へべれけ商社マン
There are many eel restaurants in Tokyo, but when it comes to old established shops that have been preserving their traditional noren (curtain) since the Edo period, names like Kawasenke (Shibamata), Ooedo (Nihonbashi), Takebatei (Tsukiji), and Maekawa (Asakusa) are famous. The Miyagawa Honke in Tsukiji, established in 1893, is slightly later than those. Nowadays, you may see many eel restaurants with the name "Miyagawa Honke," but only the ones officially affiliated with the Miyagawa series are allowed to use the difficult character "本廛" (hon ten) denoting the main shop, and there are only about 20 such shops nationwide, with the headquarters located here in Tsukiji. The restaurant is located on Heisei Street in Tsukiji, where traditional shops line the street, right next to Miyagawa Shokudo (restaurant specializing in chicken and eggs). The main shop, occupying an entire building, is on the second and third floors. In the midst of this year's unusually hot weather, I felt like having eel from this place, so my wife and I headed out on the weekend. We arrived around 2 pm, with about 3 groups waiting ahead of us, so we had to wait for about 30 minutes before entering the restaurant. It was as popular as ever. (However, on that day, it seems that Ginza Takebatei and Unafuji in Ueno had a one-hour wait, so I consider myself lucky.) First, we moistened our throats with beer while waiting for the eel to be grilled. Today, we ordered the "uzaku" and unaju set (type Ha). After placing our order, we had to wait for 30 minutes for the food to arrive. When the set was brought to our table, opening the lid of the box was always a moment of excitement for me. Upon opening the lid, the plump eel meat spread beautifully in the box, glistening with sauce, making my mouth water. Without delay, I took a bite of rice along with the eel. Mmm! The taste was so good that I couldn't resist it! Even with my bias from being a long-time customer, I believe that the eel here competes for the top spot among all eel restaurants. As it is prepared in the Edo-mae style, steamed and then grilled, the eel meat, rich in fat, is perfectly steamed and grilled to a fluffy texture, with a firm yet soft bite that is always satisfying. The sauce is light, but it balances perfectly with the fluffy texture of the meat. Despite intending to savor it slowly, before I knew it, I had finished the whole set. After waiting for an hour in line and eating for only about 15 minutes, I thought, "Ah, what a feast! I will definitely come back!"