Benriya Dumplings / べんり屋餃子
When thinking of dumplings, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For me it's either gyoza (Japanese pot stickers) or xiao long bao (soup dumplings). Growing up in Hawaii, where Asian cuisine is easily accessible, dumplings were ubiquitous in my life. I remember eating har gow (shrimp dumplings) at dim sum at least once a week as a toddler with my grandparents and watching my mom make won tons on our tiny kitchen counter. While dumplings can come in different shapes and forms, the dumplings that I've come to know and love come fried in a pan or steamed in a bamboo basket.
Over recent years, dumplings have grown in popularity especially the xiao long bao which is most notably found at Taiwanese-chain restaurant, Din Tai Fung. I can't help but wonder if the new Pixar short film, Bao (2018) also help raise the popularity of dumplings well.
Finding good Chinese food in Japan is difficult as it is. While I was studying abroad in Tokyo, I used to go to Yokohama's China Town to get my fix. In Okinawa, while there are one or two good Chinese restaurants, good dumplings are hard to find. To get my fix in Okinawa, I (frequently) visit Benriya in Asato, Naha.
In the Asato area, there is an section of it called 栄町 (Sakaemachi). About 80% of the businesses in this area are always closed but it's really the restaurants in the area that you want to visit. Many of them are izakayas or snack bars, that don't start night until 5 or 6 pm.
Benriya is quite literally one of those hole-in-the-wall places where it is a kitchen, built in front of a man-made wall. There are four counter seats in front of the kitchen, and two make shift "round" tables to the side. Before getting seated, someone will hand you a menu for you to begin ordering and also take down your phone number if you happen to walk away. The menu is also all in Japanese so if you can read it, I recommend bringing someone who can or ask the staff what's what. There are five types of dumplings on the menu: xiao long bao (soup dumplings), fried gyoza, boiled gyoza, steamed gyoza, and har gow (shrimp dumplings). If you're a fan of the xiao long bao, they only let you order one steamed basket at a time.
76 Likes, 5 Comments - Samantha (@shyparrot) on Instagram: "Finally, satisfied a dumpling craving at a stall in Sakaemachi. When I say stall, I literally mean..."
This is a great place to get your appetizer on if you plan on visiting the other businesses in the area. However, I'm usually too stuffed up to visit other businesses in the area. My go-to orders are always the xiao long bao (of course), the fried gyoza, and the boiled gyoza and/or the shrimp dumplings.
This place is easily accessible via monorail as it is about a 5-7 minute walk from Asato station. If you're coming by car, then there are plenty of paid parking lots around the area but I do recommend you plan on going earlier as those little lots tend to fill up quite easily.