Chosabi - Tasty but Overpriced Asian Streetfood

Over the last few years, the Exchange District has been rejuvenated by many new restaurants. The area is now a vibrant neighbourhood with many warehouses having been converted into loft-style condos, upscale restaurants, pubs, and donut and coffee shops. Always game for a new food experience, I was eager to try Chosabi. Chosabi is the new project of Cho Venevongsa, who is also the owner of the popular Wasabi group of restaurants, known for excellent sushi.

Located beside the already popular King + Bannatyne and Bronuts, this is a prime location for a hip new restaurant. It is a spacious, well-lit restaurant with large windows allowing for lots of natural light. The design is clean and simple, with a few small tables and a larger communal table in the middle. On one end lies a large beautiful mural with koi fish while the other looks upon an open-kitchen. Chosabi is touted as a fast and causal dining experience. There is a large wall of refrigeration units with some ready-to-go items, in addition to their regular menu which is written on a chalkboard. A bit of a deviation from the style of Wasabi restaurants, Chosabi is a new direction for Cho Venevongsa, but creativity in the menu has remained. Albeit a relatively simple menu, each dish has a unique name, followed by a listing of the ingredients. The menu seems to take its inspiration from a variety of Asian cuisines.

Wanting to try something from each part of the menu, we started with The Original Banh Mi. For those unfamiliar with it, Banh Mi is a sandwich that tells the history of Vietnam. It takes French colonial influences (baguette and pate) which serve as the vehicle for local Vietnamese ingredients (cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon). The perfect baguette is crispy on the outside with a soft and airy interior and Chosabi's version came close. Vietnamese cold cut meats and pate bring a variety of savoury flavours sharply contrasted by refreshing cucumber slices, pickled carrots and daikon, and topped by the sharp taste of cilantro. Overall, Chosabi's version of Banh Mi is close to the original.

Rice is a staple of Asian food and there are so many ways to go about dressing it up. The Manny Pacman Special is a hearty bowl with an abundance of juicy and salty Filipino sausages, and slices of tocino (a sweet cured pork). Adding colour to the rice bowl are boiled vegetables: green beans, carrots, and spinach. A bit bland on their own, but overall perfectly complemented by the flavourful meats. To round out the dish is an expertly fried egg with some soy sauce. The yolk had the perfect ooze factor and really there's nothing like breaking the yolk of an egg and letting it run over the other components of the dish, adding a creamy rich flavour. Delicious and filling, this is a pretty solid rice bowl.

Lastly, we tried the Chosabi Burrito. A unique concept, this is like a soup-ed up version of the regular sushi roll. Take a piece of seaweed, pack it full of tangy sushi rice, tuna, salmon, crab meat, and slices of cucumber and avocado. In general, there was a little too much going on to be able to enjoy the experience of each ingredient. The spicy aioli adds a much needed kick to your taste buds and of course, it would not be sushi without soy sauce, so be sure to drizzle or dip your burrito in some. The tempura flakes add a crunchiness and provides a contrast to mainly soft interior. This unconventional burrito definitely packs a punch and is a perfect grab-and-go kind of meal.

Chosabi is the new kid on the block for a quick, healthy bite. It fills the lack of Asian cuisine in the Exchange District and puts forward dishes that are perfect for the on-the-go individual. Overall, the ingredients are fresh, and the flavours are solid. My only complaint are the slightly hefty prices which are higher than similar items in Winnipeg but not out of proportion for meals in the area.