I finally realized my desire to eat eel after a month since thinking about it on the midsummer day of the ox. I ordered the 2,500 yen eel skewer course without hesitation. I also wanted to try grilled eel, so I ordered different cuts with salt and sauce to change the flavor, creating a blissful moment. I wonder how many bottles of beer I drank? However, I had no hangover the next day, truly experiencing the eel effect.

Before the midsummer day of the ox. While eel hitsumabushi is good, I prefer eating eel skewers with alcohol. The grilled white meat of the belly is crispy, fluffy, and juicy, incredibly delicious. You can enjoy the different parts of the eel by trying four types of skewers, each with a little taste. I feel energized after eating eel.

The historic original unagi restaurant where regular customers come one after another. The unagi donburi may feel like it lacks enough eel for the amount of rice, but at 2000 yen, it's understandable. The rice used is not very flavorful, balanced out by the sauce. The sansho pepper is likely a weak-flavored foreign variety, which is also expected given the price. If you want to have a slightly luxurious lunch and eat unagi, but can't bring yourself to spend too much, this place is perfect for that.

I used to dislike eel, but recently I have finally been able to eat it, and even I, who is particularly picky, can eat it here! I understand why some people don't like eel - the smell and tiny bones can be off-putting. Even at high-end restaurants, I just couldn't bring myself to like it (laughs). The eel at this restaurant has a firm texture and doesn't have that strong smell! This is the only place where I can enjoy eel. The price is reasonable too, with lunch starting at 3000 yen. It has gone up in price recently, but I still think it's a good deal!

On the night of July 4, 2023, I made my first visit to a restaurant called "Unatei" in Tokyo. While there are multiple eel restaurants with the name "Unatei" in Tokyo, this particular establishment was founded in 1957 and has a long history, giving off the vibe of being the main branch. Inspired by this information, I decided to check it out! [Overall Impression] During the day, they serve eel rice bowls and eel dishes. At night, you can enjoy eel skewers with drinks for a budget of around 3,000 yen. The concept of a bar where you can drink with eel skewers as a side dish seems to be unique to Tokyo. At least, it can be said that Tokyo is where famous bars offering eel skewers are concentrated. This restaurant falls into the category of a long-established eel skewer bar. They offer a variety of skewers with solid flavors at a reasonable price. I look forward to finding another opportunity to visit again. [Items Ordered] Bottled beer is priced on the higher side for a casual bar. A cover charge is a must. While it's not super cheap, the variety of skewers justifies the price (for drinks and cover charge). - Kirin Lager (medium bottle) 750 yen - Cover charge 300 yen - Eel skewer wrapped in daikon 310 yen - Grilled eel back meat with sauce 340 yen - Grilled eel liver (short skewer) with sauce 310 yen - Grilled eel fin wrapped in leeks 310 yen - Grilled eel head 260 yen - Grilled eel belly meat 290 yen - Grilled eel collar 340 yen - Grilled eel belly meat with wasabi soy sauce [Bill Total] 3,210 yen [Table Condiments] - Soy sauce, shichimi (seven-spice blend), sansho (Japanese pepper), toothpicks [Visit Details] - Date and time: July 4, 2023, 7:55 PM - No waiting time to be seated - Was seated at the counter in front of the grill - Around 80% of the seats were filled, with a moderate level of crowd - Dining time: 33 minutes [Location] - Nearest station is Shibuya - Close to the Inokashira Line's Mark City exit [Restaurant Atmosphere] - Casual and down-to-earth izakaya-style interior and ambiance - Counter with 8 seats in front of the grill - Tables spread across the floor - Capacity of over 40 people - Acrylic dividers between seats at the counter - Staff of 5 - Friendly service with detailed explanations of each skewer when served [Restroom] - Located at the back on the left side of the entrance - One private room with a Western-style toilet and a urinal for men - TOTO brand fixtures - Handwashing facilities within the private room - Provided with hand soap, jet towel, and odor-eliminating alcohol disinfectant spray (Review as of July 5, 2023) Average rating: 3.49 Number of reviews: 299 My reviews: 7 Rating: 3.44

I received a photo of eel rice from a friend and suddenly had a craving for eel, so I went for lunch the other day, but they were already sold out for lunch. Today, I arrived at the restaurant around 5:50 PM for a second attempt. I was able to get in without waiting, but the restaurant was already packed with customers. By the time I finished eating, there were about 5 people waiting outside, so I wonder if it will get even busier as we approach the midsummer day of the ox. Since I made the effort to visit today, I ordered not only the eel rice I was looking forward to but also skewers and other items. The "kurikara" (eel belly with wasabi soy sauce) was incredibly delicious! It was my first time trying it with wasabi soy sauce. The eel rice was also delicious, with a nice char from being grilled over charcoal. I added an extra bowl of rice for ¥300 because I needed more. This is a long-established eel restaurant in Shibuya, founded in 1957. I enjoyed the delicious meal!

In front of Shibuya Station is a restaurant called Unatei-san. Unatei has branches in various locations, but this Shibuya branch is considered the original. Established in 1957, it is a long-standing establishment. As a fan of eel, I wanted to visit this place. The interior of the restaurant is quite spacious, and there were two elderly men managing it. The service was friendly yet professional, showing their experience. Unatei is famous for its skewered eel dishes, but for lunch, they only offer eel rice bowl and eel over rice, with a difference in portion size. This time, I chose the eel rice bowl. The eel served today is from Shizuoka, steamed and charcoal-grilled. I ordered: - Eel Rice Bowl: 2000 yen The liver soup and pickles arrived in about 3 minutes. The eel portion was small, around 5 pieces. The steaming was light and the grilling was slightly strong. When I tasted it, the eel was warm, with a crispy and fragrant surface, creating a great harmony of charcoal and sauce. The texture was firm and tender, not fluffy, with a chewy and moist finish. Despite being pre-steamed, there was no dryness or oxidized fat, and the eel flavor was distinct. The thick skin grilling was also well done. The quality and taste indicate it is definitely domestic eel of this season. Truly the original Unatei does a great job. I might prefer the sauce here over the one in Shinjuku Unatei. It has a classic taste with a good balance of soy sauce and mirin, and a wonderful aroma from the grilling. The plentiful sauce was not overpowering and complemented the rice well. The rice was also tasty, cooked firm with a good fluffiness, pairing perfectly with the eel. The pickles and liver soup were average. The liver seemed slightly less fresh. I didn't have high expectations, but I enjoyed a delicious eel meal easily. Lunch is cash-only, but considering the location and quality of the eel, it is affordable. It's a blessing during the high eel prices era. I will definitely come back for a full meal next time! Thank you for the meal!

On a regular Wednesday after work, I left on time and dashed to Shibuya. I arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes before our (old) meeting time of 6:30 pm. He hasn't arrived yet. I started sipping on the canned beer I bought at the convenience store. I never knew there was a long-established eel restaurant here. I've passed by this street many times, but I never knew. A woman outside the restaurant was calling out to me. A mature woman's pub? She must think I look like an old man (which I am), but that's not it. I just want to eat eel! Get out of my way! He's here. Let's go in! So, what should we order? They don't have eel rolls here. We'll eat the eel skewers normally, share the grilled vegetables, and maybe share a grilled eel rice bowl if we can handle it. If we're really hungry, we'll skip the grilled eel and just get the eel rice bowl. He ordered a medium draft beer (690 yen), and I ordered a medium bottle (750 yen). Then, we ordered the skewers A and B. A: 8 types of eel parts + 4 types of vegetables (3,300 yen) B: 8 types of eel parts only (2,500 yen) First, a set of 5 skewers with sauce arrived. It came so quickly, within 10 minutes of ordering. I asked which part was which, but I couldn't remember. I compared them to the pictures. Well, as long as they taste good. Oh, the different parts do have different flavors. It's fun and delicious. We don't usually eat eel skewers, so this assortment is helpful for us who don't know much about them. We waited for us to finish, and then a set of 3 salt skewers arrived. Liver, belly meat, and eel kidney. I remember a regular customer's review recommending the eel kidney. You eat it with wasabi soy sauce only. I tried it with just wasabi first, delicious! Then with soy sauce, it tastes like grilled eel. These 8 skewers were part of set B. They all tasted like eel, but I couldn't remember which part was which. But each part was quite tasty. After finishing the skewers, a set of 4 vegetable skewers arrived. We shared them. Ginkgo nuts, shishito peppers, scallions, and shiitake mushrooms. The colors were vibrant and they were delicious. We shared them after removing them from the skewers. Oh, you ordered a highball (530 yen), seriously? You're not going for sake? Then, I'll have one more beer since we finished the skewers. So, can we still eat the grilled eel? If we share a grilled eel rice bowl, it might be too much. In that case, two eel rice bowls (3,300 yen each). It arrived without much wait. Opening the boxes was a great moment. This price is still delicious! The sauce is on the lighter side. You can taste the eel's flavor well. It's like the Kanto style. There's a grilled flavor, but it's also tender. Oh, delicious! Eel is just delicious. Alright, thank you for the meal. We indulged a bit today. How much is it? 15,720 yen. The appetizer was 300 yen each, right? So, 7,860 yen. Well, it's cheap for eel at this price. Well, we only had two beers. We indulged, but next week, I'll treat you to free drinks. Didn't we have free drinks a while ago? Don't you remember? We used the points we saved on Hot Pepper for a free course of Akakara hot pot, right? I've saved another 8,000 yen worth of points now. I wanted to use the points today, but this restaurant doesn't accept them. Oh, I'm full. I might miss my train on the way back again. Well then, good job!

After finishing work on a regular day, I visited this eel restaurant with my spouse. It's located near Shibuya Station, next to Mark City, so the location is very convenient. When we entered, we were asked to wait outside the door while they cleaned up and then were seated. We waited for about 3-4 minutes, during which time a few other customers arrived and asked if we were in line. The restaurant seemed quite popular. Our order included: - Eel liver with ponzu sauce - Eel rice bowl - Two-tier eel rice bowl (served with eel liver and pickles) - Draft beer - Oolong tea The main dish of eel took some time to prepare, but the staff didn't seem rushed, which made us feel at ease. We started with the eel liver with ponzu sauce, which was surprisingly easy to eat without the usual bitterness. We speculated on whether the ponzu sauce had a special ability to mask the liver's bitterness or if the restaurant used a special type of eel. The eel itself was delicious, with a soft texture typical of Kanto-style eel. We opted to have the two-tier rice bowl with alternating layers of eel and rice, which was a luxurious treat. To my surprise, my usually light-eating spouse finished her meal before me, which rarely happens. She simply said, "It was so delicious," and I couldn't help but forgive her for finishing first. It was a delightful meal.

The impact of the coronavirus is still not completely settled even in Shibuya. This extremely popular restaurant had no line, empty seats, and most importantly, there was still "liver" available to eat around 7 o'clock, which I had never been able to eat before. However, the eel served was tender in every part and had no smell at all. It was an excellent dish. I want to visit before it gets crowded again. Thank you for the meal.

A shop located in the back of the first floor of a mixed building in front of Shibuya Station. It seems to be quite an old-established store, with the original name of Unatei, different from the Unatei in Shinjuku and Ebisu. Like other Unatei stores, they serve various parts of eel on skewers, and the taste was equally delicious.

It's been a while since I visited. This is a precious shop near the station where you can always eat eel skewers. Many shops require you to reserve liver grilling, and it's rare to be able to eat tender kabuto and hiré anytime. Kabuto and hiré are really delicious. It was my first time eating crispy grilled eel with wasabi soy sauce. Very satisfying. I don't always eat eel bowls, so I'm not sure about the evaluation as an eel shop lol. Based on the eel strip grill I ate, it doesn't seem to be steamed. I'm not sure if the eel bowl is grilled or steamed. In my opinion, it's personally the best for solo eel lovers♪

I visited the restaurant alone at night. It is located less than 30 seconds from the Inokashira Line Shibuya Station ticket gate. The atmosphere inside the restaurant is typical of an izakaya, but there are enough counter seats to enjoy a meal alone. I ordered the "Grilled eel skewers and assorted vegetable skewers (12 skewers in total) for 2,960 yen including tax." It was a set of 8 types of grilled eel skewers and 4 types of vegetable skewers, which was sufficient for one person. The grilled eel skewers were not as strong as yakitori, but they felt very healthy as they had little oil. The majority of customers were men, but I think this is a restaurant that can also be recommended to women.

The original and best-known "Unatetsu" in Tokyo. There are many eel skewer restaurants in the city, but this one is my favorite as it is close to where I live. As a sake drinker, I prefer the skewers over the eel rice bowl. There is a saying, "There are fools who eat when they are hungry," as mentioned by a former sake-drinking rakugo storyteller. I usually order a variety of courses, but I find the liver to be too bitter even for a sake drinker like me. Still, if it's your first visit, I recommend trying a variety of dishes.

I visited the popular eel restaurant, the original Unatetsu in Shibuya, for lunch. The lunch eel bowl here is cheap! It's a first-come, first-served basis, but I had the lunch menu eel bowl with liver and pickles, along with a lunch beer. It's right near Shibuya Station and if you want to eat an affordable eel bowl, this is definitely the place to go. Thank you for the meal.

I had lunch at "Ganso Unatei" yesterday. The restaurant is located on the first floor of a building near the elevated structure of Tokyu Shibuya Station (photo 1). The photo 2 shows the lunch menu displayed in front of the restaurant. I arrived around noon, and there was only one other customer inside. I was guided to a seat at the back of the restaurant and quickly ordered the "Unagi Donburi (¥1,750)". It arrived in about 4 minutes (photo 3). The staff informed me that the sansho pepper was available on the table, in a ground form. This was pleasing as freshly ground pepper enhances the aroma and taste. The eel, though only two pieces, tasted better than at other restaurants. It was soft, flavorful, and lacked any strange aftertaste or unpleasant flavors. Additionally, they only accepted cash payments.

I visited Unamegane in Shibuya after a long time. This restaurant is unrelated to the one in Kabukicho. I had the eel rice bowl for lunch and I was very satisfied. The eel was not too overpowering in sauce, and it was tender with slightly soft skin, typical of Kanto-style eel. It's a nice place to enjoy a casual meal in front of Shibuya Station.

I decided to take a walk around Shibuya's Mark City to find a place for lunch. I was craving eel and found this restaurant online. It was a short walk from Mark City, located on the first floor of a building set back a bit. When I entered the restaurant, it was relatively empty, probably because it was still early. I sat down at a table towards the back and looked at the menu. There were only three lunch options: eel on rice, eel bowl, and a lunch beer. I decided to order the beer and eel on rice. The cold beer arrived first. It was a lunch size, slightly larger than a regular glass, but it was deliciously cold. As I slowly enjoyed my beer, the eel on rice was served. It had been a while since I had eel, and it was delicious. The eel was plump and perfectly grilled, with a crispy exterior. Eel is just so tasty! Next, I tried the eel with the rice. The rice in the eel on rice dish was equally delicious, with a wonderful sauce and aroma. I then tried the eel liver. It added a luxurious touch to the meal. It was very satisfying. When I was halfway through, I decided to sprinkle some sansho pepper on the remaining eel. It changed the flavor profile and added a nice kick. The portion size was just right, and I was completely satisfied after finishing the meal. Eel on rice for lunch is always a luxurious and delightful choice.

I had an eel bowl for lunch on Saturday. It cost 1,750 yen and came with liver sashimi and pickles. The restaurant had a nostalgic Showa era atmosphere and was a casual place to dine. I didn't realize it was not related to other restaurants with the same name. I resisted the temptation of having a lunch beer for 300 yen. The food was served in about 10 minutes and the presentation was nice. When I opened the bowl, there was not a lot of eel, but for 1,750 yen, it was acceptable. The eel was delicious with a refreshing sauce, and the rice was perfectly cooked without being mushy. The pickles were also good! In the end, I was very satisfied. It made me crave for the two-tiered eel dish in Kabukicho, which I haven't had in a long time.

I had some time in Shibuya, so I decided to drop by after a long time. The interior of the restaurant is not as crowded as before due to COVID-19 measures. I sat at a counter with partitions and enjoyed short skewers, wrapped skewers, and grilled liver with sake. The sake I had was Ichinokura Junmai Ginjo, which had a refreshing taste that paired perfectly with the eel. I finished my meal with a light drink, but I would like to come back for a more leisurely drinking session. Thank you for the meal.