DEVOTED TO UNAGI, AND UNAGI ALONE.
Unagi restaurant UNAWA

Crisp to the bite,
cloud-soft within.

Extra-thick eels over 320 grams, chosen from Japan’s finest farms,
grilled Kansai-style over charcoal — with contract-grown Nagano rice
and a tare sauce guarded by a craftsman of forty years.

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Our Craft

THREE PROMISES
Extra-large eel, hand-selected from across Japan

Extra-thick eels,
over 320 grams.

Our buyers select only extra-large eels above 320g from Japan’s best farms — the thickness that makes a fragrant crust and a tender heart possible.

Kabayaki grilled fragrant over charcoal, jiyaki style

Kansai jiyaki:
grilled, never steamed.

In the Kansai jiyaki tradition we grill directly over charcoal, never steaming — rendering excess fat while the skin crisps and the flesh stays plump.

Dipped in tare aged in cedar casks

A tare sauce guarded
for forty years.

Cedar-cask soy sauces, fine mirin and coarse sugar — a tare recipe passed down by a craftsman forty years at his trade, deepening the eel’s savor.

Over live charcoal.
Unaju eel box

Our Restaurants

NAGOYA & KYOTO
Unawa Honten Nagoya Station — entrance
NAGOYA | 5 MIN FROM NAGOYA STATION

Unawa Honten — Nagoya Station

Private rooms by the station — authentic hitsumabushi at your own pace.

Unawa Tsurumai — exterior
NAGOYA | TSURUMAI・PARKING

Unawa Tsurumai

Home of kama-mabushi, by our Nadaman-trained head chef.

Unawa Izumi — exterior at night
NAGOYA | 6 MIN FROM HISAYA-ODORI STA.

Unawa Izumi

A quiet hideaway in the city, with semi-private seating.

Kyo-Unawa Honten Shijo Sakaimachi — street at dusk
KYOTO | BY NISHIKI MARKET

Kyo-Unawa Honten — Shijo Sakaimachi

Our Kyoto flagship — counter seats and tatami rooms.

Kyo-Unawa Kiyomizu Hanare — exterior at night
KYOTO | KIYOMIZU-DERA APPROACH

Kyo-Unawa Kiyomizu Hanare

Bright cypress interior. Signature unamusu and wagyu skewers.

Kyo-Unawa Honten Gion Yasaka — exterior at night
KYOTO | GION・YASAKA

Kyo-Unawa Honten — Gion Yasaka

Our newest — a machiya townhouse near the Yasaka Pagoda.

Franchise restaurant Kyo-Unawa Honten Jingumichi (Heian Shrine area): see kyoto-unawa.com.

Takeout & Gifts

TO GO / TO SEND

News

UPDATES
2026.07SEASONDoyo-no-Ushi, Japan’s midsummer eel day, falls on Sunday, July 26 this year. Reserve early.
2026.07NEWKyo-Unawa Honten Gion Yasaka is now open.
2026.06INFOHours and reservations for each restaurant.