Yeoksam eel restaurant for a father-daughter dinner: Unagiwa

Lately I've been craving hitsumabushi (grilled eel rice bowl) nonstop, so I took my eel-loving dad to Unagiwa, a new-to-me eel restaurant I discovered in Yeoksam. Nice interior, food that felt neat and refined — a genuinely comfortable place for a meal. What stood out most was that the sauce wasn't overly sweet or salty, so the eel's natural flavor really came through in the hitsumabushi.

Where Unagiwa is in Yeoksam, and its hours

Unagiwa is at 71 Bongeunsa-ro 30-gil, 2nd floor, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, tucked into an alley near Yeoksam Station. Hours are Monday–Friday 11:00–21:00 with a break from 3–5pm, closed weekends. Reservations can be made through Naver Map.

Set slightly off the main road, up a staircase in an alley, Unagiwa greets you with a wooden fence, soft lighting, and a red lantern at the entrance — an atmospheric, Japanese-style mood.

Past the entrance, a corridor leads into the restaurant, lined with a wall bearing 'Unagi' calligraphy.

The restrooms, separated for men and women, are kept clean inside the restaurant,

and there's also a waiting area, so it's comfortable to sit while your table is being set up.

Inside Unagiwa: atmosphere and seating

The main hall at Unagiwa is neatly arranged with wooden tables, and the soft lighting makes it a good spot for a quiet meal. Natural light filters in through wooden blinds, giving it a bright, cozy feel during the day.

We were seated at this table for four.

Unagiwa's menu: ordering two hitsumabushi sets

Unagiwa's menu includes hitsumabushi, unadon, fried eel rice bowl, eel rolled omelet, and other eel dishes. Since we came for dinner, we ordered two hitsumabushi sets, each with a whole eel!

The umeboshi ade at Unagiwa

The umeboshi ade you get for leaving a Naver Map review. The fizzy soda combined with the tart-sweet umeboshi (pickled plum) flavor made a perfect pre-meal drink. There's a whole umeboshi sitting inside, too, which is a fun touch! Great for perking up the appetite.

What comes with Unagiwa's whole-eel hitsumabushi set

The hitsumabushi set finally arrived. Eel glazed with sauce and grilled to a golden brown sits neatly over rice, with chawanmushi (savory egg custard) and various garnishes rounding out a generous spread.

The visual of the eel completely covering the rice! The golden, glossy sauce coating the surface was mouth-watering just to look at. Glimpses of plump flesh between the eel pieces raised my expectations from the first look.

An appetizer salad, and

springy chawanmushi

came with garnishes of dried seaweed flakes, shredded perilla leaf, chopped scallion, and wasabi, plus side dishes of pickled stem lettuce and pickled ginger. What's different from other hitsumabushi places is the tart umeboshi sauce — great for dipping the eel into whenever it feels a bit rich.

Finally, a clear broth and hot water for ochazuke (tea-poured rice). A perfect setup for enjoying the hitsumabushi in courses.

First bite: the pudding-like chawanmushi. The texture is absolutely perfect! Why can't I ever get it this good at home... so, so good.

How to eat hitsumabushi in four stages

First, a spoonful of just rice and eel, nothing added. The eel's soft texture and slightly crispy grilled surface were great, and since the sauce wasn't overly sweet or salty, the eel's true flavor really came through.

I liked that the rice underneath the eel wasn't plain — it had just the right amount of sauce drizzled on it. The seasoning was spot on.

Second, topped with dried seaweed flakes, perilla leaf, scallion, and wasabi. With the fragrant perilla, sharp wasabi, and nutty seaweed flakes added in, the flavor really opens up.

Third, pouring in hot tea to make ochazuke. As the hot broth soaks into the rice, the eel and garnishes blend together softly, making for a clean, comforting flavor.

For the last round, you can go with whichever combination you liked best — for me, eel with just scallion and wasabi was the tastiest. The sharpness of the wasabi cuts right through the eel's richness, and the scallion's aroma and crunch keep it going down cleanly. Definitely recommend this combo!

After the meal came a Japanese-style amazake (sweet rice drink) for dessert. Finely blended, smooth in texture, and subtly sweet — the perfect palate cleanser.

Is Unagiwa worth a dinner in Yeoksam?

This was my first visit, and overall it was a pleasant, clean meal. I liked that the sauce wasn't overused, letting the eel's natural flavor shine through without becoming cloying by the end. A solid choice for someone new to eel rice bowls, or for a quiet meal on your own. Recommended for anyone near Yeoksam looking for a clean, well-made Japanese restaurant.