Hitsumabushi Ichiyo — Restaurant in Nagoya

This is a sponsored review because they offer 300 yen off your order if you leave a review.

The hitsumabushi meal is delicious, and the a regular serving will set you back 4780 yen. (I got the 1.5 size). But it is 4780 yen kind of delicious?

That's really for you to decide. The set comes with a bowl of grilled eel over rice with a sweet soy glaze, a savoury egg pudding, pickled vegetables, and a savoury dashi stock. All these other ingredients serve to change the hitsumabushi experience as you go so you don't get bored of each bite you take (which you wouldn't). After you finish your meal they provide a free pudding for dessert.

The price is honestly quite steep. It's the equivalent of a very nice steak meal. Its a Nagoya speciality but the only thing that sets it apart from a regular unagi donburi is the pickled vegetables and dashi stock which act as confirmed condiments to the meal. So set your expectations...

I did not expect that this meal would be the most memorable during my 2 and half week trip in Japan. I still think about it.

We arrived a little bit after they opened for lunch on a weekday and it took about 15 minutes to get seated. The restaurant is on the cozier side. They have menus in English and the staff is very friendly.

We all ordered the Hitsumabushi Unajyu set. The eel itself was so delicious, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I love how it’s also an experience, where they show you all the different methods to enjoy the eel. I was a little bit skeptical about adding dashi stock, but combined with the shiso leaves and umeboshi, it was an explosion of flavors and textures which was a pleasant surprise.

Would definitely go back next time...

Simply delicious Hitsumabushi restaurant that opened quite recently. They currently have a 1000 yen discount if you reserve through tabelog so it ended up being great value for money! Since it's a new restaurant, we also didn't have to wait in line to be seated unlike other more established restaurants in the area. The quality of the eel I felt was even better than some of the more famous restaurants. They source their eels domestically from Shizuoka prefecture and it was super juicy and flavourful. The interior of the restaurant is really fancy as well so it would be a perfect spot for a date. Skip the lines and give this...