an experience unto itself, and when put together here with their sweet sauce and fresh ingredients, it turns into the most perfect, delicate mouthful of yum that you can possibly imagine.

Here’s another of their most popular appetizers, the Pumpkin Croquette: “crunchy pumpkin and tofu croquette with Shojin ketchup”. I expected the pumpkin to taste somewhat subdued but I was surprised by a mouthful of nicely seasoned pumpkin flavor. It was pleasantly soft on the inside and nice & crunchy on the outside. The ketchup tastes nothing like any tomato ketchup that I’m used to, but whatever’s really going on there is just perfect for this dish.

Ah, now this is the one item I’ve been most excited to share with you. These are the Spicy Rock Shitake Tempura: “tempura shitake mushrooms marinated with spicy wasabi mayonnaise”. These mushrooms literally floored me. I believe they’re playing on the idea of rock oysters with this dish, but I can’t say for sure having never eaten something as revolting as an oyster. It tasted nothing like the ocean or seafood, which for me is a good thing. Even though I’m pretty good with words, I’m at a loss attempting to describe just how amazing these mushrooms are. The texture is unlike anything I’ve had before. The mushrooms were slightly soft though not limp or mushy like cooked mushrooms tend to get. The tempura batter gave them a slight crispiness while the wasabi mayo, with it’s familiar sinus-clearing bite, elevated these simple mushrooms to something impeccable. I don’t enjoy too much wasabi, a little goes a long way… so when I ordered this I wasn’t even sure I’d like it as I was concerned the wasabi would be too overpowering. It’s not, it’s just right. You get that punch of wasabi but it’s been subdued and transformed into something else entirely. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you this shitake appetizer was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. I’ve been fantasizing about them ever since and I can’t stop thinking about when I can get back there to eat them again. I would seriously enjoy just a giant bowl of these, maybe on top of some brown rice and nothing else. Amazing.

Let’s move on to some second courses. This is the Gobo Chips Salad: “crispy burdock chips, mixed greens and cherry tomatoes with house dressing and sweet balsamic sauce”. This was actually my friend William’s salad, I only tried a few of the gobo chips, which were of course great, but I thought you might appreciate a look at it. He loved it and I’m sure both you & I would too.

This is also William’s soup, the Miso Ginger Soba: “Buckwheat noodle in ginger soup with assorted vegetables topped with scallions and sesame seeds”. Again I didn’t try this soup but it looked and smelled so good. Judging by the blissful look on William’s face and the frequent “nomnomnom” sounds that were emanating from his side of the table, it’s safe to assume he loved it.

Alright, lets dispense with the starters and dig into some main courses.

This plateful of awesome is the Seitan Pepper Steak: “pan-fried tender seitan steaks seasoned with black pepper and spicy soy sauce”. Now, it’s important that I get across to you that Shojin are absolute masters of seitan, and this dish is no exception. I feel kind of silly at this point telling you, again, that this is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, but that’s the whole truth and nothing but. The description of tender is right on, I have no idea how they manage to prepare seitan this good or how they get it to this texture. It’s incredibly meat-like, while not really pretending to be meat. I didn’t know if I’d like something that’s pepper flavor (I like pepper, just not necessarily as a flavor base) but man, this was just off the hook. This is the sort of food that makes me laugh when those who don’t know any better complain about vegan food being boring or not substantial. Those people are full of shit and obviously have never had expertly prepared vegan cuisine such as this. It’s the kind of meal that makes me truly realize that meat is something I will never again miss or want, and it’s far better than any meat anyone has ever fed me. I highly suggest you try this pepper steak if you know what’s good for. Trust me on this one.

Trust me on this next one too. This is the Fillet-O-kara Fish: “combination of crispy homemade veggie fish and a seitan nugget skewer served with lemony tartar sauce and miso demi-glaze sauce”. Wow… just, wow. I already implied above that I’m not a fan of seafood or fishy flavors, but I took a chance on this because I actually did like to eat stuff like fish & chips back in the day, and this seemed to be Shojin’s gourmet take on that old classic. Of course it was incredible, how could it not be coming out of that kitchen? The very crispy outside was nice and thick, the okara fish inside perfectly imitating a fried fish taste, without being, well… fishy. Okara is made from soy pulp, which while not sounding particularly appetizing becomes something magical once in the hands of Shojin’s expert chefs. It’s almost a shame to call the sauce a tartar sauce because it’s so much better than that, while still maintaining the qualities that make tartar sauce go so well with fish.

I’ve already talked about how Shojin has a way with seitan, so of course these nuggets are no exception. Fried to a perfect crisp, these exquisite little bites of soy love blow away anything else with “nugget” in it’s name that you may have ever eaten before. Only Shojin can take something called a nugget and elevate it to such culinary heights.

The delights don’t stop with dinner at Shojin because they also make some rather snazzy desserts. Shown above is the Annin Tofu, aka, Sweet Almond Tofu: “sweet and creamy custard dessert that has a distinctively refreshing almond flavor”. True that. While my grainy photo does not do this treat any justice, you can be certain that just like everything else served here, it was delicious. I’d recommend this dessert to someone who’s already so full from dinner that they are about to burst but who doesn’t want to skip dessert entirely. It’s very tasty yet light so it won’t make you feel like you are about to pop.

Last but most assuredly not least, this is the Spiced Pumpkin Tart: “traditional American pumpkin filling in a beautifully spiced crust, served with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce”. So wonderful. This was like the best possible pumpkin pie you can imagine, though toned down in sweetness. Rather than being overwhelmed by sugar and strong spices, they let the natural sweetness and flavor of the pumpkin be the headlining ingredient here, and it was just perfect. The chocolate ice cream was super good too.

I was disappointed to learn that they no longer offer their sesame ice cream which I’d kept hearing was fantastic. I’ve never tried it before but I have a friend who raves about it to the point of wanting to be buried in it so that he can eat his way out! With a build up like that I was eager to see what the fuss was all about. Sadly it’s no longer on the menu. I asked the waitress if they would be bringing it back at a later time she said it was possible but she didn’t know for sure. Maybe if enough of us ask for it, it’ll eventually make a reappearance.

Shojin is one of those restaurants that absolutely must be experienced. If you’ve never been before than you owe it to yourself to go give it a try. It’s great for lunch or dinner, though please note that their lunch menu is condensed and not all the things you might want to eat are available during the day, but that’s not to say that there aren’t many good things there for lunch either (including a delectable seitan sandwich that is to die for). If you want the full experience though, and especially if you’re a first timer, I’d suggest going for dinner so that you can just go wild and order everything you can possibly fit in your face. Even if you’ve been to Shojin before, it’s time to go back as there’s bound to be something new they are serving that wasn’t there the last time you went. This place continues to amaze me and each & every time I go back it ends up being even better than the previous visit… which is saying a lot because each time I’ve gone there it’s been exceptional.

Shojin
333 S. Alameda St.
Little Tokyo Square 3F (Suite 310)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 617-0305
www.theshojin.com

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