With the new food precinct being built in Southbank, Harajuku Gyoza was one of the first to go up. Needless to say there was really quite a lot of hype about it, so I went to try it out as soon as I could.
Harajuku Gyoza is situated on Grey Street, not far from the bus station. Having been to the other branches, its definitely not anything you could miss. It looks almost exactly the same as the Fortitude Valley and Indooroopilly branches.
As mentioned numerous times, I really appreciate having a menu outside, so that I can consider whether I want to eat at a place before going in. Harajuku Gyoza does that.
We went at around 2 in the afternoon to find the store to be still more than half full. What really struck me though, was the decor. It was really fabulous. I loved how they had plates stuck along the walls and the gorgeous ceiling lights.
The usual condiments of soy sauce, vinegar and chilli were provided.
Table water was also provided promptly after ordering.
To start us off, we shared the Grilled Pork Gyoza. It was almost the perfect. The skin was just the right thickness, and the bottom was caramelized just right. The pork and veges were really well flavoured and delicious. The only improvement I would suggest is that it would have been better if the insides were more juicy though.
My companion ordered the Chicken Katsu Curry. Personally, I'm really not a fan of curries, so luckily he was quite the curry expert and could give me an understanding of what he felt about it. He said that the rice was of really good quality, and it was really excellent that they used large amounts of chicken breast (as opposed to chicken thigh). The downside though was the curry sauce. He said that it was really quite salty, and would prefer to have chunks of carrot and potato in it like a lot of the other Japanese places.
The main I tried was the Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed with it. The soup felt like a cross between clear soup and creamy thick soup. It was neither Tokyo style, nor Hakata style, but a weird in between mix. I would have liked it more if it were more clear like the ramen I had in the Fortitude Valley branch. The egg was definitely the redeeming factor in the noodles, it was cooked really nicely, with a liquid yolk. I found the meat to be one of the coarsest meats that I've had in a ramen though. I found the noodles to be able in quality, but because the soup needed a bit of improvement, I didnt enjoy it as much as I would have.
Overall, I find that Harajuku Gyoza at Southbank definitely has really excellent gyozas, but next time, I would try for different mains, or stick to just ordering gyozas for the whole meal.
Price Range: $15 - $25 per person
Taste: 6/10
Value: 5/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 8/10
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