We Love Shojin!

Vegan Sushi from Shojin!

We. Love. Shojin.  We just love it.  We’ve been fortunate enough to come here for years, first to their flagship location in Downtown (Little Tokyo) Los Angeles, CA, USA, and later adding their Culver City, CA, USA location to the mix as well.  We’ve been here countless times, and I can honestly say we’ve never been disappointed.  Never.  We always leave happy!!

Why?  A big part of why we love Shojin is the service.  Every time we come here, they make us feel like royalty — like Very Important People (even though we’re basically just Very Regular People).  And it’s not just us — they treat everyone with genuine welcoming warmth.

And the food!  The food of course is fantastic.  For those of you not familiar with Shojin, it’s an all-vegan Japanese sushi restaurant.  That’s right – all vegan sushi.  And for those of you thinking, “can vegan sushi be good?”.  Yes.  Yes, it can.  Absolutely.  (See below.)

We just got back from dinner at their Downtown location, where we had their 2019 Nisei Week Sushi Sampler Tasting Menu for Two… plus a few extra dishes because we couldn’t resist. :)  If you’ve never been to Shojin, these Sampler Menus, which they feature regularly, are a great way to try a bunch of their dishes all in one sitting.  This particular menu is available one more weekend (Aug 17, 18, 2019), but they often have special items or tasting menus, so be sure to follow them on Instagram or social media, or sign up for their mailing list to keep up to date.

Here are the wonderful dishes we had tonight (the ones marked with an * were included in this particular Tasting Menu):

Char-Cola and Tropical Iced-Tea

Edamame with Truffle Salt *

Shojin Shiso Gyoza *

“Yakiniku” Lettuce Wraps

Crunchy Tiger Roll *

Purple Treasure Roll *

Baked “Scallop” Roll * and Spiced Terrific Roll *

Baked “Scallop” Roll * and Spiced Terrific Roll *

Dynamite Roll *

Dynamite Roll *

Mango Lime Sorbet

Mango Lime Sorbet

Thanks for reading! Peace and love to all who live,

-- Ryan

Matcha Parfait

SUPER COMFY Vegan Sneakers designed by a Vegan Ballerina!

Introducing the EASE Sneaker …a collaboration between Vegan Ballerina Artsy Agnes and Vegan Shoe Maker Tastemaker Supply! 100% of the proceeds will be used to assist homeless LGBTQ youth in Los Angeles, and provide scholarship and pointe shoe funds …

Introducing the EASE Sneaker …a collaboration between Vegan Ballerina Artsy Agnes and Vegan Shoe Maker Tastemaker Supply! 100% of the proceeds will be used to assist homeless LGBTQ youth in Los Angeles, and provide scholarship and pointe shoe funds for talented underprivileged dancers.

I was so honored to be invited to the official Launch Party for the EASE Sneaker, a collaboration between Vegan Ballerina @artsyagnes and Vegan Shoemaker Tastemaker Supply…what an evening!

The sneaker comes in two colors, (ballet!) pink and light yellow. The light yellow is a very pale shade, almost cream. I couldn’t decide which color to get, so ended up get one of each! Agnes said that she designed a shoe that SHE wanted to put her feet into after a long day of dancing in pointe (toe) shoes. I tested them out the next day after my adult ballet class and private pointe lesson, and she nailed it! It felt like I was stepping into two giant Dandies marshmallows!

Agnes secured some of her favorite vegan chefs and restaurants to provide food for this celebration, and it was amazing! Just a sampling of the yummy vegan eats we devoured:

There was also a great panel discussion where the owners from Au Lac Restaurant, Vegan Club, and Solar Return joined Agnes Muljadi of @artsyagnes and Frey Chu of Tastemaker Supply and talked about the inspiration for their vegan businesses and what keeps them going.

100% of the proceeds from the sales of this collaboration will be used to assist homeless LGBTQ youth in Los Angeles, and provide scholarship and point shoe funds for talented underprivileged dancers. Agnes is a lovely ballerina and a lovely person! You don’t need to be a ballerina to wear these sneakers…get yours today! <3

Peace and love to all who live,

Susan

Gorgeous image of Agnes herself on every shoe!

Limited edition Agnes ballerina t-shirts available at Vegan Club!

Limited edition Agnes ballerina t-shirts available at Vegan Club!