The opening of Royal Square Novena has brought in quite a number of interesting options to dine at in the area, with eateries such as Two Men Bagel House and Dink Dink Thai Street Cafe operating within the building.
Chao Chao Gyoza is one of the latest tenants that had moved into Royal Square recently. Having multiple outlets in Japan, as well as one in Hong Kong, Chao Chao Gyoza is a Japanese brand that seems to be expanding at a global scale. The Singapore franchise is being run by the Taberu Group; the same folks that had brought in Ah Mah Traditional Egg Sponge Cake which serves up Castella Cakes at multiple outlets across Singapore. Chao Chao Gyoza’s interior features a Japanese vibe — counter seats facing the open-concept kitchen and red lanterns hanging on its ceilings; the dining area features a long communal table meant for sharing and a few smaller tables by the side. Patrons can also choose to dine al-fresco outside the shop. The menu features a long list of Gyoza (which is also pretty much their focus), as well as small dishes for appetizers and side dishes. During our visit, Chao Chao Gyoza was also serving up some Yakitori items for dinner as well, while the menu outside the shop seem to list other items such Donburi which we are not able to find on the physical menu
(Kara Kimchi Buta Bara)
Going for an item listed on the Yakitori menu, the Kara Kimchi Buta Bara features pork belly on skewer, drizzled in a Kimchi sauce. An item we found pretty average, the pork belly does require some chew, but is not too tough overall — the Kimchi sauce did felt like it was a miss; zippy and tangy, but at times feeling more like a richer version of the chili sauce that accompanies Hainanese Chicken Rice.
(Tsukune)
Also from the Yakitori menu, the Tsukune was thankfully not overly dry and carried a bouncy texture; pretty tender. That being said, it lacks flavour; the only element giving it flavour was the Tsukune sauce beneath that gave it a slight savouriness — lacking that punch and smokiness that good Tsukune usually carry.
(Age Tori Cheese Gyoza)
Listed as one of the top five Gyozas on the menu, the Age Tori Cheese Gyoza is described as “fried chicken and mozzarella cheese Gyoza” on the menu. We had the five-piece option (also available in three pieces) — the Gyoza comes puny; probably around half the size of the usual Gyoza (or at least so of those from Gyoza-Ya; one of our favorite spots for Gyoza). The mozzarella could be barely tasted nor felt, though thankfully the Gyoza were crisp. Using chicken rather than pork fillings, the filling was inevitably firmer, though we thought the Gyoza lacked juiciness somehow.
(Chao Chao Gyoza)
The Chao Chao Gyoza is Chao Chao Gyoza’s signature offering. Coming with pork filling, the Chao Chao Gyoza comes in eight pieces and sixteen pieces portions. We opted for the eight-piece option; the Chao Chao Gyoza came in aesthetics similar to a Chinese guo tie with a flat layer of crust over the top. While the Gyoza is pretty savoury, to say the least (some may find it on the salty side), the texture was a little off-putting. Being sparsely packed within, the Gyoza felt oddly airy and saggy; lacking a bite and instead, carrying more texture from the slightly chewy skin. We also had a hard time peeling off each Gyoza apart — the skin stuck together rather easily, causing the Gyoza skin to tear off fairly easily in the process.
Overall, our experience at Chao Chao Gyoza had more misses than hits. The food came in tiny portions; while competitively priced, we were barely filled. A number of the items were also unavailable, and we were only informed about it after ordering while waiting for them to arrive — we ended up canceling two of the dishes we ordered as a result; one which we were told around 10mins of waiting, and the other at the end of our meal. We did wish that the staff took initiative to inform us earlier, especially when the wait for the food was already a little on the long side. Food was also keyed into the POS system wrongly, while the menu also carried a typo error where another item apart from the one we ordered was served as a result; a little disorganized and affected the entire experience quite a bit. Let’s just say that there is a lot of room for improvement — yes; one may argue Chao Chao Gyoza’s newness in the scene, but there certainly is a lot of gaps to be closed up during our experience at Chao Chao Gyoza. The scene has already reached a very saturated point at this stage; it would be interesting to see if Chao Chao Gyoza has what it takes to survive in the stiff competition.
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