Okuniya Manbei

There are many factors besides the food that make a restaurant experience truly special. Okuniya Manbei is the combination of professional home cooked food with unrivaled service in a humble 12-seater space. Specializing in Kansai-style unagi served in a clay pot with rice, Okuniya Manbei is no ordinary eel restaurant. There isn't a menu to choose from, just a wooden plaque that describes the meal. As the eels are killed and filleted only when guests arrive, there's usually a waiting time of half an hour between ordering and being served. Instead of the usual Kanto method of filleting eel in which the eel is slit open from the back, Okuniya Manbei slits from the front, Kansai-style. This restaurant cooks the eel twice, placing it in another compartment under the lid of the claypot, cooking it together with the rice for the second time. This special technique results in the most tender texture. All are served with a nitsume sauce that balances the sweet and salty flavors perfectly. The unagi and rice are presented in clay pots made by Nakagawa Isshiro, the younger brother of famous claypot maker Nakagawa Ippento. The main dish is served with various side pickles including pickled eel livers, melon slices, and baby ayu sweetfish. To end the meal, the residue in the claypot will be scraped into a different bowl, with hot tea poured over the top, and served as ochazuke. Okuniya Manbei is the ideal spot for the tastiest unagi in town.