I ended up at gyoza no Ohsho in Osaka because of a simple reason, I walked around and looked for a place to eat, and the big and delicious Gyoza image simply pulled me in. It is one of the popular Chinese food chains in Japan, with hundreds of stores spread through the whole country. The company started in Kyoto in the 1960s, and it became known especially because of its gyoza, exactly what I planned to order.
My Meal at Gyoza no Ohsho
Outside the store, posters everywhere show different sets and bento choices. I looked at the to-go part, but I wanted to sit and eat comfy.
Outside, the food pictures show gyoza and ramen sets with pictures, which helped a lot to decide what to order. One of them showed a mix of beer and gyoza, that seemed nice, but I simply did not want beer then.
I found a seat and sat down. Already, some people were eating here.
The menu was thick and full of pages, with fried rice sets, noodle bowls, rice bowls and many other things. This is the classic Chinese style menu where there are hundred of options and surprisingly the chefs can make them fast. Yeah, if you know who is Jimmy, he talked about the same joke about chinese restaurant too, just Google it.
Anyway. you can even buy ramen to take home, and there is a whole page on the menu just for ramen. The drinks selection include yuzu wine and sake, just choose what you like.
I looked through the extra pages. One of them showed ramen with pork slices, egg, bamboo shoots and seaweed on top. They also had fried chicken, and there was a spicy liver dish that I almost chose for a second, but in the end I left it.
Here you can order something called a Gyoza Ten Set, that includes ramen and rice, and that pretty much is the popular order here. Tokyo pork noodles and Yakichanpon are on another page. I chose the spicy ramen with a side of gyoza, because I always choose the spicy choice, when it is there.
So the food arrived, and the ramen had some vegetables, ground meat and chili flakes all on the top. It was steaming, and the chili smell soon hit me really strong. The gyoza came with it, and they were crunchy on the bottom with soft skin elsewhere.
Also a slice of chashu pork, but it was thin, not the thick fat kind, that I usually like. The soup was spicy, but it was a bit plain, not a lot going on under the heat.
I also had a Choya drink, that was sweet and bubbly. Really, the gyoza was the best part of the whole meal, crunchy and salty with enough meat inside, and I get where the group made its whole fame. The noodles in the ramen were good, but they were a bit too soft, I would like them chewier.
The Gyoza here is different from my meal at Gyoza Sakaba in Kanazawa, where the gyoza had a thicker skin.
