Unagi – Grilled Sea Eel

A delicacy in Japan this is a must eat, even if the good stuff will set you back between ¥2500 and ¥5000, depending on your appetite (price is adjusted according to quantity). Sea eel is fairly fatty so you won’t want to be eating a vast amount (recommended portions are described further down the page). The eel quality does not change with price; just the amount of actual eel you get. The most expensive (deluxe bowls) will have the top eel layer and also an extra eel layer hidden in the rice below. It is a lot of eel and you may struggle to finish it.

Above is a typical menu from a dedicated Unagi restaurant. This restaurant has 5 sizes of Unagi represented by either of two sets of Chinese characters:-

小 並 上 特上　 特選
梅　　　竹　　　松 　　　 桜　　　　　菊
Small・Regular・Large・Deluxe・Super Deluxe

The first line of characters directly translate as size. The more traditional second line of characters are real words and means in the order above, plum, bamboo, pine, cherry blossom and chrysanthemum. Not exactly size related words. This is confusing even for Japanese locals as the definition of how much eel you get for each size is not well defined. A rule of thumb is that 竹 (regular) is a good portion for most people while 松 (large) is for those who have a good appetite. The exact amount of eel (usually counted in portions of a single eel) will vary by restaurant and season. It is common to get “two full eels” in the Deluxe portions, which is quite a lot of eel.

The popular chain restaurant Sukiya currently (as of January 2021) has a reasonably priced eel on rice dish.

One word of caution: be wary of non-Japanese sourced eel, which is cheaper but less tasty (with higher fat content). Some restaurants will use this import eel to offer “deluxe” potions for around ¥2,500 or less. For Japanese sourced eel ¥2,500 is usually the price for regular portions. The import eel is often more and can end up exhausting you before finishing due to the high fat content.

Below is a recommended restaurant in Shinjuku called ”Noboritei” (other locations available) that offers high quality, locally-sourced sea eel dishes at reasonable prices.

Famous locations for sea eel cuisine

Japan has an obsession with local delicacies and Unagi is famous in certain locations around Japan.

• Hamamatsu – a 2 hour Shinkansen ride from Tokyo
• Nagoya City – the third most populous city in Japan
• Kagoshima Prefecture – deep in the south of Kyushu is the biggest producer of sea eel in Japan.

Of course you can eat sea eel pretty much anywhere in Japan, but local variations make trips outside Tokyo a must for any Japan traveler.