Aku Eats Oahu : a closer look : Gyoza no Ohsho, a closer look

Gyoza no Ohsho, a closer look

Aloha!

11/15/08 - Greetings on this extra-special day in Hawaii-nei! Today wifey and I headed out to that unique and fascinating-little nook of the island called Waikiki, to participate in two special activities, one for me, and one for her. Actually, it's more like one for me, two for her, because while she absolutely adores her every chance at dragging me through the world of 88 Tee's, Juicy Couture, and Diesel, she also equally savors every opportunity to engage in my activity of choice - da eats! And so, after a bag here, a blouse there; a tight pair of jeans here, and a perdy-li'l dress there, wifey grudgingly halted her wide-eyed pursuit of everything fashionable, only to have her momentary sense of disappointment completely replaced by an enjoyable pursuit of a different kind. I might jump from the frying pan into the fire, but wifey eases herself from the silver lining to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. As for myself, big boy that I am, I bided my time wisely up till that point by making sure we walked briskly enough through almost the whole of Waikiki, just enough to work up an appetite so the food'd taste that much better! Always good to have something to look forward to, you know - otherwise, who'd wanna even get up each and every morning?

And it's a good thing we have so much to look forward to every day, as in today's source of excitement - great ramen and gyoza. I don't know many who have even heard of Gyoza no Ohsho, but it does rank right up there with many of the other top spots in Waikiki, as well as outsiders (geographically speaking) like Yotteko-Ya, Tenkaippin, and Goma Ichi. In fact, I overheard an older couple from Japan saying that this place was no different from Japan, which, coming from them, would be the highest compliment.

This small ramen shop is the only Hawaii representative of a chain mostly found in Tokyo, but also in other parts of Asia, as well. Though the name means King of Gyoza, I guess you can't build a shop with just the savory dumplings alone. They are more like a side dish than anything else, and most often eaten as an accompaniment to ramen. Would this gyoza really be worthy of a restaurants name? We shall soon find out...

Waikiki may as well be Mexico to some locals, as they've probably bargained for fake gold and Sombrero's in Tijuana more times than they've gone shopping in Waikiki. What a loss, it is, though, as there are many greats restaurants and shops there, many as cheap as you'll find anywhere else - oftentimes, even cheaper.

Gyoza no Ohsho is located in the King's Village, an ecclectic block of property located right behind the Hyatt Hotel, that also houses a host of different specialty shops, along with several fast-food stops, an izakaya called Odoriko, Tanaka of Tokyo, and an interesting Oldies-memorabilia restaurant called the Rock Island Cafe, with a giant Betty Boop and gyrating Elvis guarding the front of either entrance. Sounds fun to me...

The inside of this casual eatery is dominated by a large bar, which is typical of ramen houses, with small tables lining the perimeter. Nothing fancy here, but clean and well-kept in typical Japanese fashion, which always makes for a more pleasant experience.

One of the great credits to ramen is that sauces are not needed to complement the broth, as it is usually full of flavor. With the two other very popular soup noodles in the islands, saimin and pho, sauces are usually called for. While the condiments sitting on the tables of every ramen restaurant can be dropped into your broth, they are primarily used not as a sauce for ramen, but gyoza. Except, that is, for the various forms of chili, which are sometimes added to heat things up a bit.

Pictured next are the five different ones found at most ramen houses, from left to right - chili oil, white pepper, hichimi togarashi, vinegar, and shoyu.

And this is what you get after putting 'em all together!

The menu here is not very large at all, and mostly contained on a single page. There are a few ala-carte dishes, such as edamame, tofu, mapo tofu, chicken karaage, and spicy clams, as well as a few rice dishes, like a chicken /vegetable stir-fry, fried rice, and a very interesting crab omelet, made with real snow crab. Other than that, it's all about noodles and gyoza. As for ramen noodles, there are standard favorites like shoyu, miso, goma, and char-siu, along with interesting choices like garlic, mapo tofu, kimchee, and crab omelet, again, with real crab. The two non-soup noodles include yakisoba and cold noodles, or hiyashi-chuka.

I went with an item I once ordered often at the long-closed Dairyu, next to Baskin Robbins on S. King St., which was mapo tofu. They had the killerest version around, along with a mean hot sauce yakisoba. Gyoza no Ohsho's mapo tofu was almost as good, which is saying a lot, coming with a thick, dark-brown sauce loaded with tofu and bits of sweet, ground pork. This Chinese-inspired creation combines with a bit of ramen broth and noodles for an interesting twist. Looks like soup from the first pic, but there was a substantial amount of noodles inside these large bowls, enough to leave both of us waddling out and pointing forward afterwards.

Wifey's equally large bowl was filled with the same ramen noodles, only this time, inside a broth of goma, or sesame. The earthy taste of sesame was very fragrant and strong, rich not with the sesame oil we are so familiar with in the islands, but with the actual seeds, ground into a paste and added to the broth. It was then topped with menma, or marinated bamboo shoots, baby pak choy, ground pork, and green onions. A very classy dish, with the strongest-tasting goma broth I've had anywhere.

And finally, as promised, we get to the namesake gyoza. There are just three different varieties - one boiled, one with cheese, and one fried. Normally, gyoza is seared on one side only, then flipped and left to steam in water for a time to finish, leaving tops that retain the whitish color of the flour wrapper. The ones here, however, except for the boiled variety, were perfectly browned on two sides, not just one. Aaalll good by me, this was - the more golden brown, the better! They were also a bit on the small side, though at $3.95 to $4.25 per six pieces, I wasn't complaining.

The pork and onion inside was nothing special, but what struck me most was the chewiness of this outer wrapper, which gave them a much more authentic, more home-made taste and quality. If they were store-bought wrappers, I'd be very, very surprised.

My favorite was the cheese gyoza, which came with the same pork and onion mix, but was accompanied by mozzarella cheese for a surprisingly good taste combination. If I knew they were this tasty, I'd have ordered cheese for all twelve pieces in our large skillet.

I guess the gyoza here really is worthy of the name, even though it is still more of a side dish. In fact, this little restaurant was quite the pleasant surprise in itself, nestled and tucked away in a quiet corner in the King's Village Complex. It is just one of many great eateries in Waikiki that most locals have never heard of. I'll try to bring you more of these spots in the near future, but as always, so much to do, so little time!

And speaking of Waikiki eats, what's the deal with Eggs 'n Things? The whole place has been gutted out! I'm sure there must have been hordes of disappointed Japanese tourists left scratching their heads, wondering how such a popular, always packed restaurant could ever shut down. But hold on there, trigger - there is yet hope. I haven't seen it yet, but they were actually scheduled to open a new store by the beginning of Novemeber, at 339 Saratoga Rd., just a little further from its former Kalakaua Ave. location. It will be under new ownership, however, a fact that may sound extremely worrisome, indeed! The former owners have pledged to stay on as consultants for as long as it takes to facilitate a smooth transition, so hopefully, the new folks won't start cutting corners and begin tampering with one single iota's worth of ingredients or methods the Fukunaga family has built up over the years. Some things are better left unchanged!

Anyhow, I'll try to head out there soon to see how the new place is coming along.

Hope you're all having a great weekend! It's hibachi time, and a time to get together with family and friends, yes? Keep it safe, keep it real, and keep it fun as always!

Thanks and Aloha till next time!

Aku

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