All three spots are the merry embodiment of the Japanese concept of izakaya, which means stay, snack and drink – chill, nosh and swill.
For similar vibes, think of Izakaya Ittoku in Porter or Bosso Ramen in Harvard, where the festive air is as essential to your experience as the food placed before you. It’s a zesty pop of ambience, to be sure. Along with fried rice six ways to Monday, the Cambridge spot has a sprawling graffiti-art martial arts mural and everything Bruce Lee on the widescreen TV. Later came the rave downtown ramen place Ruckus and a Shōjō outpost at Terminal C in Logan Airport. Brian Moy’s parents ran the popular dim sum eatery China Pearl in Chinatown Moy opened the first Shōjō in 2012 just feet from Chinatown’s traditional styled gate, a vibrant, hip-hop infused spin on tradition and the cuisine Moy grew up with.
Now Shōjō, the upstart Chinatown evolution that has turned into something of an ever-expanding pan-Asian phenomenon, has a locale on Massachusetts Avenue right across from The Middle East nightclub complex. Seems like Central Square had become the unofficial home to hip, haute Asian fusion with the likes of Pagu, Mâe Asian Eatery and Little Donkey, not to mention the nearby Cicada, which went from a Vietnamese coffee bar and pho shack to infinity and beyond. “Shadowless” fries at Shōjō in Cambridge’s Central Square.
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