Shōjō Boston — Restaurant in Boston

Updated Review: So the first time I had their food, I expressed myself in the review below. Very satisfied, and I recommended this place to many people. But I recently followed up there and, my goodness, the quality has really taken a nose dive. Upon arrival, Shojo's dining room was very cold. Strange considering the weather was pretty good outside. Few diners were there, and despite the small turnout, the servers seemed apathetic and slow. Off to a rocky start.

I could forgive all of this if the food was good, but it was not. Although edible, some of the dishes were absolutely terrible given their price point. The chicken and waffles, a dish I really enjoyed during my first visit, was disappointing, as the bland (albeit well cooked) chicken covered a crumbly waffle with vanilla undertones, dressed with far too little syrup to fully flavor the content on the plate. The dumplings seemed premade and slightly burned, and the stir fried vegetables had almost no seasoning of any kind.

But my biggest disappointment was the bone marrow. Although the serving appeared fairly large, the cooks covered the marrow with garnish, hiding the actual amount of marrow served. Pealing the mountain of garnish away, we realized that the bone didn't actually have much marrow. It's like they tried to trick us into thinking we got a decent portion! Adding insult to injury, they barely seasoned it, and the scallion pancake they paired it with was doughy and bland. Even ponzu couldn't save this dish. We sent it back. They were kind enough to comp it, but still, we thought that was unreal.

It's almost remarkable how much worse Shojo has gotten since I first went there. Asian cuisines have a plethora of punchy and complicated flavors to work with. Garlic. Ginger. Scallion. Soy, oyster, and fish sauces. Hot peppers. Rendered animal fats and high smoke-point cooking oils. Fantastic delivery devices for fat soluble flavors, salt, aromatics, and glutamates at every corner. These staple ingredients that would have otherwise made their dishes very solid were vastly underutilized. Salt, umami, and fat are good, why avoid their utilization? And then you combine this with lip-smacky comfort foods? This should be a slam dunk. And it was, when I first went there. So what happened? I wish I knew. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this restaurant unless they can step their game up again. Absolutely devastating.

Original review: Super creative take on American comfort foods. Definitely one of the most unique restaurants in Boston's Chinatown. Get the chicken and waffles and the BBQ ribs, they're super good and really...

Came in before 10 the other night, and the place was packed with just a few open tables. After checking with a server in the back, the host told us there would be an hour wait. He was hoping we would leave and eat elsewhere, because no sooner had we stepped up to the bar to order a drink, then he came and sat us immediately at one of the open tables. A few minutes later, the server approached us and told us the kitchen was closing in 10 min, and if we wanted anything we needed to order right then. He stood by as we quickly scanned the menu. He was very rude in the way he spoke to us, and was clearly bothered that we were there. One of us ordered a cocktail, and I asked for a few more minutes looking at the drink list. He never returned to take my drink order. In fact, this was the last time we saw the server for the duration of our experience there. The food started coming out, and it came out quickly. After the 3rd dish was set down, we had to ask the food runner for share plates, and the host for water and to retrieve the cocktail that we had ordered from the bar. All of the small plates were brought out before we had finished a single one. The food was greasy, the baos cool to the touch, and in general not good. I mentioned several times to the people delivering plate upon plate that I’d like them to slow down, but to no avail. No managers present, and none responded to a phone message seeking to tell them of our unfortunate evening, rather than having to resort to a bad review. What’s worse, they turned the lights on full blast around 10:24, hoping the remaining guests would leave, although their closing time isn’t until 11. If you can’t serve all your guests the same way, you should not seat a party at all. A horrible restaurant, and literally the worst service I have ever encountered. I felt bad for the other server who was pooling tips with this guy. She was very kind the few times she brought plates, but also did little to slow the quick succession of plates, or to improve the situation, other than telling us she hoped we’d come back and give it a second chance... we most...

I was excited to come here after many recommendations to try this place. Overall it’s a perfectly fine experience for Asian fusion…but nothing out of this world.

We ordered roasted bone marrow and monkey chicken wings to start. The scallion pancakes that came with the bone marrow were…not good. Crazy greasy and no texture, just sloppy there are a million places in Boston with a scallion pancake 100x better. The bone marrow had all these toppings that made it difficult to enjoy the flavor.

The chicken wings were tasty but you can find those anywhere, there was nothing unique or special about the wings here. Better off going to a dedicated wings spot.

We also ordered the burger with duck fat fries. It was fine, but there are better burgers and fries for the price in Boston. The fries were the definition of mid. Just some scallions thrown on top to make it seem “Asian”.

In addition we got the rib eye Bao. The Bao wasn’t fluffy and just had a boring taste and texture. The fried onions were soggy. The meat and sauce were good but way too much salt.

If you’ve ever made Asian fusion dishes at home you can make most of what’s on the menu. Or you can find better versions of them at a million other places in Chinatown, Malden, or Quincy.

Service is acceptable, no complaints. Quite a few other patrons had birthdays and the staff come out and cheer and sing. The ambiance is nice and they played good music, had some anime on at the bar. The art on the walls was cool to see. I wish there was one more bathroom and they kept it cleaner it was quite dirty.

The worst part is mediocre Asian fusion restaurants can be found all across America (or even surrounding areas of Boston) for a much cheaper price. Note that you are paying for the atmosphere and location of this spot. If you’re going to make the effort of coming out here, find a nice authentic Chinese restaurant nearby. Save your coin and...