Yeoksam eel rice bowl restaurant with steamed egg custard: Unagiwa

Unagiwa, a Gangnam eel rice bowl restaurant near Yeoksam Station

Unagiwa is a place near Yeoksam Station where you can enjoy a proper eel rice bowl. I was looking for somewhere to have lunch and ended up visiting Unagiwa.

I eat grilled eel every now and then, but it's not so easy to find a place where you can enjoy eel properly with rice.

This time I was looking forward to trying everything from the eel rice bowl to ochazuke (rice with tea poured over it) in a fresh way, so I went in with high expectations.

Where Unagiwa is and how parking works

Unagiwa was easy to find, about a 3-minute walk from Yeoksam Station.

It's located on the 2nd floor of a building, and valet parking is available if you're driving, so accessibility was decent too.

Walking inside, the little Japanese-style touches around the space caught my eye.

The overall atmosphere was clean and calm, so it felt suited for a lunch outing as well as a Gangnam date spot.

What we ordered: the 38,000-won hitsumabushi set

We ordered Unagiwa's signature menu, the hitsumabushi set for ₩38,000.

It's a Japanese-style eel rice bowl with a whole charcoal-grilled eel, and comes with ochazuke too — you get to enjoy the eel's rich charcoal aroma in two different ways.

Once the whole spread was set out, it turned out to be more filling than I expected — besides the eel rice bowl, there was salad, steamed egg custard, miso soup, and various sides.

The steamed egg custard in particular was soft and moist, a nice light bite before digging into the eel.

One whole charcoal-grilled eel, smoky from the flame

Lifting the lid, the eel was piled generously on top of the rice, and it looked appetizing right from the first glance.

First I tried the eel and rice plain, without adding anything. The eel was soft and moist with a subtle charcoal aroma. The sweet, savory sauce went well with the rice too, so it was delicious from the very first bite.

It was also fun mixing in seaweed, chives, perilla leaf, or wasabi to taste — personally, I loved putting the eel and wasabi together on a perilla leaf.

How to eat hitsumabushi at Unagiwa

With Unagiwa's hitsumabushi, you first try the eel and rice plain, then mix in seaweed, chives, perilla leaf, wasabi, and other sides to change up the flavor to your taste.

It was interesting how the same eel rice bowl could taste different depending on what you paired it with.

What I liked most was that at the end, you could pour hot green tea over it to make ochazuke. The eel's rich flavor blended with the warm green tea for a softer, cleaner finish — it was a dish you could enjoy in different ways from start to finish.

Finishing the rice with green-tea ochazuke

Another charm of hitsumabushi is being able to enjoy it as ochazuke. After eating some of the eel rice bowl, I poured hot green tea over it, and the eel's rich flavor felt much softer and cleaner.

Enjoying the deep charcoal and sauce flavors at first, then finishing with warm ochazuke, made the same eel rice bowl feel like a completely different dish. If you like eel, eating it this way seems like a lot of fun.

Is Unagiwa worth it? Final verdict

If you want a hearty lunch near Yeoksam Station or are looking for something a bit special, I'd recommend Unagiwa.

Properly enjoying a whole antibiotic-free, charcoal-grilled eel and finishing with a unique ochazuke made for a satisfying meal.

It's also a great fit for anyone in Yeoksam looking for a good-atmosphere restaurant, or anyone hunting for a Gangnam date spot.