Erewhon: Overpriced or overhyped?
I came into this experience of trying Erewhon thinking I would walk out and categorize Erewhon as either overpriced or overhyped. Where almond butter costs $18.00 and where you can spot D-list celebrities, the grocery store in Los Angeles is infamous for its insane prices and celebrity presence. Is it overpriced or overhyped? Maybe I’ll save you some money? Maybe I won't? Keep reading to find out.
When we arrived at Erewhon it was a zoo. I expected the grocery store to be the size of a Whole Foods, but in reality, it was smaller than a CVS. There were people grocery shopping and chatting, but most of the customers were either in the hot food line or the smoothie line. My family and I divided and conquered. My dad and I went to the smoothie station while my sister and my mom went to the hot bar. We met outside at a table, and began to eat our smorgasbord containing a sushi sandwich, nigiri, macaroni & cheese, buffalo cauliflower, a Strawberry Glaze smoothie, a Beauty Elixir Smoothie, a raw cinnamon roll, and raw chocolate mousse.
The first dish I tried was the sushi sandwich. As a sushi lover, I was super excited to try a sandwich-sized crispy rice with salmon, tuna, crab, and avocado. I was a bit disappointed when I took a bite and all I could taste was the crab. I’ve never been a fan of imitation crab, and so I should have seen it coming. Erewhon does offer a version without the crab, so if I were you I would go for that if you find yourself looking for a sushi sandwich. Besides the crab, the crispy rice was actually crispy, and the rest of the fish was pretty fresh. The sushi sandwich is creative, but it wasn’t the best sushi-type-thing I’ve had. But then I stopped and remembered that I was eating lunch at a grocery store, not some insane sushi restaurant. So, with that in mind, I would say that it was pretty good and granted me a fun experience.
*All photos of food are taken by Julia Josephson’s iPhone camera that is not functioning as it should. They are further more unaesthetically pleasing because Julia’s family was rushing her photo opp. because they were hungry.
The next dish I tried was the nigiri. It looked fresh and like it would taste good, so I had expectations. It exceeded them. The fish, although I’m not sure what type, was insanely fresh and felt like I was eating at a Los Angeles stripmall sushi restaurant (this means the fish was amazing and unlike anything else). The flavor wasn’t my favorite; it had a smoky sauce on it, but the rest of my family loved it. But, the fish and the rice were of high quality which made up for the flavor. I’m sure that the rest of their sushi would be just the same or even better. I was very impressed by Erewhon’s version of grocery store sushi.
I stepped away from the sushi cuisine and towards the American dishes. The first I tried was the macaroni & cheese, and it was my favorite of the foods I tried. It’s gluten free, but didn’t taste like it, which means that they succeeded. The ratio of cheese to pasta was spot-on. If you don’t like super saucy mac ‘n cheese, this is for you. So good!
The other dish was the buffalo cauliflower. It was great! Except, they came from the hot bar and weren’t hot. I bet that if you heated them up the cauliflower would taste even better. So, I recommend trying this dish if you are a fan of buffalo but want to get some veggies in.
Aside from the main dishes, we also ordered two of the famous Erewhon smoothies: the Hailey Beiber “Strawberry Glaze” smoothie that is supposed to magically clear your skin, and the Molly Sims “Beauty Elixir” smoothie that is there to help your gut. I was influenced, and I expected that the Beiber smoothie would not live up to the hype, but it did. This smoothie beat every other thing I tried at Erewhon. The smoothie was stunning, too. Made up of only organic ingredients and superfoods, it surprisingly tasted like a strawberry milkshake. I’m not quite sure about the strawberry glaze that goes in it, maybe it has sugar, but there's so little of it that I would consider it negligible. The Sims smoothie was pretty good too. It tasted like banana and caramel, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. However, if you enjoy bananas, dates, and almonds, you would definitely enjoy this. Now, do I think these smoothies are each worth $19.00? Absolutely not. But, they were some of the most enjoyable and drinkable nutrition-packed smoothies I’ve ever had. So, it’s up to you whether you think it’s acceptable.
Just for fun we threw in a raw and vegan cinnamon roll as well as a chocolate mousse. I was really concerned about the raw cinnamon roll, because it was actually somewhat raw: there was no cooked dough but rather a paste made of oats. The cinnamon roll also has no sugar, and it’s vegan, and they seem to cover it up pretty well. I really liked it, and it tasted like an actual desert. Very creative and very delicious! The chocolate mousse was made of avocado and cacao powder, and it was amazing too. It was rich, and a perfect no-sugar dessert that fulfills your cravings.
Now, here’s where I’ll finally answer the question of whether Erewhon is overpriced or overhyped. Throughout this reflection process I’ve realized that my answer is a bit more nuanced than just picking one or the other.
Surely, we all know that it’s overpriced. $20 for a sushi sandwich is not the appropriate price. But, that’s what Erewhon is and what makes it noticeable. It attracts Angelenos who want to immerse themselves in the unreal reality that celebrities live in, and it attracts celebrities too. Erewhon’s focus on healthy, organic, and energizing foods makes it unlike any other grocery store. I bet you cannot find sea moss sold at any other chain, or vegan and gluten free desserts that taste just as good as any other sweet treat. Their creativity and quality in what they offer is what you are paying for, which makes the price what it is.
Is it overhyped? I’m not quite sure if I can point to yes or no. I went in with a mindset that I would be eating a five star meal from an overpriced Jewel Osco. Erewhon’s image makes everyone forget that it’s just a grocery store. The food is overhyped because everyone expects it to be something that it cannot be. But, for a grocery store, their food is pretty decent. It’s creative, unique, and made up of quality ingredients and nothing harmful.
My final answer to the question is that it is both overpriced and overhyped. But, that doesn’t mean Erewhon and what it offers is bad. It’s overpriced simply because of what they charge, and overhyped because people have unrealistic expectations for what a grocery store can do. It’s still good, though. I’ll be craving the Strawberry Glaze smoothie for a bit, and one day I’ll come back for the macaroni & cheese. Erewhon is the most ingenious grocery store I’ve been to, and I’ll likely return to check out what else it has to offer.
