Surugaya — Restaurant in Narita

4.5 stars

It's such a crazy busy shop on weekends. You get a ticket and usually have to wait 30 or do minutes. I recommend that you get a ticket and go shopping and come back. Or go visit Narita temple and come back. At 1pm on a Saturday been waited for 30 minutes.

The only eel I'll eat at restaurants is ones that are freshly made like this. You'll pay at least 4000yen but it's some of the best eel I've had in my life. Fresh, charcoal grilled and just amazing. The one from China is 4000 Yen and the one that is domestic will cost you almost double the price. Normal Chinese eel, big portion Chinese eel, domestic eel.

The pickles on the side are homemade and not chemical tasting. The egg omelet is sweet but quite normal.

The eel liver soup was okay but slightly salty for me. I guess you can ask them to add some more hot water. There are some bones but they're so small that most people just eat them. Some people care about it.

There's even a charcoal grilled chicken option if you're not into eel. It's about 2000 yen.

It seems to be a family owned operation. The 2nd floor is less hectic and more relaxing in terms of ambiance but on the first floor you can smell the nice freshly grilled eel, adding to the flavor and experience.

Don't forget to put sansho, Japanese black pepper on the eel. It gives it that extra magical eel taste and leaves one's tongue slightly...

Our last meal of the trip was exquisite and it was concluded Narita which is known for its unagi and I’m so glad we woke up early to get a queue number to have it. The shop was giving out queue numbers early - we got ours at 9.53am and were given no. 51 and told to come back at 10.30am for our table. The streets were really nice to explore anyway so we had not problem waiting!

When we went back we were greeted by well dressed ladies into a cosy restaurant. I had the regular unaju (うな重), my partner had the specially selected grilled eel 「特選」銘柄鰻うな重 だし and we shared a dashimaki tamago. The unagi is so soft, perfectly grilled at their grill that’s extended from the shop and it tasted very fresh with a delicious glaze. Each set comes with tea, pickles and eel liver soup. Tamago was bouncy and wonderfully layered. It’s a must if...

Located along Naritasan Omotesando Street near the temple it is one of the most recommended places to try Unagi which is local specialty of Narita. Head over to this place early and they'll give you a queue number and what time to come back. I went at about 10 30am and was asked to come back at 11am.

Service was very efficient and friendly at Surugaya and there's a live demonstration of the fresh eel being caught outside. We had the Unajyu which was delicious but unfortunately the meal wasn't too hot when we had it. I think that would've made a difference. This will cost you about 4000 yen which is worth the experience but this meal isn't necessarily life changing.

Make sure to use the powder they provide while...