Shop House

There is a certain study in modern marketing and restaurants with Chipotle.  Customers not only get a burrito that weighs four pounds, they get the feeling of enfrachisement on their meal - the sense that they created this meal, that is is OF them, they feel a personal investment in something as simple as a burrito.

Or, they just want a damn burrito and are too lazy to find one that tastes better. (I don't like Chipotle that much but still find myself an occasional customer)

Regardless, the concept works.  Chipotle offers a safe list of ingredients with similar flavor profiles and merely allows the customer to layer them, with the perception that they've created something delicious.  This concept has made Chipotle one of the fastest growing chains in the world and is making the company mega bucks.  So they've decided to branch out.

Enter Shop House, an asian spin on the Chipotle concept from the same creative team, with the pilot store on Connecticut Avenue just a few feet north of Dupont Circle in DC.

Shop House feels very familiar.  You choose either a bowl or a Banh Mi (sandwich), then select your base (rice or noodle options), meat, veggie, sauce, and "texture" toppings.  Instead of the big troughs at Chipotle, ingredients are in bowls, but you get the idea.  The steak was spicy, with a more mild chicken, while the tofu option look exactly like the Tofu Scramble at the Whole Foods breakfast bar.  I didn't try the meatballs, something about meatballs from a bowl at Shop House just seemed odd.  These meats were piled on your choice of jasmine rice, brown rice, or cold noodles (in addition to the aforementioned Banh Mi).  Next came the veggies with options like Chinese broccoli, long beans, eggplant, and charred corn.  They seem to have realized people frequently triple dip the toppings at Chipotle and have clamped down on the veggies, more than one costs you a buck more.

Next comes the sauces - Red curry (hot, and I'm not kidding, it was hot), green curry, or a fruit "vinaigrette" that had tropical flavors.  There was no "Safe" sauce choice in a traditional brown sauce.  You then have an option of topping with papaya slaw or pickled vegetables.  Finally you have a choice in textures, from toasted rice to fried garlic.  Each bowl was topped with a sprig of Thai Basil.

On paper, I should have freaking loved this place.  I love ethnic foods, spicy foods, foods with big flavors.  But herein lies the problem - as I said, Chipotle's ingredients all use the same flavor profile, so it's almost impossible to make a "bad" combination.  Shop House strays from that safety.  Spicy Steak with charred corn, vinaigrette, papaya slaw, and fried garlic?  No thanks.  I got the MtB the chicken with chinese broccoli, vinaigrette, papaya slaw and toasted rice... what should have been a safe combination tasted... off.  These ingredients are exclusively Thai, Mandarin, Vietnamese, etc.  They are all of the above, with different flavor profiles and an odd juxtaposition of spices.  All in the same bowl, it tastes... unpleasant. 

Maybe they should have "recommended" bowls of good combinations.  Or have one ethnicity with common spicing.

Or maybe they should just stick to burritos.

(Note: to be fair, this is a concept restaurant, not a perfected formula.  Given the success of Chipotle, I would imagine they will fix these issues over time, especially since at 6:45 last night there was literally no line - I must not be the only one to notice.)