CONTRIBUTED BY KIMBERLY TRIGNANO

Osaka Exterior

I am a bit of a gyoza connoisseur.  Personally, I prefer Me Kara Uroko’s pan fried version, while my husband likes the deep fried deliciousness at Kitakaisen.  So when I saw an advertisement for Osaka Ohsho (The Chinese Restaurant), in which they claimed to have The Most Famous Gyoza in Japan, I knew it needed to be the next lunch date for me and my husband.

Osaka Ohsho is located in the new San A strip mall in Sunabe that also houses a drug store, a Baskin Robbins, a family “Super Cuts”-style beauty shop, and a dry cleaners across from the fisherman’s wharf.  It’s bright and clean and has friendly, welcoming service that’s not too intrusive.  Plus, you get to use the little buzzer when you’re ready to order or need service, which I am totally in love with.

They have very clear English menus, complete with pictures with a number of different sections.  There are several types of fried rice, a noodle and soup section (soba, ramen), a Chinese section (including Sweet and Sour Pork, Stir-fry), a Specialty section (with dishes like Chili Shrimp and Fried Chicken with Onion Sauce), and a gyoza section, to name a few.  There are also several sets, many of which feature gyozas, for an incredibly reasonable price.  The menu also includes a small selection of beer, awamori, juices, and serve yourself (I think!) sodas.

Osaka chicken

We ordered Chili Shrimp (delicious, though not as spicy as I would have liked), Fried Chicken with Onion Sauce (great flavor), and the Fried Rice Set with Gyozas for two.  This set alone would have been plenty to feed the two of us!  It included TWELVE of the Osaka Ohsho “World Famous” gyozas, egg drop soup, a hearty portion of fried rice, and two fried chicken thingies with a mini salad.  Only 890 yen for the set!  Amazing! It was all quite good — my husband really loved the egg drop soup. However, the gyozas are truly the star, though — seriously flawless!  They are pan fried to perfection, and though the menu also has a ‘pot boiled’ and a steamed version, I think we’ll stick with the originals.

Osaka set

The gyozas are all made with pork, and all the ingredients are grown and raised domestically.  There were a few vegetarian options, but the majority of the menu was geared toward us omnivores.               We were completely stuffed, and didn’t try anything off of the small dessert menu.  Or, we could have easily ambled down to the Baskin-Robbins if we needed something sweet.  As it was, we just needed a nice, long walk to work off those gyozas!

UPDATE: Osaka Ohsho has three locations on Okinawa. While this one is closest to Kadena/Foster/Lester, the other two are near White Beach and Naha. Check out the map here.

Payment:  Osaka Ohsho takes yen, credit cards, and cash — the exchange rate was 79, not too bad with 81 on base.  Casual atmosphere, but didn’t see any high chairs — just ask, though!

Hours:  11 am to 11 pm every day

Phone:  098-926-5544

Address: 1-37 Miyagi, Chatan

Google Maps Coordinates: 26.3238937, 127.7512094

Directions from Kadena Gate 1:  Make a left out of Kadena Gate 1 toward Naha.  Turn right at the second light (about a half mile from Gate), toward the Hamagawa Lodge.  Go through first stoplight, then turn right into the San A parking lot.  Only about a mile from Gate 1!

Osaka menu

12 COMMENTS

  1. Great value and price. My husband and I went here today and we got 2 entrees with rice and soup, 3 pieces of meat filled dim sum shumai goodness and the fried gyoza all for 1800 yen. Super good gyoza for sure. It’s not gourmet for sure but it’s comforting and definitely hits the mark. You can also see all the menu items in display form in cabinets when you enter which helps to choose your meal since the menus don’t give any real description. What I didn’t notice until after I ordered was an additional original menu which has different items from the menu they give you. It’s in the menu holder at the back of the table. It’s no prob since I’m going back to try other things but would’ve been good to know =)

  2. We just discovered this place and have gone back 3 times. The gyoza tastes just like my favorite restaurant at Yokota, so this is my favorite gyoza restaurant so far. It is also very affordable. And I do love the supermarket next door. I highly recommend it!

  3. Love this place! I usually eat here before hitting up the supermarket next store. They have lunch specials during the week for only 770 yen including soup, rice & entree. The dumplings and fried rice are very good. They also have dim sum!

  4. I have eaten at Osaka Ohsho twice. I went with two girlfriends for lunch and orders friend rice with egg drop soup. It was tasty. I recently went back with my family, and we all agreed there will be more trips to Osaka Ohsho. The kids meals are very nicely priced and the sets come with a lot of food, a desert, and a drink (Oh, and a toy…). My husband ordered pan fried chicken with chili sauce on the side and kimchi fried rice. One of the dishes came with egg drop soup. I ordered a bowl of ramen, and we shared an order of gyoza. Our bill was exactly 3500yen, which is not bad for a family of five. I would agree it is not very “Chinese” but don’t let that deter you from trying it out!

  5. Love this place! But don’t let the big “Chinese Restaurant” sign fool you, it’s really a Japanese restaurant with several Chinese dishes on the menu, including the Chili Shrimp mentioned in the article, Chinese-style stir-fries, and steamed Shu Mai, which are pretty good. There are also a lot of ramen soups which are a nice change from the usual Okinawan soba. The kids set is very large for my five-year-old, but she loves it and I usually get to eat her fried rice. And the quality of the food is consistently good.

  6. We went today there to eat(SUPER YUMMY!) and they definitely have high chairs. Also, a note on the directions, when you turn out of Gate 1, you will actually turn right at the 3rd stop light. The first stop light is at the US Auto Sales, the second red light you can’t turn right, and the third stop light is where you are going to turn. 🙂

  7. They do have highchairs. I went to eat here with my family a few weeks ago and we all enjoyed it. We had one of the sets with the fried rice and gyoza and also some sweet and sour pork, which my husband loved! The prices were pretty reasonable and we’ll definitely go back.