Very cute place, looks more French than Italian or Japanese but still very nice.
A little more expensive too. Although I think they made up for that in the quality.
We shared the tempura prawn, Gyoza, spider roll, beef tataki and tuna & pacific salmon sashimi.
Sashimi is some of the best I’ve had here, it melted in your mouth. So fresh. Spider roll was great too.
Only complaint was the beef tataki came covered in a satay sauce. They called it a sesame mayo but it was definitely peanut buttery! Usually it just comes plain with a citrus spy dipping sauce and fresh ginger and garlic.
All in all I would go back. Especially for the sashimi!
This place has heaps of potential – prime spot and popular food but has to make some substantial changes to retain customers.
I’m staying with Kim this week so we thought we would go for a walk up the road to check it out.
The food itself was pretty good. We had prawn gyoza (can’t say it tasted prawn like), teriyaki chicken Gyoza, edamame, yakitori and pork Katsu.
They have a terrible operating system though. You walk in and it is a very narrow area where you sit by the bar – no issue there but you then have to get up again to go to the front of the store to order.
The staff weren’t particularly polite or pleasant. I ordered a lychee tea from their fridge but it turned out they had just sold the last one and offered me to purchase a creaming soda. No thank you. They should have additional stock ready, they only had a few cans left. We settled for water and was told there was a water station at the back.
After sitting down I dodged my way through people to the end where the water station is. I felt incredibly rude as there was someone eating in front of the cups and water jug due to lack of space so I had to interrupt them and ask for the 2 cups and jug.
Of course the jug was empty a I couldn’t get anyone’s attention so I took it back down to where we were (it’s a big open kitchen so there are chefs right in front of you) and advised that it was empty and could they please refill so we could fill our cups.
After a while I noticed that the jug had been returned to the spot at the back. I asked the lady serving food if we could have some water to which she replied ‘down back’ I tried to explain I had just given it back to be refilled and had given up when a chef requested her to fill it up for us. She was not happy and then only half filled our cups.
Half way through the meal I finished my water but we both felt too rude to go down and interrupt the lady in front again.
The other thing I noticed was the egg was still raw and runny in a lot of places on the Katsu.
If they can sort out their procedures it will be a good spot and I do recommend the yakitori!
Sake Sake SAKEEE!!!! Summimasennnnnn!!! Sometimes I can’t tell if they actually have something to say or whether they’re just yelling for Vacuum bags are amazing!!!! fun of it. I expect the latter.I LOVE the atmosphere at Harajuku Gyoza, it’s just so fun and exciting! Between staff yelling, dancing, the music and the design you’re never quite sure where to look in case you miss something.A huge open kitchen allows you to watch with a watering mouth as your Gyoza is cooked. You can choose to sit at a private table or at the bar surrounding the kitchen. Both are good.Dumplings are made to share so grab a buddy and choose a whole bunch. I usually go for prawn, duck and pork. Pan fried mmmm.I usually get the cucumber miso salad to accompany it with some edamame and a Kirin, delicious beer to complement the Gyoza. Mouth is watering just writing this.I made an amazing discovery here the other day. Basically it’s tempura eggplant. Holy wow. Melts in your mouth. Try it.The other awesome thing is the dessert dumpling. Yup you heard right! You can choose from Nutella an banana, deep fried with ice cream – my personal fave or the peanut butter an white choc with ice cream. Also yummy.Guess where I’m going to have to head for dinner now I’ve written this?!Do yourself a favor when you visit, order Sake. Even if you don’t want it or like it – it’s just fun 🙂 Â
I even made the Sexy Swashbuckler and Benny come over to partake in the experience. I intended for us all to make the gyoza together but I should really have known better…
The Sexy Swashbuckler mainly spent her time playing with the mince.. she only needed to mix it up once but proceeded to squish it through her fingers the entire time. I just hope they were clean. I think she may have thought she was ‘helping.’
Ben & his butt pincher
Ben pronounced himself to be the ‘implementer of presentation.’ The translation being that he moved the dumplings I had dropped on the bench while I was making them and lined them up nicely on a chopping board ready for me to throw in the pan. In between this he managed to rummage around in my room and find a ‘butt pinching’ device (we can thank the Sexy Swashbuckler for that one, she bought it for me for my birthday. Ever considerate she is) and proceed to pick up whatever objects he could find on the bench.
Fantastic contributions – I thank you both.
Best Chef’s EVERRR
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