ShopHouse: all spice and no nice

For most college students, Chipotle represents a paradise of fat, guacamole-stuffed burritos, and bowls that satisfy their appetite without murdering their wallet. But fans of the chain’s gloriously simplified Mexican cuisine may be surprised and slightly confused to learn that last Thursday, the company opened a store focused on Asian cuisine—ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen in Dupont Circle.
The name reflects the culture of Southeast Asian cities, where small, family-owned restaurants and eateries are often found on the ground floor of the owners’ residences. Yet ShopHouse’s modern, minimalist décor owes little to its namesakes, with long expanses of whitewashed walls lit by simple suspended lamps and exposed bulbs. To those disinclined to contemporary interior design, ShopHouse may even appear unfinished or awaiting renovation.
Like Chipotle, ShopHouse features assembly line, “build-your-own” style meals. Instead of burritos, ShopHouse offers a take on the traditional Vietnamese Bánh mì sandwich—a baguette accompanied by your choice of chicken satay, pork and chicken meatballs, steak, or tofu topped with green papaya slaw, herbs, and crushed peanuts. A bowl option is also available, comprised of a choice of the same proteins over jasmine rice, brown rice, or chilled rice noodles. Bowls are topped with your choice of one vegetable, sauce, garnish, and topping.
My pick was the chicken satay over jasmine rice, topped with eggplant and Thai basil, green papaya slaw, and crispy garlic. Though warned by my server that the spicy red curry was indeed “really hot,” the daredevil in me went for it anyway. My first disappointment was the portion size—small in comparison to Chipotle’s huge meals.
The first few bites were unimpressive, but they were merely the calm before a very intense storm. What at first started out as a moderately surprising spiciness soon escalated to an intense burn. Halfway through the bowl, my sense of taste was almost entirely numb. After taking a breather and gulping down a ginger ale, the rest of the meal was finished with continuous sips of water. The next item I had—with the mild green curry—was also surprisingly spicy, so even those who think they can tolerate extreme heat should probably opt for the tamarind vinaigrette or green curry.
Interestingly, ShopHouse’s chicken satay, a dish indigenous to Indonesia, tasted strikingly similar to Chipotle’s grilled chicken. As for the rest of the ingredients, the flavors were mediocre at best. While spiciness in Asian cuisine is usually supposed to complement the other flavors of the dish with an added kick, ShopHouse seems to have equated heat with flavor.
While Chiptole prides itself in its fresh ingredients and “authentic” flavors, ShopHouse merely recreates aspects of Southeast Asian cuisine without any distinct flavors. Granted, you can’t expect much from a restaurant that attempts to assemble Asian dishes the same way you make a Mexican burrito. For diehard Chipotle fans, ShopHouse might be an interesting experience, but when your next food craving arises, good old Chipotle is definitely the way to go. In the end, ShopHouse can’t escape the shadow cast by its parent’s massive burritos.