Utsunomiya-Minmin — Restaurant in Utsunomiya

There were two shopfronts and two lines, I chose the shorter one! In the longer line you had the option to buy frozen gyoza and styrofoam boxes so you could take it home and cook it yourself. I regretted not getting some but Minmin branches are located all over Utsunomiya. I got 6 pan-fried and 6 boiled gyoza with rice and Japanese pickles as a set for ¥580! It was really good and I finished it really quickly! I think the fried gyoza are the best because of the delicate fried lace that develops around the bottom. It's amazing and delicious. The gyoza is thin skinned but not spectacularly so. The boiled gyoza has enough structure to pick up but can easily be cut in half. Both can be bitten, dipped, and finished off! That's how I prefer to eat them rather than one bite. They soak up the sauce well and the boiled gyoza was completely sealed. I'm not much of a gyoza person but there was nothing bad...

Fine taste, accessible, and cheap wi the friendly staff! If you have time to explore the city, you may find better gyoza, but these are a great option in the station.

Menu- Simple and reasonably priced. There are 3 types of gyoza: pan-fried (yaki), fried (agé), and broth (sui); they all have the same filling. The only sides available are rice and pickles. The sets are the same price as ordering separately, so they're just recommendations.

Taste- Better than your average izakaya's gyoza, but not the best gyoza I can imagine. The filling itself had a quite subtle flavor. I liked the pan-fried dumplings, I think they have a good frying technique. The broth dumplings weren't bad. No, they don't taste like Chinese jiaozi, and nobody should be expecting...

A small establishment with almost exclusively Gyoza on the menu. They have 3 different kinds: fried, cooked and grilled. For 6 pieces you pay 330 yen, alternatively you can get it in a "combo" with rice and some pickled vegetables, although it is not cheaper than just ordering it separately, except the small pickled vegetables that you get with the set (Japan really does not give quantity discounts, most of the time it's the exact opposite - I am looking at you convenience stores). The price is really good and I liked all kinds of gyoza, in order though it would be grilled, then cooked (or boiled) and lastly fried. The staff was again really kind and helpful - just ask them for the correct ratio to make the sauce.

PS: I was hungry, so no pictures...