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Dumplings are usually a sideshow at most Japanese eateries. But over at Gyoza Bar, these doughy half-moons have been turned into the main event.
The ebi gyoza, in particular, were excellent – the shrimp nicely flavoured, its case perfectly cooked and the lemongrass-and-ginger dipping sauce doing a stand-up job of cutting through the oil. The salmon gyoza, with its good hunk of fish, would have been great if it weren’t for the coconut sauce smothering the flavours; gilding the lily is a cardinal sin in Japanese cooking, of course.
It’s not just gyoza on the menu though: we also had a dirty-in-a-good-way samosa that would make brilliant tipsy food. And the omakase was a rainbow of veg that, in lieu of a beer, worked well to temper the grease. For dessert, there was ice cream that wasn’t much more exciting than bog-standard, straight-from-the-tub-vanilla.
The space itself may not be huge, but it’s well thought-out: the orange industrial girders are reminiscent of a torii gate, and the simple wooden tables nod to a Japanese aesthetic without descending into ‘themed’ territory. All in all, it’s a nice place in need of a few tweaks, but still good for an after-work bite and a beer.