Pow Pow: What’s Vegetarian Editorial Review

Pow Pow is a plant-based, kosher-certified fast-casual spot on H Street NE. It answers the “what can I eat” question with egg rolls the size of your forearm and bowls that don’t taste like a compromise. The menu runs classic Chinese, Japanese, and Korean techniques through a plant-based lens, built by chef Margaux Riccio for local musician-turned-restaurateur Shaun Sharkey.

Start with the egg rolls. They’re the thing Pow Pow is known for on H Street, oversized and packed rather than the three-bite versions everywhere else. The sweet and sour bowl and the sesame chik’n both show up constantly in reviews. The salt and pepper “shrimp” is the dish that gets people to double-check the menu is actually all plant-based. Pineapple fried rice rounds it out if you want something lighter than a full bowl.

Everything here is plant-based and kosher certified, kitchen to counter. No meat cooking on the same line. No dairy sneaking into a sauce. That’s a rare combination in DC, where “vegan-friendly Asian spot” usually means asking which two items on a big menu are actually safe. At Pow Pow, the whole menu is safe.

The kosher certification is worth sitting with for a second. It means this isn’t a place cutting corners for a vegan label. Kosher certification comes with its own inspection and its own paperwork. Running a plant-based kitchen that clears both bars at once is a genuinely different level of operational discipline than a restaurant that just swapped a few proteins for tofu and called it a day.

Prices run $10 to $20 for a full bowl or a couple of egg rolls, a fair ask for the portion sizes. One reviewer called it out specifically as the rare DC spot that doesn’t gouge you for eating plant-based, and after years of paying a premium for a veggie burger, that’s not a small thing to say out loud. It’s counter service. Eat in at the ledges, get it delivered, or take it to go.

Weekend brunch is a separate thing worth knowing about: pancakes, fried chick’n and waffles, breakfast burritos, and milkshakes. Brunch seating needs an RSVP through Eventbrite, not a walk-up.

The H Street location is open daily, 11:30am to 9pm. There’s a second Pow Pow downtown at Franklin Square, open 11am to 9pm daily, if H Street is out of your way. Catering and gift cards are both available, and orders go through their own site rather than a delivery app.

H Street NE has turned into one of DC’s better food corridors over the last decade, and Pow Pow earned its spot honestly. It didn’t start as a chain playing catch-up to the plant-based trend. It started as one guy’s idea and grew into two locations because the food held up. Get the egg roll. Get the sesame chik’n. Don’t expect leftovers.