Category Archives: Unagi

YAMANOCHAYA (Unagi restaurant)

You immediately forget you are in bustling Tokyo upon entering the bushy gate of Yamanochaya, a vintage restaurant specializing in unagi (eel) dishes. There aren’t that many restaurants in town that can boast such tranquility even if you can see a parking lot beyond the trees.

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You will need to walk up a significant flight of stairs to get to this restaurants that’s been around for years and years. I tried googling and it says that they have been around since early 20th century and our hosts explained that the last time they ate at this restaurant was 30 years ago. So, Yamanochaya has been around for while.

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Lovely ladies in beautiful kimonos guided us to a fake tatami room. The ones with holes under the tables to slide your legs in for comfort.

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Now I might have mentioned that I am not actually crazy about unagi. I don’t mind eating it, but I won’t go out of my way to dine on it. Imagine the look on my face when this dish was placed in front of me.

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I did not dare ask what it was until I gulped it all down and then discovered that it was the inner parts of the eel (whatever that is). Not the most delicious thing in the world. It had a nasty after-taste that I didn’t like but my husband loved it.

Before long, this dish came along….

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Now this dish actually tastes better than it looks. It is called the shirayaki which is white eel grilled over charcoal with a little salt. I had to think of other things not snake related to gulp it down and then decided that it didn’t taste too bad.

A small bowl of miso soup came before the main course.

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Followed by the main course which was some unagi grilled in a sweet sauce with rice and pickles on the side. This I loved. The unagi was tender and not as oily as others I’ve tried.

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My husband is a big unagi fan and he thought this was one of the best unagi restaurants he had ever tried so if you are in for a challenge, I say give it a try too.

Prices are on the expensive side . Lunch is about 10.000 yen and up. Dinner is about 13.000 yen and up.

YAMANOCHAYA. 2-10-6 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku. Phone : 03-3581-0585

NODAIWA Unagi

Unagi (freshwater eel) is one Japanese cuisine I haven’t really explored during my culinary expeditions around Tokyo. I’ve never been a big fan of Unagi dishes but for the sake of variety for this blog I decided to give Nodaiwa a try. After all, it is a one michelin star restaurant.

The tiny traditional Japanese building that houses Nodaiwa is squished between higher more modern buildings in the HigashiAzabu area. I later learned that it is a timber mountain farmhouse transplanted smack into the middle of Tokyo. I loved the facade, so cute.

Graceful ladies dressed in lovely kimonos greeted us as we entered. The interior is exactly as I envisioned it. Lots of dark wood with vintage Japanese touches all over. There is a restaurant downstairs with about 6 tables but we were escorted to the tatami room on the second floor. If you can’t stand sitting on the floor for over an hour then it is probably a good idea to ask for a table downstairs. I decided to endure the tatami room.

Nodaiwa is known for serving only eels caught in the wild and they had a few options of lunch menus starting from about 4500 yen all the way to 15,750 yen. I did not feel like eating too much for lunch and opted for the lightest menu. This is what I had :

As appetizer, some unagi jelly :

Followed by some Shirayaki which seems to be the house speciality. Shirayaki is eel that is lightly steamed and grilled. It is eaten either with salt, wasabi or a little shoyu. Even without any extra seasoning the flavor was unbeatable. I also liked it with the wasabi.

The Shirayaki

As a main course we were served with some unaju which is eel fillet broiled until golden brown and served over rice.

The Unaju

The unaju is served with some radish, pickles and a soup with eel liver in side.

Dessert was one of my most favorite fruit…kaki or persimmon.

Kaki dessert

Even if I claimed myself not to be a unagi cuisine fan, I have to say I had a very good lunch and will definitely recommend this restaurant to others.

Price : $$-$$$

NODAIWA. • 1-5-4 Higashi-Azabu, Minato-ku, +81 3 3583 7852, nodaiwa.com,