Top 20 Best Restaurants in Tokyo
One of the best eel restaurants in Tokyo. The restaurant has 200 years of history and is now owned by the fifth generation master. There are a couple of buildings close to each other in Kamiyacho so if the main building is full you will be lead to the second building which has additional seating. The buildings are old wooden buildings a few stories high. On the ground floor of the second building is the kitchen and as you enter you can see crates full of live eel swimming around. The second floor is small with about 14 seats and the atmosphere is cozy and warm.
We ordered from the a la carte menu though there are several course menus also available. The main choice is between unadon (eel on rice in a bowl) or unaju (eel on rice in a lacquered box) and Kabayaki (with sauce) or Shirayaki (white eel i.e without sauce, the simplest way to enjoy eel). We ordered Kabayaki unaju. The eel came in a black lacquered rectangle box, with eel layered on top of a bed of rice. The eel was amazingly soft and light, grilled with a sweet tare (sauce) that is almost caramelised. Before tasting it, it is suggested to sprinkle the dish with sansho a Japanese spice/ pepper which is aromatic and especially popular with eel. It has a strong lemon chinese pepper taste and I would recommend trying a small sprinkle first as it is an accustomed taste.
Taken from Nodaiwa’s Paris restaurant website: “The sanshô, also called “pepper of Sichuan” in China, is the fruit of a small thorny shrub from the same family as the mikan (tangerine) and the lemon tree, producing small slightly piquant seeds. These are gathered and dried like pepper and then reduced to powder, releasing a very full taste which is hot and lemony at the same time. In Japan, this spice is especially used as a condiment to accompany the unagi kabayaki (broiled eel), but the young leaves are also eaten as herbs in soups bringing a delicate flavour. The consumption of sanshô enables the stomach to function regularly, stimulates the appetite and stores the body heat.”
Eels are rich in vitamin B and are thought to be highly effective in fighting summer heat exhaustion and a loss of appetite. For this reason one day every Summer is selected as “doyo-no-ushi-no-hi ” when eating eel is said to offer the best relief from the summer heat. This year, 2012, it was Friday, July 27 and is known as “Unagi no Hi” or “Eel Day”.
Some of the eel dishes/ course menus are expensive. Approx JPY 3,000 for the Kabayaki unaju from the a la carte menu. English menu available. The restaurant was awarded one Michelin star in 2010.
http://www.nodaiwa.co.jp/english.html
Top 20 Best Restaurants in Tokyo
matscat 