Okay, I’ll be honest with you upfront — I’m not really a fan of unagi. Freshwater eel (and honestly, a lot of freshwater fish) tastes a bit earthy and muddy to me. Plus, unagi has all those tiny bones, so the texture just isn’t my thing. But hubby? He absolutely loves it. It’s like a must-order for him whenever we step into any Japanese restaurant. So since we were in Nagoya and Hitsumabushi is the famous dish that originated from here, we just had to try it right? Who knows, maybe Unagi Unayasu Nishiki would be the place that finally converts me. Haha.
So, What Exactly is Hitsumabushi?
Like I mentioned, Hitsumabushi originates from Nagoya. It’s basically charcoal-grilled freshwater eel glazed in a sweet soy sauce and served over steamed rice. And there’s actually a whole ritual to enjoying a traditional Hitsumabushi meal — I’ll share more about that below.
We picked Unagi Unayasu Nishiki (うなぎのうな泰 錦店) as our first proper initiation into Hitsumabushi in Nagoya. It was highly recommended to us by a local friend, and if that’s where the locals go, it should be pretty good right?
How to Get to Unagi Unayasu Nishiki
- Take the subway to Sakae Station
- Come out from Exit 8
- Walk about 3 minutes and you’ll see the restaurant
Ordering at Unagi Unayasu Nishiki
Before you even step into the restaurant, you place your order at the ordering kiosk outside. Good news — they have an English menu, so it’s very easy to navigate.
The menu is simple and straightforward. Since they specialise in grilled eel, they only do eel rice mains, presented in different ways and priced according to how many slices of eel you want and the portion of rice (regular or large). There’s also a small selection of sides like eel liver, egg-wrapped eel, eel bone cracker, chawanmushi and more.
Once you’re done, make payment by credit card. The machine will then print out tickets of your order. When you head into the restaurant, the chefs behind the counter will greet you, and you just need to pass them your tickets so they can start preparing your meal.
Self-Service All the Way
Further inside the restaurant, there’s a drinking water dispenser that you can help yourself to. Above the dispenser is a TV screen that shows your order number — the blue column on the left means it’s being prepared, and when your number jumps over to the red column on the right, that means it’s ready for collection.
It’s pretty much self-service, which we actually quite like. Seating is free seating too. Look up above the counter seats and you’ll spot photographs and autographs of what seems to be local celebs who’ve dined here. Always a good sign!
On every table, there’s a tray of condiments — sauce, shichimi (Japanese 7-spice mixture) and sansho pepper — along with a laminated sheet of instructions on how to properly enjoy your Hitsumabushi.
What We Ordered at Unagi Unayasu Nishiki
Eel Rice Bowl — 950 yen (2 slices, regular rice)
We added a poached egg for an extra 150 yen.
The eel looked nicely grilled with bits of char for that added smokiness. I quite liked the glaze sauce — lovely sweet and savoury notes.
The runny yolk added extra richness and creaminess to the rice bowl too. Not bad.
Hitsumabushi Set — 990 yen (2 slices, regular rice)
This is where the ritual kicks in. Here’s how you eat it:
First: Eat it as is, to enjoy the original taste.
Next: Add the accompaniments — spring onions, seaweed and wasabi — then pour over the dashi broth. It turns into a soup-like dish, almost like pao fan.
I actually liked the soup style best — so comforting! Plus, I found the earthy flavour was a lot less prominent after adding the wasabi and broth. Win-win.
Final Thoughts on Unagi Unayasu Nishiki
Hubby enjoyed most of the meal, haha. As for me, even after this meal, I still didn’t manage to convince myself to eat more unagi from now on. So nope, it didn’t quite convert me, unfortunately.
But I must say, the prices here are very reasonable compared to many other eel restaurants out there. Maybe that’s exactly why it draws so many locals. If you’re looking for affordable eel rice bowls in Nagoya, definitely come to Unagi Unayasu Nishiki.
