Taiwanese dumpling Zhang Ji

One weekend afternoon after 2 p.m., I wanted to have a late lunch in Umeda… and the existence of Taiwanese dumpling Zhang Ji came to my mind, so I immediately did some preliminary research on my smartphone. According to the restaurant’s official website, the “Taiwanese lunch with choice of main dish”, in which you can choose two side dishes from a selection of eight, including gyoza, shrimp mayonnaise, and fried chicken, is available for only 1,100 yen (tax not included). I was happy for a moment, but I was disappointed to find the words “weekday limited price” on the left side of the price… Well, we can have it on weekends for 1,200 yen plus tax, but 100 yen more at a time like this is mentally tough on me…

But, being a bad person, I couldn’t give up and decided to go to the front of the restaurant to see what was there. Then, a signboard on the storefront caught my attention at once, and I entered the restaurant as if it were a conditioned reflex. So, what kind of sign was it? If you are curious, please continue reading the article…

Chef trained at the popular Taipei restaurant Zhang Ji Nabe Paste Beef Noodle… Taiwan Dumpling Zhang Ji is a restaurant like this…

The signboard that caught my eye at the storefront of Taiwanese Dumpling Zhang Ji is this…

Three kinds of set menus titled “Special Weekend Set Meals”. They all look delicious, but the one that caught my eye was the “Authentic Bean Curd Set Meal (900 yen + tax)” on the lower left. The set includes rice or Taiwanese congee, soup, and a small bowl of cooked food, and we can have as much rice (Taiwanese congee) and soup as we like! And with a single 1,000-yen bill, change is returned to the us, a divine price. It is hard to find a restaurant offering such a reasonable lunch nowadays, don’t you think?

According to the restaurant’s Tabelog, the total number of seats is 64, including 10 counter seats, so even a loner like me can use the restaurant without hesitation. In fact, the chef at this restaurant was trained at a popular restaurant in Taipei called Zhang Ji Nabe Paste Beef Noodle. If that is the case, the “Taipei” in the restaurant’s name is absolutely true. Isn’t it exciting to be able to enjoy the same tasty food that you would eat in Taiwan?

Weekend only! How was Taiwanese Dumpling Zhang Ji’s very economical authentic Bean Curd Set Meal?

Let me introduce you to the authentic Bean Curd Set Meal I ordered at Taiwanese Dumpling Zhang Ji. Image here…

The main course of Bean Curd Bean Curd with Rice, Egg Soup, and a small bowl of rice came out as one plate. As mentioned above, refills of rice (or Taiwanese congee) and egg soup are free, and for an additional charge (200 yen plus tax), the rice can be changed to Lu Bei rice. This time, I had to cry because my main dish was Bean Curd with Bean Curd, but I would have liked to have Lu Bei Rice as well…

But that aside, let’s try the Bean Curd with Bean Paste. There is a considerable amount of chili oil floating on the surface, and when I brought it to my mouth with a spoon, it was so strong that it made me swoon. When I put it in my mouth, my tongue feels the spiciness and my forehead starts to sweat…but I also feel the sweetness of the pork, and the garlic flavor from the garlic sprouts makes me want to throw it into my mouth one after the other.

Bean-curd soup with rice. Of course, it can’t be “bad.

And the amount of bean curd is large enough to withstand two more servings. That’s enough to fill up even an adult male with low fuel consumption, right? Frankly speaking, as long as this lunch is available, I think it is unnecessary to go to the nearby Sawada Restaurant… Whenever I feel like eating bean curd in Umeda, I should first check to see if this lunch is being served.

The “extra” this time is “Mr. Chang’s Potstickers (4 pieces, priced at 290 yen + tax),” which the name of the restaurant suggests that it must be ordered… Although four pieces are not laid out, each piece is about twice as large as a gyoza at Marusho Gyoza Restaurant, so they are not lacking in volume. 

The ratio of pork to vegetables is about 2:1. Especially, the pork is minced in large pieces, which makes the gyoza meaty.

The special soy sauce already contains vinegar, so it is like eating gyoza with vinegar and soy sauce. The special soy sauce already contains vinegar, so it is like eating gyoza with vinegar and soy sauce. The secret sauce, on the other hand, seems to be based on Taiwanese soy sauce and is a little thicker and quite sweet. It is hard to say which is better, but I think I prefer the secret sauce…

How about using it as a pub? To get to Taiwanese Gyoza Zhang Ki, walk 4 minutes from Higashi Umeda Station on the OsakaMetro Tanimachi Line, the closest station to the restaurant.

Taiwanese Gyoza Zhang Ji is an easy-to-use restaurant that can also be used as a Japanese-style pub. In particular, it has an extensive alcohol menu including sours and cocktails, which I think will be appreciated by women. In my opinion, the name of the drink is “Dedicated to Gyoza! Sansho Spice Sour” is interesting to me. I might order it with gyoza next time I go there…Now, here are the details of the restaurant…