Kyoto, Japan｜Okuniya Mambei

Super gooddd! I love it when the rice comes in a hot pot. The unagi is super fresh and taste amazing. No fishy smell at all. The old man who serve the meals was also kind & attentive. This place is located near Nishiki market so you can also snacking around before / after meals!

No English menu BUT you don't need one since there's only 1 thing on the menu: eel and rice. Was looking for an unagi restaurant off Google and this popped up. The hosts were kind enough to let us walk in because a table next to us mentioned it was a reservation only place. We were the only non locals. Word of warning, it's not cheap. We kind of went in blind so we ate without knowing the cost. For 2 during lunch, it was about ¥12,000 but well worth it for the experience, service, and good food. Price changes with the market price of eel, though. However, don't come in if you're in a rush since the rice and unagi are cooked fresh per customer and can take a while if there are a lot of people before you. The menu consists of eel with rice, clam soup, and ochazuke (like a rice soup) along with a constant flow of warm tea keep you sated. Simple and effective.

This high quality eel restaurant provides traditional way of eel dishes. They don’t have walk-in order because their eel needs at least 30mins to prepare. A booking is a must. My suggest is to go there one day before or at least two hours before and put your name down on its reservation list. Their seats are limited, but off-peak hour will be a higher chance for a retreat to your taste bud. 😋