KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — On November 11, Gyoza Izakaya DanDaDan joined this city’s booming Japanese food scene.

What’s interesting is how its opening has been without any fanfare.

After all, it’s got the credentials since it’s part of a chain of izakaya from Japan. And it’s located in the heart of Mont Kiara which is practically a pseudo Japan town.

Probably a low profile was adopted, as they are struggling to keep up with the huge demand for their famous gyozas.

Each day, batches of gyozas are devoured by fans. One cannot blame them as these are probably the juiciest bites in town.

It’s best eaten plain without any distractions.

As you bite through the grilled gyoza skin, you get a juicy pork filling with a little more broth compared to the other offerings in town.

The liquid is not in abundance like a xiao loong bao but as you chew on the pork filling and skin, you get a sweet lingering taste.

The grilled gyoza is also served with spicy cod roe and mayonnaise, chilli oil and chopped green onions, baked cheese or grated daikon radish and ponzu sauce but all you need is the Grilled Gyoza Dumpling (six pieces for RM17).

For a different texture, look towards the Boiled Gyoza Dumplings in Soup (RM18).

The five chunky dumplings have a smooth, thick skin with that same pork filling. It’s a satisfying bite but the grilled version is far superior.

Chasing these gyozas though is a tough task, as it’s available for a limited time every day.

My first visit saw us miss it for dinner at 6pm. The next day, it was available at 12pm but sold out before 2pm. I managed to get to taste it at 5pm, as I was asked to come back at that time.

From what I understand, when I checked in on Sunday, they would only be serving the gyoza from 3pm to 5pm. Hopefully that schedule holds.

You may of course walk away if you don’t get to try the gyozas. However, we discovered that their other menu items are definitely worth staying on for.

As it’s an izakaya, most of the bites are best paired with drinks. You can of course, also enjoy it without drinking any alcohol, which we did.

The menu focuses on Chinese food done Japanese style, hence century egg, mapo tofu and zhajiangmian appears here,

High on our must-eat list is the Mapo Tofu (RM27). It doesn’t look like much though so your social media followers may scratch their heads trying to figure out what’s this claypot filled with reddish liquid covered with a layer of oil and garnished with chopped spring onions.

Use a spoon and dig inside. It’s like looking for treasure, as you get a smooth wobbly tofu underneath the layer of oil.

The Japanese version is often less spicy compared to the original, which rings true with this version. However, it’s not insipid as it holds its own with a punchy Sichuan pepper tingle.

One definitely can eat a whole bowl of rice with this delectableness. It doesn’t come with rice so order a bowl for an extra RM1.

For their lunch set, they offer a version with minced pork and a small portion of tofu with the same sauce. It’s RM22 for that set which comes with mashed potato with cod roe and pickled cabbage with yuzu citron.

Don’t miss out on the Grilled Roasted Pork (RM18) as it was divine.

The pork is super tender, melting in the mouth and it’s got a crisp golden edge. Luckily there were three pieces, otherwise all three of us would be fighting for our share.

Another favourite among us was the Chinese Style Crispy Chicken with Original Sauce (RM25).

The chicken pieces are deep fried and served with sliced onions with a tangy taste. Their deep frying method is superb as each piece of chicken was juicy but crunchy on the outside.

Even the simple Mashed Potato with Cod Roe (RM18) was devoured quickly as we waited for our food. You’re given fried dumpling skins crackers to scoop up the pink hued mash with a slight salty edge.

Zhajiangmian (RM24) was a good choice too with slick noodles mixed with the rich minced meat sauce.

For vegetables, there’s a Fresh Coriander Salad (RM22) which was refreshing with their tangy wafu dressing and garnished with toasted cashews.

Or go for the Boiled Moyashi Bean Sprouts with Spicy Meat Sauce (RM13), where it’s doused with sesame oil and a mild heat.

Manga lovers like myself will be tickled that it’s the same name as DanDaDan, the uber popular series that is now an anime series on Netflix.

While you won’t get any supernatural incidents here like in the manga series, you’ll be happy enough with the juicy gyoza and Chinese-Japanese bites to relish.

Gyoza Izakaya DanDaDan, Ground Floor (next to A&W), Outside the front entrance, 1 Mont Kiara, 1, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Open daily: 12pm to 9pm.

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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