NAKAYOSHI

Gyoza Dumplings, Hakata-Style, and More From All Over Japan
[published January 2019]

Nakayoshi in Minami-Asagaya opened in 1988 after its owner had mastered how to make gyoza dumplings at a famous restaurant in Hakata, Kyushu (the southern-most island of the main 4 islands in Japan). Hakata-style dumplings are the specialty, fried in a thick iron frying pan, very crisp outside and soft inside. Different from the usual gyoza you’ll find in Tokyo, the Hakata iron skillet style forms an extra crisp shell on the outside, making them true “pot stickers”! They are so tasty and popular among the locals that even on weekdays as many as 1,500 dumplings are sold!

Other than gyoza, Miyazaki chicken yakitori (648 yen), mentaiko (seasoned chilly cod roe) (648 yen) or itawasa (fish paste served on a board with wasabi) from Yamaguchi Prefecture (540 yen) may be good choices for appetizers, and oden moriawase (assorted fish sausage and vegetables stew) (540 yen) is also recommended. They also have different kinds of the finest Japanese sake from all over Japan. The restaurant is clean and cozy so that many women also enjoy eating and drinking here.

In terms of location it is closer to Minami-Asagaya Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, however if coming from JR Asagaya Station it is the perfect opportunity to walk the course of the Pearl Center, Asagaya’s Showa-era nostalgic covered shopping street. When you come to the fork after the roof ends, bear to the left on Suzuran-dori Avenue, then when you come to the main road cross to the other side and walk another 100 meters to the left to reach Nakayoshi, whose name means “close friends”.

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