# Gangnam eel restaurant with four-step hitsumabushi: Unagiwa - By Saebom (https://superchart.com/en/@lunch-without-hurry/) - Written Sep 13, 2026 - Local places › Restaurants › Gangnam, Seoul - Sponsored: This post was written with sponsorship for a visit to the restaurant. - English edition: https://superchart.com/en/@lunch-without-hurry/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/ - Also in: [한국어](https://superchart.com/ko/@lunch-without-hurry/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/index.md) ## In short Unagiwa is an eel restaurant in Gangnam, Seoul, serving Nagoya-style hitsumabushi. My niece and I enjoyed the eel bowl four ways—plain, with scallions and wasabi, as ochazuke, and with plum sauce. Verdict: a satisfying, restorative meal for two busy people. ## Good to know - **Ordered**: Hitsumabushi set (one whole eel rice bowl) - **Drinks**: Sake and highballs available *as written by the visitor on Sep 13, 2026* ## A full hitsumabushi set at Unagiwa in Yeoksam My niece and I went out for an eel rice bowl for a little health-boosting meal, for the first time in ages. This is a place where you can enjoy authentic Nagoya-style hitsumabushi, the original Japanese eel rice bowl, just like the local version. ![Introduction to Unagiwa hitsumabushi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-01-10bdg-739.webp) ![Introduction to Unagiwa hitsumabushi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-02-qb0f3-900.webp) ![Introduction to Unagiwa hitsumabushi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-03-iyrdx-900.webp) ![Introduction to Unagiwa hitsumabushi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-04-1x1sd-871.webp) ![Introduction to Unagiwa hitsumabushi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-05-15tbo-900.webp) Unagiwa, a great eel rice bowl spot in Yeoksam, has a clean interior. It would be a nice place to host guests, too. They also sell sake and highballs that pair well with the eel bowls. ![Unagiwa menu](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-06-11w2x-966.webp) *#UnagiwaMenu* My niece and I ordered the same thing: the hitsumabushi set, with one whole eel rice bowl. ![Hitsumabushi set with one whole eel rice bowl](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-07-1j14q-1200.webp) *#UnagiwaHitsumabushiSet #UnagiwaEelRiceBowl* Our hitsumabushi set arrived, filling the entire table. There isn't an empty spot anywhere! The presentation alone is overwhelming. ![A table filled with hitsumabushi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-08-1kvlg-900.webp) The eel rice bowl was the first thing that caught my eye. It is made in the authentic Nagoya style. I fell in love with eel when I ate it in Nagoya last year, and here I am getting to have it again today :) ![Nagoya-style eel rice bowl](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-09-1i8fu-900.webp) Should I call these side dishes, the things you eat with the eel bowl? They look modest, but once they meet the eel rice bowl, they really reach their full potential. ![Side dishes for the eel rice bowl](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-10-1g86l-806.webp) ![Salad served with the eel rice bowl](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-11-1i02k-710.webp) First, I settled my stomach with salad? No, apparently you should eat vegetables first if you don't want to gain weight. I saw it in a short video, haha. ![Salad in the hitsumabushi set](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-12-uvqbm-900.webp) ![Warm chawanmushi side dish](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-13-mv9st-900.webp) The chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) was so soft. It is nice and warm for settling your stomach. Yes, short videos say to eat vegetables and then protein, haha. The chawanmushi had such a lovely mushroom aroma. ![Mushroom-scented chawanmushi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-14-11t7m-829.webp) ## How to eat hitsumabushi in four steps Now let's properly dig into the hitsumabushi. I tried it using the four-step method. First, portion out one quarter. ![Hitsumabushi portioned into quarters](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-15-lu6mk-900.webp) They say it is 100% antibiotic-free domestic Japanese eel, raised by Unagiwa itself. It is so, so substantial. ![Domestic Japanese eel rice bowl](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-16-hwmsu-900.webp) ### Step 1: Eel and rice only The first step is the pure, original flavor: eat just the rice and eel. I fell for eel rice bowls in Nagoya last year, and this is exactly that flavor. The tender eel melts in your mouth, it really melts. So delicious—absolutely the best. ![Hitsumabushi enjoyed with just rice and eel](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-17-h0pkl-900.webp) ### Step 2: Scallions and wasabi For the second way, top the eel with scallions and wasabi. This is my kind of style. ![Eel topped with scallions and wasabi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-18-18jql-900.webp) ![Hitsumabushi with scallions and wasabi](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-19-1vp68-900.webp) ### Step 3: Ochazuke The third way is ochazuke (rice with green tea broth). This is my favorite method—having hitsumabushi as ochazuke. ![Hitsumabushi enjoyed as ochazuke](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-20-1n0bc-900.webp) This flavor goes together strangely well! My niece must have liked it best this way too, because she poured all the green tea broth into her big bowl, hahaha. I think my niece and I have similar tastes. We both really know good food, haha. ![Hitsumabushi with green tea broth poured over it](https://img.superchart.com/images/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew-21-8j41a-900.webp) ### Step 4: Sweet and spicy plum sauce The final fourth step. I thought it was ketchup, but it was actually plum sauce. It is sweet and spicy. Dip the eel in the plum sauce once it starts to feel rich. Still, I liked the third-step hitsumabushi best. In the end, I poured it all in just like my niece did, haha. Seeing how much my niece enjoyed it made me happy too 😍😍 For the two of us to have a healthy, restorative meal, nothing beats eel 👍👍 Eel raised directly by Unagiwa, made into a Nagoya-style hitsumabushi bowl. If I had never eaten it in Nagoya, I wouldn't know—but I have. It tastes exactly like Nagoya hitsumabushi. I was completely moved. I have been keeping up with a demanding schedule preparing for the season, and my niece has been attending an English academy in Gangnam, so we are both in the middle of packed schedules. But after this eel rice bowl, our health-boosting mission was complete, hahaha. ## Where it is - Unagiwa (우나기와) - 71 Bongeunsa-ro 30-gil, 2F, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울특별시 강남구 봉은사로30길 71 2층) - 서울특별시 강남구 봉은사로30길 71 2층 - 37.5030197, 127.0370094 - Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/search/%EC%9A%B0%EB%82%98%EA%B8%B0%EC%99%80/@37.5030197,127.0370094,17z --- Superchart · https://superchart.com/en/@lunch-without-hurry/yeoksam-unagi-hitsumabushi-nephew/ · https://superchart.com/llms.txt