Address:
1-5-4 HIGASHI-AZABU,
MINATO-KU, TOKYO

Phone: +813-3583-7852

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.