Unagi Hirokawa

The eel I had at Hirokawa was the most tender and delicious I’ve ever tasted. It was cooked to perfection, with a texture so soft it practically melted in my mouth. The skillful preparation truly highlighted the natural flavors of the eel. I highly recommend this place. It’s absolutely worth a visit for anyone who appreciates great quality eel!

One of the notable eel restaurants of Kyoto, very upscale with premium sourced ingredients. Once, many would line up in advance for hours to try here but in 2023 this is now simply by reservation-only through online booking and it's fairly straightforward to book. Bookings open for dates a month in advance and as I look right now, plenty of days have times available for all the weeks in December and a few days into January, and I write this a few days into December. At the moment the booking doesn't count until you get an email and have paid a 3000¥ deposit which is subtracted from your bill on the day. The eel sourced all year round from premium suppliers in Kagoshima and Miyazaki. In late summer/early autumn there can be additional wild eel but there are no guarantees on sourcing and they have a strict policy not to sell wild eel unless they can guarantee the quality at double the price. Eels are live and prepped to order because of the importance of freshness in eel dishes, so even though there is no longer a line, from ordering the grilled rice dish that they are famous for will take about an hour from ordering, so you'll want to order a set menu to have appetitisers and smaller courses leading into the main or just pick a few other a la carte items to pass the time. Everything is the best that they can sustainably source at scale. Water is pumped in from 30m underground. Charcoal is a heavily prized pure bincho from Kishu. The irreplaceable piece is the sauce used to glaze the eel. In eel places, the sauce is like a master stock and every time it is used some new sauce is made and mixed into the existing batch so the sauce keeps getting added to and this one supposedly has origins from the 1830s, almost 200 years ago. It is deep in flavour yet lighter than other unagi restaurants since they use less sweetness to highlight the eel flavour better. Definitely a meal that unagi lovers should try at least once in their life. The restaurant itself is a beautiful wooden masterpiece, very traditional but clean and modern at the same time having been constructed and renovated this century, designed specifically for this restaurant experience, a bit luxurious but still very modest. Located in Saga Arashiyama it is a little walk from the JR or metro station but right in the heart of things near temples and the Bamboo forest you would come to Arashiyama to visit on a regular itinerary in Kyoto. Excellent service all around.

You must make reservations for Unagiya Hirokawa, they do not take walk-ins. This is likely the only unagi meal that I will have on this trip given the wide variety of food in Japan cuisine. The restaurant is an old name in this specialty and their unagi did not disappoint. It was soft and the sauce is very light with a touch of smokiness. It is also located in beautiful Arashiyama, and I did all my temple touring before my reservation here at 2pm. I ordered the cheapest of the set lunch and thought that the portion was enough for lunch. I think it is worth packing in a visit to this restaurant when you tour Arashiyama.