Harajuku Gyoza Is About to Start Serving Up Seaweed Beer to Go With Your Dumplings

It's a problem that everyone can relate to: your thirst needs quenching, but your tastebuds are craving two completely different things. You could make the hard choice and pick between them — or, if you happen to be hankering for a dish made with nori and beer (and getting your fill of dumplings, too), you could make a beeline to Harajuku Gyoza.

From Wednesday, July 14, the Australian gyoza chain is serving up a new tap beer that's made with seaweed. Yes, we mean that literally. The Scottish-style ale has a malty taste and an amber hue to match, and, during the brewing process, sheets of nori are added to the boil — which is where it gets its umami flavour.

Given that Harajuku Gyoza has already served up raindrop cakes, Nutella gyoza and salted caramel gyoza, mac 'n' cheese, pepperoni pizza and marshmallow dumplings, and charcoal karaage chicken fondue, its latest menu item is hardly surprising. It has a history of pouring inventive brews, too, with black sesame and matcha ice cream-flavoured beers on offer in 2020.

Both then and now, the brews come courtesy of Yoyogi Brewing Co, and use Japanese brewing techniques as well as Japanese-inspired ingredients.

If you fancy pairing the new beer with two of Harajuku Gyoza's old favourites — cheeseburger gyoza, which is stuffed with burger pieces, aged cheddar, onion, pickles, mustard and tomato sauce; and mozzarella gyoza, which is filled with the obvious, then deep-fried and sprinkled with Twisties salt — that's up to you.

Usually the chain's special additions to its menu are only available for a limited time, so you might want to get in quickly.

Harajuku Gyoza's Japanese dessert-inspired beers will be available at all Australian stores — at Darling Harbour in Sydney; at South Bank and the CBD in Brisbane; and in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast — from Wednesday, July 14.