Trumping the dumpling at Osaka Ohsho

Yeoh Wee Teck | The New Paper | Fri Jan 4 2013

by Yeoh Wee Teck

Singapore, January 4 2013

You don't need to hunt too hard to find a ramen or sushi restaurant to suit your budget and taste in Singapore.

But a restaurant specialising in gyozas?

That's something quite rare.

Of course, you can find gyozas in many places.

Usually, they are accompaniments to the main meal, but the dumpling in any form is a staple side dish, so it was just a matter of time before Osaka's king of gyoza hit town.

Osaka Ohsho has over 300 outlets in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Korea.

The chain is known for its gyozas and chuka cuisine (Chuka is a style of Chinese food in Japan). It opened in Singapore late last year.

For me, a good gyoza is about the filling.

While some argue that it's the skin that counts, the meat filling is the heart.

If the skin isn't up to par, you can always rip it out.

The gyoza at Osaka Ohsho is good, but not amazing. The skin is made of Japanese flour and is thinner than usual.

But the pork filling didn't impress me much. It was salty enough, but not overwhelming. But better than average.

The pan-fried gyozas are priced at $3.90 for six and $7.80 for a dozen.

At these prices, the value is amazing.

If you cannot live on gyoza alone, you have a few other tasty choices. I like the ban ban chicken ($5.90).

It's slightly tart and whets the appetite.

From the chuka selection, the double-cooked pork ($9.90) is a good choice.

The sliced pork is first simmered then stir fried.

If you have eaten authentic Japanese food, you will know that the Japanese can handle their salt.

I love that it is salty, so make sure you have rice with the dish.

Although the restaurant proclaims itself to be gyoza kings, it has another signature dish that seems better than the gyozas it is known for.

The fuwatoro tenshin han (above, $9.90) is, in essence, an omelette dish.

It's basically eggs over rice with a sauce poured over it.

I love the simplicity of it: The omelette is a fluffy dome placed on top of Koshihikari rice from the Toyoma region in Japan, and over this, a savoury sauce.

I thought it was heavenly and completely filling.

Order a set ($12.90) that comes with six pieces of gyoza and you are set.

But my partner, who loves anything with an egg, thought this dish to be muddled and that the sauce was redundant.

For him, it was criminal that the egg was not the centrepiece.

Osaka Ohsho
#B1-75, Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: 6338-5584
Opens 11.30am to 9.45pm daily

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