We ended up here one
night after spending the day in DC. It was pretty late on a Sunday evening, lunch had been hours ago, and we were hungry. We had to get some grub before we began the more than 2 hour drive home. With a quick search of what was close, and open, we came upon ShopHouse in Georgetown. This was a win win for me because I was about to get food, and I finally got to see a little bit of Georgetown.
If you’ve never heard of ShopHouse, let me give you a quick breakdown. There are currently only 10 located in the US, and they are found in DC, California, and Maryland. They also happen to be a Chipotle company. If you’re familiar with Chipotle, you know their mission is fast food, delicious ingredients, sourced responsibly…Food With Integrity does happen to be their theme. ShopHouse is much the same; only they’re serving up more than Mexican food here. It’s all about Southeast Asia; Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore to be exact.
We went here with no expectations since we had never heard of ShopHouse before. We were welcomed by the friendly staff as soon as we entered. It was the end of the day, they were less than an hour from closing, but the guys behind the counter were all energetic, polite, and helpful. We weren’t exactly sure how to order at first, but once they said they were like Chipotle, I got it.
You pick the first layer of your bowl, your base; rice, noodles, salad. Next, your protein; chicken, beef, pork, tofu. Your vegetable; corn, green beans, kale, eggplant. The veggies can vary depending on season; I listed what is named from their website. When we were there they had collard greens (my fave) as an option, as well as rutabaga. Now, your sauce; peanut sauce, green curry, spicy red curry, tamarind vinaigrette. Follow up with a garnish; green papaya slaw, pickled vegetables, herb salad. Lastly, top it off; toasted rice, crispy garlic, crushed peanuts, Thai chillies. As you order, if you have any questions on flavor, just ask for a taste; they’ll happily oblige a sample for you. I also must mention, everything they prepare is gluten-free, wheat-free, and dairy-free. Their website has detailed info about all of their options; including the ingredients, and nutrition. I only listed the basics. If you want to know the seasonings of the meat, veggies, etc., check it out, shophousekitchen.com
Between the 5 of us, not one of us got an identical dish; and all of us were pleased as punch with our meals. They were D•E•L•I•S•H! I liked it so much that I wanted it the next day, and if I lived closer, I would have had it, too. They have one dessert available, coconut rice and mango parfait, and they threw 5 of those in for FREE for us to try. They were pretty good, but I was stuffed from my meal, and couldn’t eat more than a bite just to taste it. No worries though; with my 3 sons, who I also lovingly refer to as bottomless pits, no food ever goes to waste.
Price here is definitely one dollar sign, as we had seen on Yelp. With each bowl in the $7-$8 range; we spent $40ish for our meal. It is not an easy feat when eating out with my family to have a great tasting, as well as healthy meal that doesn’t break the bank. ShopHouse is one of the few places where that has been possible.
I would highly recommend, if you happen to be lucky enough to be in an area with a ShopHouse, try it. If you’re not in an area, I would highly recommend you start emailing them to open one close to you. Inexpensive, healthy, yummy, and quick; that’s all good in my book.
Quality of Food: 5 │ Service: 5 │ Price: 5 │ Overall Value: 5
*Side note here: Our food was prepared beautifully. It came out looking wonderful. We were all famished, and quickly started to dig in before we thought to take some pics. So, all our food photos are of our dishes already in the mixed up, and half devoured stage.
