Nishio, Aichi, Japan｜Unami

One of those unagi-ya in the more rural parts of Aichi and Shizuoka that seems to be a destination for weekend travelers. Store is about 50min from Nagoya on Meitetsu train line, so not difficult to access. Visited on a Saturday. By opening time 35+ groups had their name on a sign up sheet. The restaurant seats about 30 people and the staff seems very efficient, so they probably get through at least 100 groups per day. The unagi is charred with plenty of tare, cooked until entirely tender but not super soft. It's well worth the trip and the wait.

The best unagi (eel) I've ever tasted, it was amazing! And the price is relatively cheap, you could enjoy a grilled unagi rice with soup for under 2000 yen. Very very delicious!

Kansai style eel. This is probably the best value for money eel restaurant in Aichi Prefecture. Nishi-Mikawa itself is cheaper than Nagoya or Hamamatsu, but it's also several hundred yen cheaper than other stores in Nishi-Mikawa. I think this is because the number of items is small and the turnover rate is raised to the maximum to sell high volumes at low profits. Liver skewers are available in limited quantities, so you'll need to line up early to eat them. When I ate the liver skewers, I was the 4th person in line to get in at 6:45, and I was able to get the last two pieces just in time. So far, I've been to famous restaurants in Nishi Mikawa such as Isshiki, Unami, Kanemitsu, and Sansuitei, and famous restaurants in Nagoya that I've been to are Atsuta Horaiken, Unafuji, Shirakawa, and Shiromura. All of them are at the top level in Aichi Prefecture, and there is not much difference in level. I think it's a matter of taste as to which one is delicious. After visiting so many famous restaurants, I realized that popularity, crowd level, price, and taste are not proportional to each other. The average price is around 3,000 yen per fish in Nishi-Mikawa, and around 5,000 yen in Nagoya (as of October 2020). Therefore, for everyday use, I think it would be more reasonable to go to a famous store in Nishi Mikawa than a famous store in Nagoya. The famous stores in Nagoya can be accessed without a car, and it's also easy to get to from Kanto and Kansai, and I thought it was crowded simply because of the large population.