A whole Unagi(eel) restaurant,”Unagi yondaime Kikukawa” in Umeda, Osaka!
EitoHi, Guys!
We have “The Day of the Ox”, which is known in Japan for the custom of eating eels.
Not beef.
In 2024, they were July 24th and August 5th.
I would like to recommend and introduce the so delicious Unagi restaurants where I have eaten a whole eel!
Unagi yondaime Kikukawa at Hilton Plaza West of Osaka
This restaurant is the eel wholesaler that has been in business for over 90 years and the master chef is the fourth generation(yondaime).→See the web page in English.
Kikukawa is the family name.
Yes.
There are over a dozen restaurant, mainly in Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka!
About Hilton Plaza West
The restaurant is located on the second basement floor of the building next to the Hilton Osaka.
The hospitality of the restaurant!
The restaurant’s “hospitality” was amazed!→See the ｗeb page
The dish is order-made to fit a long eel.
I was really looking forward to it.
Hahaha…
The restaurant’s recommended meal is the “Ichihonju”, which is cooked a whole eel by BBQ.
Normally, we only eat half of the eel because of highly charge.
But, this is quite impressive in below picture!
Look delicious!
I hope to eat a whole eel and get through the hot Japanese summer!
Some notes！
You can enter the building, but please note that the restaurant doesn’t open until 11:00.
There’s a long line.
Yeah.
The reservation must be required for the restaurant.
As you can see from the long line in the picture, be sure to make a reservation for the restaurant.
Can we make reservations at the web page?
Yes, we can.→See reservation page
But the reservation is needed for the Log-In by your email
I found a lady that she did NOT reserve in front of the restaurant!
I want to eat a whole eel!!
but I haven’t made a reservation.
Is there any seat available?
Sorry.
The seats are fully booked today.
I came all the way here…
But anyway, if I have been waited here, it’ll be a available seat, right?
Sorry.
We’ve been fully booked today.
So, you understand that reservations are required for this restaurant.
Entering the restaurant!
I felt the luxury of the Japanese traditional restaurant.
I was entering the restaurant and was excited because of luxury.
I entered the restaurant at 11:05, and about 20-30% of the seats were already filled with customers.
Cited from Tabe-Log
I was shown to a counter seat.
The menu
I reserved an “Ichihonju”, but I wanted to order some snacks for drinking beer.
As expected, a whole eel is very impressive in the menu!
I think many persons feel full after eating just a whole eel on rice.
Jazz music played in the Japanese traditional restaurant, which was modern and stylish.
I also ordered some snacks!
I asked a question to a waitress when I ordered some snacks to drink beer.
How long do “Bone crackers” take to be served?
Bone crackers will be brought to you in about 2 minutes.
“Bone crackers” are fried back bone of eels. Its salty and crunchy texture goes well with beer.
So, how is the amount of rice?
We can serve you large, normal and small amount.
How amount of the normal is it？
It’s about two and a half of rice bowl.
Oh! It’s a normal amount. Please!
To eat a whole eel, I didn’t eat breakfast on this day.
Enjoy meals!
First, I drinked a glass of beer.
I enjoyed to drink beer in the noon.
Ah, the beer is so cold and nice!
Hahaha…
Soon the bone crackers was come.
Enjoy back bone snacks!
The bone crackers of the eels are made by deep-frying.
The display of bone crackers was beautiful!
The taste of bone crackers is salty, crispy and delicious.
If you are a fish lover, I recommend the bone cracker.
So I drank beer faster than usual.
Ha-ha-ha!
Sounds good!
Uzaku, hot eels and cold vinegar cucumber
Then, Uzaku which I love was coming!
I also like “Uzaku”, so I order it no matter which eel restaurant where I go to.
The eel was soft and warm, and the cucumber was crunchy and cold, and I enjoyed the big difference in texture and temperature.
The eel is a little bit sweet but cucumber vinegar is a little bit sour, and you can enjoy the difference in the taste.
I enjoyed differences of textures, temperatures and tastes in the plate!
I agree.
I liked the Uzaku of this restaurant because it had a natural flavor.
You can see the chef’s kitchen from the counter.
The eels were grilled behind thick glass, as I did not feel the smoke and heat at all.
They were very busy in the kitchen.
Ichihonju!
As I was enjoying the bone crackers and Uzaku, a large bowl of rice was brought to me.
My excitement was at its peak!
Please enjoy!
Oh! Thank you!
You can change the flavor with flavorful sansho and slightly spicy sansho.
Oh! I see.
So I tried Ichihonju.
The eel looks delicious with the sauce♪
I was eating!
The Unagi meat was firm, but soft and delicious.
It had a good amount of the sauce and was the kind of Unagi that I like. .
Great!
You can see the movie in below.
Unagi made me happy.
The soup of unagi liver was not within Japanese parsley but seaweed.
But I liked the soup within Japanese parsley.
It was so delicious that I ate it right away.
I’ve finished eating it all.
I was full!
In the summer, eating eel is a great way to regain the energy in your body.
Amazing!
You ate it all!
I was hangry from this morning for the meal!
Hahaha!
So, how much does it cost?
I had a glass of draft beer, bone crackers, Uzaku and Ichihonju, and the total was just over 9,000 yen.(about 60$ USD)
Is that higher than Unagi market price?
No, it was reasonable price. Because I ate a whole eel, and it was twice the amount of a normal Unagi. I also had some snacks.
Unagi is expensive in Japan, so you can’t enjoy it if you skimp.
Thank you for reading to the end♪
You can also read a blog “an easy access and affordable eel restaurant in Umeda, Osaka.”→Link
