More food stuff introductions! This time I’m introducing the fabled Unagi Don aka the Eel Bowl. The unagi don is usually just a simple bowl of rice with several pieces of unagi placed on top of it, and the sauce from the cooking of the unagi is poured all over the top of the rice. It’s deceptively simple but amazingly delicious. Read on!
The lovely unagi don
First things first, unagi comes in several grades and you can get cheap unagi for under 1,000 yen. There’s also not much point, since you could probably find something of the same grade in the asian section of a supermarket in a foreign country. However, the high quality unagi tastes exponentially better, with an unmatched texture. Unfortunately, you also need to go to very specific restaurants and pay quite the small fortune to have to pleasure of tasting that.
The Unagi Don pictured above was from Sakuraya of Mishima, Shizuoka. It’s one of the most famous unagi don restaurants in the city, and has over 400 years of history to it. I think that makes it older than Canada :P, for shame!
Easily the best unagi in my life, it was also the most expensive. It clocked in at a whooping 3,370 yen for a set meal including small appetizers and miso soup. Oh and for those who think the bowl is small, the combination of the unagi and the rice is far more filling than you think it is. After eating that monster, I could barely eat dinner on the same day haha.
Oh well, I have a few more posts lined up, but until next time!!!
A Foreigner's Tale in Japan 
ZOMG, I want ;_; More food posts!!!
Hehe, I’ll go in search of more food once I get my salary lol.
Just wow!!!!
3370yen for Unagi…just wow!!!!!
I wouldn’t mind trying it…when I’m in Japan in 3 weeks…
Hmm, I don’t know any good unagi places in Tokyo though. But I’m sure there are some, somewhere.
Oooh, didn’t know there were different grades of unagi.
Thx for the info! will try it if I can find it during my trip in August! ^^;
Oh, you’re making a trip? Have fun!
yea, thx! if u do plan on going to tokyo somewhere in august, we can meet up! ^^
I probably will be in Tokyo actually for certain weekends in August!
do you know if there’s any difference between an unagi don and unajyu? (other than the shape of the container it’s served in?) i’ve had unagi in japan 3 times now and i believe they were all unajyu.
speaking of unagi (one of my favorite foods, btw ^^), if you happen to visit narita-san there’s loooooot of unagi restaurants along the streets leading up to the temple grounds. first time in my life i saw unagi restaurants practically next to each other.
argh, that unagi looks delicious, albeit a bit pricey ^^; guess i was eating a lower grade since most of the ones i’ve had were more like 2000 yen ^^;
I guess you were eating the medium grade unagi at 2000 yen. I thought I might as well splurge since I was out to enjoy myself, and boy was it worth it.
And unagi don and unajyu are the same except for the container and the size of the rice serving IIRC.
I LOVE UNAGI DON! love it. but it’s usually not cheap, so I don’t get it. But sometimes I splurge and it’s AWESOME
wow, 400 yrs. How old is Canada again?
I think as an independent country, our history is only around 60 ish years?
More than 100 years <.<
No, it’s definitely not 100 years. In fact we didn’t even adopt the maple leaf until like 1965….
I’m getting hungrier by the second just looking at the picture of the Unagi Don…
I LOVE unagi don ^_^ My recommendation too when trying Japanese foods. Didn’t know it could get that expensive, but it must have been worth it.
Can’t finish the meal…wow, they really amped up the texture and quality of the food to make sure you are satisfied for what you paid for ^_^
I’m not even sure how I could describe the texture, taste, and experience with words. It was great and it was extremely filling. Well worth my money :).
Why it increased 100 years than what I taught to you?
i heard it taste like normal fish? is it true?
i’d like to try it… oh well, sometime when i visit Japan
Hmm… the meat is a lot smoother than a normal fish. It also has significantly less bones in it.
The best part is the sauce that goes with it!
You should definitely try it. It’s very very different from fish.
yummyy….. 🙂