It took about ten seconds to decide what I wanted at ShopHouse. I’m not kidding, ten seconds. Bowl or Banh Mi… banh mi. Meat… chicken and pork meatballs. Toppings… everything.
Done. Order placed.
ShopHouse is Chipotle’s Asian spinoff experiment, and the similarities are evident: streamlined menu that even the most profoundly dumb mouth-breather could decipher, rapid and efficient service and reasonable prices.
Like Chipotle, there are several choices of toppings for a given meat (or tofu). I asked for them all: spicy mayo, papaya slaw, crushed peanuts and herbs. And then I hit the thing with Sriracha.
The chicken and pork meatballs are under there somewhere.
There’s one peeking out.
The meatballs were the weakest component of the sandwich. Not so much weak as kind of non-descript. I don’t remember much about them except that they tasted like meatballs. But the baguette was crusty, and the rest of the fresh toppings provided that recognizable banh mi crunch.
As banh mis go, it’s not quite the more authentic version you’ll get at a Vietnamese restaurant, and it’s more expensive. But $7 for Dupont Circle is pretty good. If I worked around there, I’d probably grab lunch at ShopHouse all the time.
ShopHouse
1516 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC
202-232-4141
Chipotle Goes Asian With ShopHouse
It took about ten seconds to decide what I wanted at ShopHouse. I’m not kidding, ten seconds. Bowl or Banh Mi… banh mi. Meat… chicken and pork meatballs. Toppings… everything.
Done. Order placed.
ShopHouse is Chipotle’s Asian spinoff experiment, and the similarities are evident: streamlined menu that even the most profoundly dumb mouth-breather could decipher, rapid and efficient service and reasonable prices.
Like Chipotle, there are several choices of toppings for a given meat (or tofu). I asked for them all: spicy mayo, papaya slaw, crushed peanuts and herbs. And then I hit the thing with Sriracha.
The chicken and pork meatballs are under there somewhere.
There’s one peeking out.
The meatballs were the weakest component of the sandwich. Not so much weak as kind of non-descript. I don’t remember much about them except that they tasted like meatballs. But the baguette was crusty, and the rest of the fresh toppings provided that recognizable banh mi crunch.
As banh mis go, it’s not quite the more authentic version you’ll get at a Vietnamese restaurant, and it’s more expensive. But $7 for Dupont Circle is pretty good. If I worked around there, I’d probably grab lunch at ShopHouse all the time.
ShopHouse
1516 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC
202-232-4141