Gyoza no Yamazaki

“Gyoza no Yamazaki” is a popular restaurant in Umeda that serves “Tetsunabe gyoza” that is now attracting many repeat customers in Osaka. Even just hearing the name of the restaurant, as a gyoza lover, my interest is aroused. Oh, I feel like having a beer…

It’s just gyoza, but it’s gyoza. There are a lot of gyoza in the world, but I am curious to know “How good are the gyoza that keep repeaters coming back? I am sure that you are reading this now and wondering the same thing. So, one weekend evening after work, I went to Umeda where the restaurant is located. I was lucky that I was able to enter the restaurant without a long wait, probably because it was still early in the day…

Reservations are recommended for groups… Gyoza no Yamazaki is a restaurant like this.

Gyoza no Yamazaki is located in a slightly deep area called Togano-cho, on the east side of Umeda. It was founded in February 2019, and is a relatively new gyoza “izakaya” style restaurant. The management company, Sakagamiya Co., Ltd. is the same as Hormone Sakagami, a popular hormone yakiniku (hormone grilled meat) restaurant located nearby. Both the exterior and interior of the restaurant have a tasteful, popular izakaya atmosphere with a bang, and it is nice that anyone can feel free to enter the restaurant. However, for those who do not smoke, it should be noted that all seats are smoking…

There are a total of 62 seats in Gyoza no Yamazaki. But most of those seats are counter-style. Therefore, the largest number of customers are groups of two, followed by singles, threesomes, and so on. If the number of customers is small, there are quite a lot of seats, and the turnover of customers is fast, so you will not have to wait long even if you just show up without a reservation.

On the other hand, if you are in a group of four or more, you will have a much harder time finding a seat. Gyoza no Yamazaki does have table seating, but there are only four tables in the space at the back of the restaurant. In fact, the competition for these tables seemed to be quite high, and people who had jumped in with their groups were being sunk. If you are planning to use the restaurant with more than 4 people, it is definitely better to make a reservation in advance.

Strongly recommended by the owner! Trying “Tetsunabe Gyoza” and “Mala hot and sour soup”, two specialties at Yamazaki’s Gyoza, a popular Chinese-style pub in Umeda, Osaka.

Let me introduce the two items I ordered at Gyoza no Yamazaki this time: iron pot gyoza and hot and sour soup. These are the restaurant’s specialties, recommended by the owner of Gyoza no Yamazaki. The gyoza, in particular, was extremely popular, with most of the customers in the restaurant ordering it first. I guess I’ll go for the iron pot gyoza from the start, too!

Iron pot gyoza (large)

So, let me first introduce you to Gyoza Yamazaki’s signature dish, Tetsunabe gyoza (large, priced at 1,440 yen plus tax). You are supposed to be able to choose the spiciness and sibilance, but the waitress didn’t ask me anything, so I think it is probably the least spicy one.

There are 15 pieces of browned gyoza in total, spread all over the 3cm deep iron pot. And, although the picture doesn’t show it, you can hear a crunching sound like oil frying from inside this iron pot. In fact, if you take one of the dumplings and look inside…

The bottom of the pot is covered with oil, and the dumplings are still simmering and heating up even after a while after being removed from the heat (probably due to the large amount of pork fat from the dumpling filling mixed in with the salad oil). So be careful not to burn yourself with this iron pot gyoza until the very end. In fact, even the last one was so hot that it almost burned my tongue…

The size of one gyoza is about the same as a regular gyoza. The wings are quite firm and crispy, but the skin is not so thick that you can easily tear the skin if you put chopsticks into the gyoza with the force of breaking through the wings.

The filling was like this, with a high percentage of pork. The sweet taste of pork and the aroma of garlic assaulted my tongue and nose. To be honest, the impact was comparable to the Kitobiro Gyoza at Aji no Daioh’s head shop in Tomakomai, Hokkaido. This one will make you want to drink more beer. Especially if you like strong flavors, you will want to repeat it again and again.

However, I found one big weak point(?). I also found one big weakness. There are three kinds of seasonings on the table for seasoning the iron pot gyoza: vinegar and soy sauce, raayu, and sansho salt…

No matter how much of these seasonings I put on the gyoza, the oil clinging to the gyoza cancels the taste of the seasonings. In the end, the taste is almost the same as eating it as it is without any seasoning. There may be differences in opinion about this, but in any case, there is no doubt that the calorie content of this dish looks bad if you finish it.

Hot and spicy soup

Next up is another Yamazaki specialty, “hot and spicy hot soup”. The soup is quite filling, just like this. This soup has about 200 grams of ingredients, and it is so hearty that it could be served not only as a soup but also as a side dish. It is not only a soup, but also a side dish! It may also be a good idea to have just this and rice.

The ordering method for this hot and sour soup is unique, so let’s start from there…

First, choose your favorite ingredients from the showcase at the back of the restaurant. On this particular day, there were a total of 12 ingredients, including pork, kikurage mushrooms, quail, and shimeji mushrooms. Pick up what you want to eat with the tongs provided…

At the end of the process, the soup is put together and weighed. The price of the soup is determined by the weight of the ingredients, which is 25 yen per 10 grams, plus the cost of the soup (150 yen or 300 yen per 200 grams of ingredients). Since the total weight of the ingredients was 199 grams, the price for the hot and sour soup was 500 yen for the ingredients and 150 yen for the soup, for a total of 650 yen. I thought this price was a great deal for such a large portion.

Now, how does the soup taste? I ordered this hot and spicy soup at 2-chome, and I did not mind the spiciness, sourness, and stimulation as much as I expected. However, this hot and spicy soup seems to be made with 20 homemade spices, and I felt something quite medicinal when I was drinking it. In particular, the refreshing cool sensation in my mouth was outstanding, and it seemed as if the oil from the very rich iron pot dumplings I had eaten before was being washed away clean.

I was drinking this soup like that, but in the latter half of the meal, I noticed that my lips were getting numb. It seemed that the large volume of the soup was slowly taking its toll on me like a body blow. So, I think it is better to order less spicy and less numbing at first. It might be better to order it with less spiciness and less sibilance at first, so that you can enjoy more of the medicinal herbs.

After finishing the above two dishes, we paid the bill. The price was a little over 3,000 yen with an appetizer (380 yen + tax) and a cup of oolong tea. The iron pot gyoza is a bit expensive, but overall, I think all the menu items are kept at a reasonable price. If you are looking for a cheap place to have a drink in Umeda, this restaurant is a good choice.

Examples of other menu items at Gyoza no Yamazaki (prices do not include tax)

• Bambo Chicken 580 yen
• Stewed pork cubes 620 yen
• Pakuchi salad 620 yen
• Fried chicken 640 yen
• Fried Chinese cabbage 880 yen
• Stir-fried noodles 580 yen
• Beef noodles 680 yen

You can eat just one dish and go home! To get to Gyoza no Yamazaki, walk 5 minutes from the nearest station, Higashi Umeda Station on the Osaka Metro Tanimachi Line.

Gyoza no Yamazaki has a rather izakaya-like atmosphere, but you can eat just one side dish and rice and go home, just like at a Machi-chuka Chinese restaurant. In fact, during the time I was there, there was a customer who ordered only Szechuan bean curd and rice to go with his bill. Unlike Machi-chuuka, there is an appetizer charge, which is a drawback, but the portions are large enough to fill you up. If you are looking for cheap Chinese food in the Umeda area, this restaurant should be on your mind.

Here are the details of the restaurant. Restaurant data is here…

P.S. If you are looking for good Chinese food in Osaka, please stop by this article…