This is a great gyoza (dumplings) restaurant in Harajuku. We found out about this restaurant from a recommendation in the Pocket Tokyo book from Lonely Planet.
The outside of the restaurant didn’t have any English so we weren’t sure we were at the right place, but the guide did say that there was usually a line and this was the only place with a line based on the directions. We got in line and asked the person in front of us, he confirmed that it was the right spot.
The line was a bit long but it went pretty fast. We were inside and seated before I knew it.
There menu is mostly dumplings. I always find that the places with the limited menus are the ones that really know what they are doing. They only have a few items on the menu and the perfect those items.
We first decided to go with the pan-fried dumplings with garlic and leek, and the boiled bean sprouts with mince meat.
We were lucky to sit at the counter near the action. We were able to watch everything that the chef did. There was basically one chef cooking the food. There were other staff members taking orders, and plating the meals.
It was a small kitchen with two counters. On one side there we three stations for the pan-fried dumplings. Each station had a sink nozzle to fill the pan with water. The chef would grab a tray from a fridge that lined the outside of the kitchen area, neatly place six servings of dumplings into the pan (each serving is 6 dumplings), then add some water, and wait for the dumplings to be pan-fried.
While he waited, he would take finished dumplings from one of the other pans, work on filling another pan, or turn around and work on cooking steamed dumplings.
On the other counter behind the pan-fried dumpling station was a stove top with three large pots. Two of the pots were lined with colanders. The chef would take a serving of dumplings and slide them from the tray into one of the colanders. The other pot was for the mince used in the bean sprout dish.
When the dumplings were done the chef would place them on a plate, ready to be served. It was fascinating to watch. The chef didn’t use any timers and was constantly moving through the dishes. We didn’t have to wait long at all – which is probably why the line to get in went pretty fast.
When our pan-fried dumplings and bean sprouts dishes arrived when dove right in. I will admit I had a bit of trouble using chopsticks. This was my first time ever using them and it was a bit frustrating. I could pick up the dumplings OK, but the bean sprouts and mince were very tricky. The dish was delicious but I didn’t get to have much because I was slow and frustrated trying to eat it with the chopsticks! I should have practice more before coming to Japan! (For the record I did get a bit better over the two weeks – eating become a lot less frustrating!)
After we finished the first round of food, we decided to try the original dumplings, also pan-fried. They were good, but I think we both preferred the garlic and leek ones.
This was our first Japanese lunch and it did not disappoint! I was craving dumplings (which I’ve never had before) for the rest of the trip!