Gyoza Gyoza

Excellent food. We'll seasoned and crispy octopus is a a must have.

Great restaurant, location and environment. Staffs are very friendly and it is an excellent choice when you chooses to have a light meal and quick drink with friends. Highly recommended!

What a time to come and visit! We didn't realise it was Chinese New Year and the street was absolutely buzzing! Great food, quality sake!

Gyoza are a type of dumplings with a thin dough that are also called pot stickers and while they come originally from China (where they are called jiaozi), they are a very popular dish in Japan!

And while I’m planning my next trip to Asia... whenever my next holidays are 👀... I can definitely bring as much as I can of Japan to me now, right? Especially when you find the ultimate Japanese Izakaya style bar in Melbourne!

Izakayas are very popular in Japan and I’ve visited quite a few in Tokyo so when I found about this place, of course I had to visit! 🤭 If you don’t know, an izakaya is considered by many a type of informal Japanese bar/pub, where people usual hang out after work for a constant feed of shared dishes and drinks!

And Gyoza Gyoza couldn’t represent this better 👏 it’s a very welcoming and pocket-friendly place with such a vibrating tradicional Japanese atmosphere! 🇯🇵 it gives you a true experience of how it’s like to be in Japan - this is actually considered one of Japan’s quintessential experiences!

They actually have 5 stores in Melbourne and 3 of those are quite close to one another, but clearly it is such a popular and unique place as you’ll see that they have hundreds of people visiting every day and it’s more than welcomed to actually have all those different places!

The one I decided to visit was the one located at Chinatown but coincidentally I was walking by Emporium Melbourne and passed by one of their other stores just before getting to the ones I was visiting 😂 the store at Emporium is beautiful and very inviting and I would certainly love as much as the one I visited.

It’s very easy to find the venue at Chinatown and they even have an area ours with a table and a few seats if you prefer to be out. But I would certainly recommend getting inside because that will give you a more realistic Japan experience!

The entrance is short and very characteristic to the actual venues in Japan, and you find seats and tables along the left side with an impressive bar and bottle display on your right! The whole counter is very interesting and I absolutely loved and was astonished by the decoration! 🤭 the area opens slightly to the bar where you have what I would say are the best seats in terms of Japanese experience 👌 the lights, the music (omg the music!) and the items and decoration is just superb when it comes to setting up the right mood.

They are actually co-owners of the space next door and share the two areas to fit costumers as best as they can, making them very at easy and comfortable with their visit and because I actually wanted some outside light for some pictures, I opted to choose a table right near the window in that second area.

They provided me and my friend with the whole food and drinks menu and since I don’t drink, I focused solely on the food 😂 The menu is impressive and so diverse that some of the dishes I had never tried before, even living in Japan! 😱 I can only say I’m one step closer to become Asian now after this experience👌🤭😂 Even being a specialised gyoza place, we wanted to try many of the other ingredients and distinctive items do this is what we had:

- Okonomiyaki - the one and only Japanese style pancake that I absolutely loved! The size is smaller than the ‘real’ one but this is supposed to be a small plate and I have to say it quite large considering that! I think it’s just perfect in terms of size 👌 then the consistency is slightly softer than the ones I had in Japan but I absolutely loved it! It is less dense and still as filling and dense and the I think it’s just right 👏 it comes with pink ginger and spring onions and then topped with mayo, katsu sauce and bonito flakes that were definitely too many for that smaller size pancake but still appreciated 😂 actually I though actually add more sauce and mayo and less flakes but overall this was incredible and definitely recommend!

- Lotus Chips - I am a huge lotus lover and these were deep fried lotus chips that came with great portion and slightly salted to make you crave for more and more 😍 seriously, they were amazing! 🥳 I would definitely say that I prefer this type of chips versus ‘normal’ chips! Also recommend trying!

- Yaki Hotate - two large baked Japanese scallops, very nicely presented and looking quite luxurious even! I think some seafood definitely makes speaks for itself and this was certainly one of them! Great size of the scallop itself (although it looks more impressive always than what it really is because of the size of the shell 😂). It came with some creamy miso sauce too!

- Black Truffle Oil Tamago Yaki - I had tried tamago before and absolutely loved the subtle taste of egg so we decided to see what the truffle oil would to! I personally found it slightly odd 😂 still okay but definitely would choose to have it natural versus with the oil. My friend on the other hand enjoyed it. I think it’s definitely a matter of your own preference as the waitress also preferred the one without the oil but I would say to pick the truffle one if you feel like trying something different and surprising!

- Pumpkin Croquette - the second best meal of them all! These were deep fried Japanese mashed pumpkin cakes with katsu sauce and OMG OMG OMG 🤭😍 it is a must! Basically it has an amazing crumble outside and the cakes come cut in halves topped with the sauce and if that isn’t an outstanding enough flavour, it also comes with an impressive amount of mayo on the side! You MUST dip it - absolutely- because the 3 things combined are just AMAZING👏 would ask again and again for sure!

- Takoyaki - again another old favourite of mine and it represents a tradicional ball shaped Japanese snack filled with diced octopus! It’s interesting to see how different places do these and I must say that I was very happy with the quality of all the more fried food - I didn’t find it oily or greasy and I had to gastrointestinal issues! It came with tempura scraps, picked ginger and green onion and also topped with mayo and bonito flakes (again in huge quantity 😂) and I think the size and portion provided is outstanding too 👏 also recommend trying!

- Tuna Tataki on Nori Tempura - these were some new items of seared tuna with lime mayo a salad and yuzu soy dressing on a nori tempura and it was incredible! The part of the salad and mayo plays a huge role here and contra-balances the fried tempura and enhances the fresh tuna and we were impressed how good this was! Certainly one of the best ones too!

- Kinoko Hoiru-Yaki - quite an interesting one, this one, with some foiled baked mixed mushrooms! It actually comes with all the foil closed and once you open it you find a mix of mushrooms with a ponzu butter sauce. The mushrooms are very nicely cooked and I undeniably enjoyed them because I am a huge mushroom fan but I personally found the sauce not so found of the sauce. It has a semi citric taste and I would definitely have enjoyed it more without it, but I’m sure there are people that will like it.

- Red Bean Sweet Gyoza - the best, best one! Maybe because they specialise in Gyoza 😂 or maybe because it has red bean paste 😂 it’s an absolute must this one and you cannot visit without trying! Actually all their gyoza are made in house daily with local produce, including the gyoza skin and they have 3 types of gyoza and you can choose from steamed, fried or soup! The red bean ones are pan fried and truly mouthwatering! My friend and I really already getting full and still fighting over who would get the last one of this 😂 it is a good portion to share (5 pieces) and the size is good too. It comes with some little strawberry pieces that make it very delicate and peculiar and also a whip on the side if you feel that it’s not sweet enough yet (we personally didn’t try the whip because it was just perfect as it was!). A MUST! 👏

- Soy Milk Matcha Soft Serve - how could we not ask for something without matcha? The true icon of Japan! 😂 they have actually many varieties of this soft serve and you can have it in a glass like we did, with some iced matcha soy milk on the bottom, or in a cone! They also have not only matcha but also a chocolate version and you can have a soft serve with one, the other, or a combination or both!

Overall this was a 10/10 experience! The service was impeccable (seriously I have no idea how made things so fast!) and we didn’t wait AT ALL for things to come. The food came steaming and looking with great presentation and they kept coming to not just out table but every other one, repeatedly, to make sure the costumers were happy.
The best thing about this is that you can (and should!) ask for different items to try as all dishes are from $6.80 and they have over 80 Japanese Izakaya style options that you can choose from!

They certainly bring the most authentic flavours from Japan and I had the most wonderful dining experience! Definitely recommend visiting!

Food and drinks were delicious. Unfortunately, Ice cream machine was not working so was not able to get the dessert we wanted. However, Apple Like Sorbet drink was nice. Would return again :)

Tapas style Japanese food with creative and delicious drinks and great beer selection! I was shocked at their diverse Japanese beer selection and equally shocked at the price of the final bill (reason it’s not 5/5). It was delicious but many meals were a tad cold when they came out including the yakitori. Service was wonderful and our family enjoyed their meal. I look for are to trying the seafood menu next time! Too bad they don’t have any rice dishes on their menu.