There is a magic in biting through the thin and crisp dough layer into a juicy pork and vegetable filling of a Gyoza, the light aroma of the sauces and vinegar enhancing the taste. The crisp yet soft texture of the dough layer and the juiciness of the fillings add a joy to the eating experience.
I have enjoyed eating Gyoza from the time I moved to Japan, often as an accompaniment to another favourite, Fried Rice and in the occasional moments of gluttony a few pieces of fried chicken along with them.
For the Gyoza virgins, it is a type of dumpling. Gyoza is a dumpling but all dumplings are not Gyoza. Dumpling is a category and the Gyoza is a half-moon shaped, steamed and pan-fried dumpling filled with ground pork and vegetables.
I don’t have the talent for describing food, the only words I have are tasty, delicious and terrible, the subtleties of flavours are lost on me. The purpose is the describe a notable restaurant, describe what is good there and the general feeling about the place.
Ginza Tenryu(銀座天龍）was described as the best place for Gyozas in Tokyo by sarah30.com, a gourmet themed Japanese website. The restaurant is located in the upscale Ginza and has an upscale feeling about it. The access is though a side street into a building interestingly called Puzzle Ginza, and is located on the 4th floor.
I was visiting the Ginza area after a while and planned out a visit to the restaurant. The pandemic has reduced the in person meetings and it is a rare occasion when I travel into downtown Tokyo on work. The first thing that strikes me is that even though there is a display board for the restaurant it does not advertise the lunch menu. There is a confidence that customers who visit the place know what they are looking for.
The confidence is not misplaced as a majority of the online reviews are about the Gyozas in the restaurant.
I reached the restaurant at 11:30 a reasonably early hour before the lunch crowds start building up, I was guided to my seat by the waiter. The upscale feeling of the restaurant was evident from the number of uniformed waiters in the restaurant.
The interiors are stylish with the Chinese red lanterns hanging from the ceilings. The seating options include sofas, tables and counters. The relatively early hour ensured I was able to get a table.
The pandemic has ensured partitions between seating areas and there is nothing more uncomfortable than eating in a narrow space, the elbows brushing against the partition each time the arms move a little.
The menus are in Japanese and English, though it took me a few minutes to figure out that the Recommended Menu(おすすめメニュー）was suitable for lunch. There is an a’ la Carte option and a few people who came in groups were ordering multiple dishes to share but I was alone, and having had a late breakfast wasn’t really that hungry.
So I ordered the Gyoza rice set, which is 8 pieces of Gyoza, a small bowl of rice and some pickled vegetables. The first things that strikes you is the size of the Gyozas, they are at least 6 inches long and around 2 inches wide, that is twice the size of most Gyozas I have eaten.
The 1,300 Yen(Around US $ 11 in April 2022) cost of the meal, expensive for lunch standards is starting to make sense now. This is just not a meal, it is the one big meal for the day and you probably will not eat anything for some time afterwards.
The Gyozas don’t have garlic in them, making it easier for those who have to sit around you back at the office. The restaurant is ideal for a business lunch, the seats are sufficiently separated, the a’ la carte menu is suitable for a group lunch.
However the restaurant is not known for the size, rather the quality of the Gyozas. They are crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. Catching the Gyoza between the chopsticks takes a little time getting used to due to the size. The bowl for mixing the sauces is also large, in scale with the Gyoza size.
The service is fast and efficient, it took less than 3 minutes after my order to have my lunch on the table. The staff is polite ,when the person at the next table, alone like me, asked for a water refill, the waiter apologised before filling the glass.
If you are wondering about the reason for the apology, the waiter should have noticed the empty glass and refilled it without being asked to.
The 8 Gyozas took time to go down and I regretted the late heavy breakfast, so if you plan to eat and enjoy come on an empty stomach as there is a lot to eat and if you are struggling to finish your food then you are not really enjoying it.
The meal was filling, the Gyozas perfectly fried, the sauces well mixed. The size of the Gyoza was the only part that required getting used to , otherwise it was a perfect blend of quantity and quality.