Yeoksam eel restaurant with private blind seating for three: Unagiwa

This time I had a get-together with friends, so we went to Unagiwa near Yeoksam Station! I wanted somewhere clean and polished to eat, and both the atmosphere and the food were pretty satisfying.☺️ Let me introduce it!

Where is Unagiwa, and what are its hours and parking?

Unagiwa is on the 2nd floor of 71 Bongeunsa-ro 30-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, near Yeoksam Station. It's open Mon–Fri 11:00–21:00, with a break time from 15:00–17:00 and last order at 20:00. It's closed every Saturday and Sunday.

• 📍Location: 71 Bongeunsa-ro 30-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea (2nd floor)
• 🕖Hours: Mon–Fri 11:00–21:00 / Break time 15:00–17:00 / Last order 20:00
• Closed: Every Saturday and Sunday
• 🅿️Parking: 25 Teheran-ro 27-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul — valet available (₩5,000 for 2 hours, +₩1,000 per 30 min)

🏮 Does Unagiwa look like a high-end Japanese restaurant from outside?

This is Unagiwa seen from a distance. The days are getting shorter now, so it's dark by 7pm already!

My first impression of Unagiwa was, wow, this is a high-end Japanese restaurant! The soft lighting caught my eye right away.

Seeing the exterior, I thought it would be great for a get-together with friends, but also perfectly fine for an important appointment! The exterior was that polished.

🌿 Inside Unagiwa: clean tables and blinds for privacy

The inside of Unagiwa was white and wood-toned throughout, neat and clean overall.

I didn't realize it at first, but when someone sat down at the neighboring table, staff lowered a blind behind us! It naturally separated us from the next table, making the meal much more comfortable.

From the corridor to the lobby to the restroom, everything was kept spotless, so it looked well suited for hosting outside guests or an important occasion like a business meeting.

Since I'd made a reservation, by the time I arrived, a wet towel, an adorable water cup, and water were already set out.

The water was also toasty barley tea rather than plain bottled water. It felt like even these small details had been thought through, so I felt well looked after even before the meal started.🤍

🍱 Which hitsumabushi size to choose at Unagiwa

We ordered at Unagiwa using the tablet placed at each table. Since we'd come to a famous eel rice bowl restaurant, we ordered three Sang (regular) hitsumabushi sets!

The Sang-size hitsumabushi comes topped with a whole eel, so the portion is quite generous! There are Mini and Teuk sizes too for those who eat less or more, so you can pick according to your appetite. There was also unadon on the menu, but I wanted to finish with ochazuke too, so I went with hitsumabushi haha.

What comes with the hitsumabushi Sang set

Wow... look at how the food looks — there are wow-points everywhere! Starting with a salad to prevent that fishy taste, so thoughtful! The fluffy steamed egg custard caught my eye too, along with the side dishes that came with the hitsumabushi.

Even as someone eating eel rice bowl for the first time, I really enjoyed Unagiwa's hitsumabushi! They said they use soft 3.5–4-chi eel and add a Nagoya-style tare sauce. Maybe that's why the eel had such a unique texture! If I'm exaggerating a bit, it had that chewy quality of well-ripened gwamegi (dried herring). The prep was so clean that not a single small bone got in the way, which I liked even more. A friend who'd just come back from Sapporo said Unagiwa's eel rice bowl was better than the one she had in Japan haha.

🔥 Four ways to eat Unagiwa's chewy grilled eel

Unagiwa's hitsumabushi lets you divide the rice into four portions and enjoy each one differently.

First, scoop out the eel and rice as is to fully savor the seasoning on both. The eel was great, but the seasoning on the rice was exactly right too... The rice was also so well cooked that the first quarter disappeared in no time.

Second is eating it with seaweed, perilla leaves, and wasabi. I already thought the first way was pretty delicious, but when the crisp pop of the scallions, fragrant perilla leaf, savory seaweed, and sweet chewy eel came together, it was a whole different delicacy!! Third, you add a special plum sauce, which brings spicy, tangy notes that refresh your palate so you don't get tired of it, all the way through.

And finally, the ochazuke I'd been waiting for! Pouring green tea over it brought out the umami, and it paired surprisingly well with the eel's flavor. I was pretty full already, but there was no way I was skipping the ochazuke haha. Personally, the seaweed + perilla + wasabi combo and the ochazuke were my favorites.🤍

🍵 Matcha pudding and Japanese sikhye to finish

Unagiwa is also running a Naver review event giving out matcha pudding! It's a great chance to try the matcha pudding I'd been so curious about!

We were given both matcha pudding and Japanese-style sikhye (sweet rice drink) together.

The matcha pudding wasn't just a sweet, soft pudding — it had a rich, upscale matcha flavor like a well-whisked matcha, which I loved. The sikhye that came with it was unique too. Unlike the sikhye I usually have, it had a slightly tangy, savory taste that felt refreshingly different.

🍽️ Is Unagiwa worth returning to for an important day?

From the eel rice bowl to dessert, everything at Unagiwa was polished, making it a great place to treat someone important.☺️ Whether it's a Yeoksam get-together, an important appointment, a date, or a meal with your parents, it's somewhere you can walk into feeling good!☺️

Who should eat at Unagiwa?

• 🤍Anyone looking for a clean meeting spot near Yeoksam Station
• 🤍Anyone who wants to try a proper hitsumabushi
• 🤍Anyone looking for a restaurant for an important gathering
• 🤍Anyone who wants a date in a quiet, polished atmosphere