Located in Kinsan, one of Nagoya's most representative downtown areas. "Gyoza specialty store Karaya Nishiki store". The thin-skinned dumplings are made without garlic, and have a gentle taste that keeps you coming back for them even after the first bite. The food is just gyoza, pickles, rice balls, and rice, which is nice!

* Kinsan: Nishiki Sancho-me, Nagoya City

Super Simple Menu Structure
Focusing on the Famous Gyoza

Karaya is located slightly north of Kinsan, where there are many restaurants. Most of the seats are at the counter, so it's a comfortable atmosphere to stop by on your own. Due to the location of Nishiki, many customers end up at this restaurant after visiting two or three shops.

The food is a straight game, gyoza, pickles, rice balls, and rice only.

When I sat down, I thought nothing of it and said, "Gyoza and beer." While the food is simple, it's great that there are many choices for drinks.

Gyoza (550 yen for 10 pieces per person)

The famous gyoza dumplings have a light flavor that does not use garlic. Chinese cabbage, chives, and minced pork are included, and the ratio of vegetables to meat is about 5:5.

"10 servings per person" sounds like a lot, but since each one is small, you can still enjoy it after drinking. Another feature is that the thin skin is finished with a crisp texture.

Lightly pickled cucumber (220 yen)

Rice ball: onigiri (4 pieces 550 yen)

The sides of gyoza are lightly pickled cucumbers and rice balls. Lightly pickled vegetables have just the right amount of salt to refresh your mouth, and it goes without saying that they are the best partner for gyoza.

There are two types of rice balls, salmon and plum jellyfish, two each. The writer personally likes the crunchy texture of plum jellyfish rice balls, which is rarely seen on convenience store shelves.

Owner's Skilled Technique

When I interviewed him, it was just during preparation time, and the owner, Mr. Toru Hasegawa, was wrapping gyoza dumplings. I would like to take a special look.

Mr. Hasegawa expertly wraps gyoza one after another. It's a pity that I can't tell you with just an image, but I can barely follow it with my eyes.

Completed in no time. When I saw gyoza dumplings of uniform size and shape lined up in an orderly fashion, I couldn't help but mutter, "Beautiful!" Surprisingly, they wrap 2,000 to 3,000 pieces a day when it is busy.

The dumplings then are arranged on an iron plate and steamed for about 4 minutes. Even after the moisture has evaporated, it is baked at a high temperature for a while to give it a fragrant brown mark.

When I talked to the owner, Mr. Hasegawa, he said that he used to work, but he quit his job and opened "Karaya" in 1990.

“At the time, there weren’t many "gyoza specialty restaurants." I think we were the first specialty restaurant in Nagoya. Gyoza was positioned as a 'side menu' of ramen and Chinese restaurants," says Hasegawa.

Also, gyoza without garlic is not uncommon nowadays, but at the time it was very rare.

“This is especially the case after you drink it, but if you have garlic in it, you will feel heavy. We want you to eat a lot of gyoza, so we intentionally left out the garlic.”

Mr. Hasegawa, who served garlic-free gyoza from the company's founding and helped it take root in the town of Kinsan, seems to have had foresight.

To-Go is Welcome!
The Correct Way to Reheat

Raw gyoza for to-go (1,100 yen for 20 pieces)

Grilled gyoza for to-go (1,100 yen for 20 pieces)

If you buy delicious gyoza as a souvenir, your family will surely be delighted! At Karaya, there are two types of take-out gyoza: raw gyoza and grilled gyoza (both start at 20 pieces).

You can easily enjoy the grilled dumplings as soon as you get home, but there is a tip to reheating them. First of all, if you heat it in the microwave, it will lose the characteristic crispness of Karaya's gyoza, so it's definitely not allowed!

Place the dumplings in the frying pan with the grilled side down and cover with a lid. It is correct to warm it for 2 to 3 minutes with a very low heat. You don't need to add oil or water at this point.

It is also recommended to heat it in a preheated toaster oven for 2-3 minutes.

The crunchy gyoza dumplings, which do not use garlic, are a gem that will keep your chopsticks from stopping. I thought I was going to stop by just to finish off, but I ended up going to beer unexpectedly, so be careful.