Serving up dumplings with almost 200 years of Chinese history.

Walk along undiscovered streets in new and fascinating towns and there will be locations and landmarks that jump out at you, places that are practically begging you to visit and shop signs suffusing the landscape with their siren calls. However, this phenomenon can also exist on your daily commute—a store never being enticing enough to stop inside, but one that you keep reminding yourself to check out sometime every time you pass it. There’s a store like that for me, a small noodle shop on the train platform I use daily that always smells so delicious, but after years, I’ve still yet to sample its menu.

Our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa similarly has a restaurant that had taken root inside of him, located within a restaurant district on the west side of Shinjuku Station, called Rouben Gyozakan, also known as Laobian Dumpling.

Every single time Seiji crossed the pedestrian crossing near it, he would notice it and would reaffirm that there was “some kind of authentic Chinese place there”, and it was only recently that he patronized the store, only to make a surprising discovery: the shop is allegedly part of the world’s oldest gyoza chain.

At the entrance to the restaurant, a notice denoting the 40th anniversary of this branch’s founding back in 1986 is displayed proudly next to the store’s name.

Although it opened in Shinjuku in 1986, the main branch in China is said to be founded by Mr. Bian Fu in 1829 during the Qing Dynasty. At the time of the Shinjuku store’s opening, they invited chefs from the main branch to Japan to ensure the authentic taste was not changed. According to Shanghai Great World Guinness, China’s answer to the Guinness World Records, it can be said to be the oldest existing gyoza chain in the world.

▼ A family tree that traces back to the original founder adorns one of the walls of the restaurant.

Looking through the menu, the store is described as being “the only restaurant in Japan where you can eat the closely guarded gyoza of Laobian Dumpling, which has a 200-year history in China”.

With the promise of enjoying a taste of history, Seiji couldn’t wait to place his order. He noticed there were lunch sets priced at just below 1,000 yen (US$6.21), but since there wasn’t a set where gyoza was the main focus, he passed them up and ordered separate dishes, and went for the Eight Pan-Fried Gyoza for 1,298 yen and the Laobian Special Fried Rice for 1,089 yen.

▼ A selection of the lunch sets on offer.

The pan-fried gyoza come with some impressive wings, the crispiness of which combines with the chewy dough and the overflowing meat juices for a bold and vivid taste, unlike the subdued historical taste Seiji had been expecting.

The Laobian Special Fried Rice puts the eggs on the center of the stage, with solid seasoning while still being loose and fluffy. Truly, a 200-year-old heritage cannot rely on dumplings alone, and Seiji was more than satisfied with the food he tried, marveling at the tremendous skill of the chefs.

That was until he spotted another note on the menu that read: “When people think of gyoza in Japan, they think of pan-fried gyoza, but in China, boiled gyoza is often made at home, whereas what people eat when dining out is steamed gyoza.” Taken aback, Seiji cursed himself that he had almost passed up the opportunity to enjoy the store’s specialty, instead being satisfied with the pan-fried gyoza.

Consulting the menu once more, there were many varieties of steamed gyoza, be it in appearance or flavor, and they even appeared on the lunch set’s add-on menu.

Seiji went for two pieces of the Chicken’s Comb-shaped Chicken Gyoza with Shiitake Mushrooms for 360 yen.

A burst of meat juice gushed out of the dumpling the moment Seiji took a bite, much more so than the pan-fried gyoza. While in other stores, he had never really noticed a difference in skill when it came to steamed gyoza, the ones at Laobian Dumpling are definitely on another level.

Many people walk this street in Shinjuku every day, but it’s unknown how many actually realize there is a taste of 200-year-old history just waiting behind one of its doors. For those of us who have one of these types of “must-try stores” in our hearts, we might actually be missing out on something unbelievably delicious, so it’s time to change that commuting scenery into a destination.

Restaurant information
Rouben Gyozakan Shinjuku Honten/ 老辺餃子舘 新宿本店
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Nishishinjuku 1-18-1 Ogawa-biru 3F
東京都新宿区西新宿1-18-1 小川ビル3F
Open: 11:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m. (Monday–Friday),11:30 a.m.–11:00 p.m. (Saturdays), 11:30 a.m.–10:00 p.m. (Sundays and Holidays)
Website

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[ Read in Japanese ]