Hayden has eaten at the original Shojin in LA little Tokyo numerous times and has always enjoyed the meals there. She was excited to hear that they had opened a second restaurant. At the new Culver City location, the menu is a bit more concise. However, they have an amazing tasting menu option if you want to get the larger plates, like ramen.
What We Ordered
We started off by splitting an order of the Shojin Shiso Gyozas. They were a great starter to quell the growling in our stomachs, but light enough to where it wasn’t going to ruin our meal. The miso vinegar sauce that accompanied them was really good.
As a starter, Hayden ordered the Shojin Crab Cake Tartar, which is a Shojin style crab cake, tofu cheese, and roasted beets served with balsamic tamari sauce. This was SO good. It was plated beautifully and had great flavor.
Aaron ordered the Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms, stuffed with tofu, miso and shiso served with sweet tamari sauce for his starter plate. The balance between the texture of the mushrooms and the tofu filling was perfect. He highly recommends this.
Aaron’s favorite food of the night, hands down, was the Spicy Baked Scallop Roll, smoky flavored mushrooms and onions on a spicy tofu & avocado roll with dynamite sauce. They bring it out to your table and torch the top of the sushi with a blowtorch which was a pretty awesome sight to behold. It did make you think that the sushi was going to be warm after watching the demonstration, but it was still a cooler temperature.
Hayden ordered the Spicy “Tuna” on Crispy Rice, spicy tofu, avocado and sliced green chili on crispy brown rice. It tasted really good, but the crispy rice was a bit chewy.
As our final plate for the evening we both ordered our own Dynamite Roll, spicy tofu & avocado roll, with slightly torched spicy mayo served with both dynamite & spicy beet sauce. The spice level of this was present, but not altogether too spicy and had great flavor. Definitely worth checking out this roll.
For dessert, we ordered the Tempura Banana & Chocolate Mousse with Salted Caramel Cream and HOLY SHIT was this amazing. The tempura banana was the best part of the entire meal and we would eat this every day if we could. We also tried the Baked Apple Pie with Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream. The ice cream was really good and the apple pie was fine, but nothing too overly exciting.
If you’re looking for a nice date night spot, this is a great restaurant. It is very quaint inside, with only a few tables. It’s a bit pricey, but the food is delicious and very filling.
Restaurant Information
Name: Shojin
Location: 12406 W Washington Blvd, Culver City, California, 90066
Price: $$$
Cuisine: Asian
Vegan options: Fully vegan
Dress code: Business casual/casual
Leave a Reply