Hishidaya's homemade pan-fried dumplings
Over 70g per piece! Top-class taste and satisfaction, perfect for days when you feel like having a hearty meal.
This popular restaurant has over 10 popular set meals, including hearty pork ginger stir-fries, and has a constant line of customers every day. In the evening, the number of a la carte dishes to enjoy with alcohol increases dramatically, including the "homemade fried gyoza." Akira Hishida, the fifth-generation owner, has experience training at a Chinese restaurant, and is a master of gyoza.
The base of the filling is made from roughly chopped pork belly, chives, cabbage, spring onions, and ginger. To complement the bold ingredients, Hishida adds a strong flavor with lard, chicken stock, and black pepper, and adds a fragrant aroma with fried shallots. This is then wrapped in a thick, large-diameter skin and fried in a frying pan with shirasumeyu (white radish) and water at a boil, resulting in a crispy, juicy, and blissful dish!
Homemade fried dumplings / 5 pieces for 720 yen. Size: 11cm, folds: 7, skin: thick, filling: plenty.
If you add a rice set (rice, miso soup, and pickles) to your "homemade fried dumplings" for 330 yen, you can have a set meal even at night.
The filling is mixed with Taiwanese fried shallots.
Gatito's assorted gyoza dumplings
It's a secret menu item, but the assorted gyoza is incredibly popular.
I love tequila. And I also love gyoza. "I used to go to Chohakkai in Asagaya when it first opened," says Ito Yuka, whose love for gyoza is evident from her story. Naturally, gyoza has become a specialty of the tequila bar she opened. Although it's on the secret menu, the majority of customers order it.
From a repertoire of over 20 varieties, five of the day's recommendations are served on a platter. On this day, the choices were "Yuzu," "Gapao," "Chili Miso," "Garlic," and "Japanese Pepper Lotus Root." The key ingredients are cut into large pieces, and are placed on top of the filling rather than mixed in, to bring out the flavor of each ingredient. What's more, Ito's choice of 100% agave tequila has a refreshing effect on the grease in the mouth, making it a perfect match for the gyoza!
Gyoza platter / 5 pieces for 1,100 yen. Size: 8cm, pleats: 6, skin: normal, filling: normal.
The "Tequila Highball" (1,100 yen) is made by mixing four types of tequila with different degrees of aging, chilling it, and pouring cold soda all at once, and is recommended for beginners.
A variety of ingredients are used as filling for gyoza.
Kale dumplings from WE ARE THE FARM Meguro branch
Made by the man who helped popularize the deliciousness of kale, these gyoza dumplings are full of kale love!
Owner and chef Keisuke Furumori first discovered the appeal of kale in America, when it was still only used in green juice in Japan. Originally a winter season, kale is grown year-round in his own fields, and now he grows kale and other vegetables on his own farm, an area the size of five Tokyo Domes. Recently, he finally added his long-awaited kale dumplings to his menu.
Kale is all about freshness, so it has to be picked that morning and processed the same day. Furthermore, the color fades easily when heated, so it took a lot of effort to achieve the beautiful green skin. The filling is also almost entirely kale, made with just a little pork as a binder, Chinese cabbage, green onion, ginger, and garlic. These health-conscious dumplings taste like you're eating a whole head of fresh kale.
Kale dumplings / 14 pieces for 1,056 yen. Size: 7cm, pleats: 4, skin: thin, filling: regular.
The "Kale Beer" (770 yen) is a must-try in the kale vein, and is surprisingly refreshing thanks to the orange juice it contains.
Kale leaves are lush and thick, reaching a total length of nearly 30cm.
Spicy chicken skin gyoza from Spice & Herb Izakaya Yaruki
Original gyoza created by Tony, who loves izakayas
Shahin Jakariya Tony, an Indian who worked for the izakaya chain Yarukichaya for 10 years, opened his own restaurant. His menu, which makes use of his expertise in using spices, is something you can only find here. In particular, the "Spicy Chicken Skin Gyoza" is an original dish he came up with to make full use of the skin removed when making tandoori chicken or kitori.
Raw chicken skin is wrapped around a filling made with minced chicken, cabbage, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms, then steamed and frozen. It's then deep-fried to order and sprinkled with plenty of special spices while still piping hot. The complex aromas of cumin, coriander, chat masala, mango powder, and more intertwine, making it a truly captivating snack to accompany your drinks.
Fry until crispy and golden brown. 
The spices are a blend of 12 different spices. 
Tony loves beer.
The Indian beer "Taj Mahal" (550 yen) has a refreshing taste.
Celery dumplings from Koryori Hyakuken
This unique twist makes these gyoza amazing the moment you try them!
"The moment you bite into it, I want you to enjoy the juicy meat juice and the freshness of the crunchy celery that spreads in your mouth," says owner Tomoe Matsuzaki, also known as "Massan." Ground pork and dashi are kneaded together to moisten the fat, and then plenty of celery and cabbage are mixed in.
The seasoning is based on soy sauce and sake, with a hint of mirin. We searched long and hard for the dough, which is chewy yet crispy when baked, giving it a good texture. The secret to the flavor is to encase the filling as tightly as possible, with the outside crispy like a thin rice cracker and the outside chewy. The first impact when you eat it is just as Matsuzaki intended. The sauce, made simply from vinegar and pepper, is simple and elegant, and these gyoza definitely go well with sake. It's no wonder that the order rate is almost 100%!
Celery dumplings / 5 pieces for 800 yen. Size: 7.5cm, pleats: 5, skin: normal, filling: many.
Aged sake is the perfect match for these gyoza. Hyogo Prefecture's Tajime Partnership's "Chikusen," a blend of two types of aged sake, costs 1,100 yen (1 go). It's not too sweet, but has a smoky flavor, and the lingering acidity washes away the fat from the gyoza. The sake cups are also very tasteful.
Nishik's soup dumplings
Enjoy the perfect harmony of the soup and dumplings, which are rich in the aroma of porcini mushrooms.
Nishiku offers a wide variety of sour drinks, including lemon sours made with high-quality lemons from Setoda, Hiroshima, as well as natural wines. They also have a wide selection of snacks that go perfectly with their alcoholic beverages. They specialize in fried foods, offering a wide variety of choices, including lamb cutlets, minced meat cutlets, fried horse mackerel with homemade tartar sauce, and deep-fried pizza.
Among these dishes, soup dumplings are also on the menu as a special dish from the chef's heart and soul. The key ingredient is dried Italian porcini mushrooms. They are soaked in water, chopped, and mixed into the dumpling filling, and the soaking water is used as the soup base. In addition to porcini mushrooms, seven to eight types of French and Japanese mushrooms are also added, resulting in an unparalleled concentration of flavor and umami. These dumplings are perfect as a final dish after a night of drinking.
Soup dumplings / 4 pieces 770 yen. Size: 9cm, pleats: 5, skin: thin, filling: regular.
There is also the "Freshly Squeezed! Setoda Lemon Sour" for 660 yen, as well as a monthly sour created in collaboration with Suzuki Yoshihiro of Lemon Samurai, who is working to promote domestic lemons.
Porcini soaking liquid infused with umami flavor.
