Hitsumabushi Hanaoka — Restaurant in Nagoya

Food was delicious I just want to leave a quick word of caution to any other solo travellers reserving on tablelog to just double check there isn't a rule against dining alone or something because I had a strange, very awkward experience. When I arrived the lady was confirming the reservation and said for 2 people, and I clarified it was for 1. She seemed really shocked and asked me to wait. They're clearly a very popular place as there was already a big line at opening. When I was called in, I was lead to the only free table which was a table for 4. Immediately it felt really awkward and I was feeling like something must have gone wrong, and the people on the tables either side of me were staring, one person blatantly tipping their head towards me to have their friend look.

When a menu was brought to me the lady stood over me until I ordered. Luckily the menu is very small since they specifically do the one thing, but I wouldn't have looked at anything but that first page anyway. Don't ask me about anything except the literal first thing on the menu because I couldn't tell you what else it said, I don't actually even know the difference between the 2 set options.

I really felt like something had gone wrong but they felt like they had to serve me because I had a reservation, but they wanted me out quick. I ate and left faster than I ever have and it didn't feel fast enough. The food was really good but I was so nervous.

I checked the emails I've been getting from tablelog about the reservation and it definitely says 1 person, so if you're a solo traveller I'd recommend trying to see if there's anything on tablelog about only being able to dine in as 2 people or more, because it's all I can think of.

Also, a nice guy on the street saw I was struggling and helped me, but to find it when you take the turn on the pictures, there'll be a lot of bars ect, keep walking into the alley, and when there's a right turn, keep going forward until you see a small flight of stairs, it's up those, the street doesn't look like it keeps going much after that turn but you just have to keep going past something that blocks the...

Before I even get the food, the experience is a total disaster. I was there on a Saturday and I was expecting a queue so I reached at 545pm, 15 min before opening. I read some reviews before reaching and some said maybe 50 min wait is possible and you had to put your name on a paper indicating your name and number of people. Upon reaching, I saw a couple of people and I thought it not going to be so bad. Then, I saw the paper and there were quite a number of names on it. I did not count and it’s roughly already 20+ people before me. The waiting area is rather large so that small alley and they had a lot of chairs and benches available. I waited and waited and totally I waited for 3 whole hours before my name was called. Multiple people left ad I waited and some names were called but they were already not at the waiting area. Many people were anxiously checking that piece of paper to understand the queue situation and it is not pleasant as the time is ticking. Even at close to the closing time, quite a number of people were still around. I think it’s better to not allow people to pre-write their names way beforehand and do it in a first come first served basis. The anxiety of waiting and crowd turnover rate is very slow. Imagine coming 15 min before opening time, and only having your name called 15 min before closing time after 3 hours is very insane. The staff also did not bother to explain the queue situation to anyone and just called names accordingly.

For food wise, though definitely not worth a 3-hour wait, it was rather spectacular. Unagi pieces were light and fluffy with adequate char. Portions were good and the option of creating your own ochazuke was rather delightful. Price was also on the high side, beware and only cash is accepted.

If you are visiting, especially during dinner peak hours or weekends/holidays, please go way early to put your name and then come back again during opening hours to avoid the queue and avoid all the...

U think u had unagi don before? No u haven't, not until u have come to Nagoya. My research told me that there were 2 famous food in Nagoya, 1 is chicken wing, 2 is unagi. And I thought both of these food are just every normal dishes can be served in Japan, how wrong was I? I was blown away by the chicken wing the night before and then again by the unagi. I don't know about other unagi shops in Nagoya, but this one changed my whole unagi concept. I had never had such a big crunchy, fatty, juicy unagi in my life. The sauce is well balance, rice is nice and soft by perfect texture. The new way of this Nagoya dish to me is that it comes with the soup and u put the rice in the extra bowl with the spring onions and wasabi in, mix it with the soup then eat it with the unagi.

It is just simple heaven for such a simple dish. (when I said simple, I know they have gone through so many sophisticated steps to make this dish...