Gangnam eel restaurant for a lunch team meal: Unagiwa

Choosing a lunch team-meal menu is harder than you might think. When we look for something everyone can enjoy near the office, we always end up choosing similar things, but this time someone suggested we try something a little special—so we went to Unagiwa, a popular eel rice bowl spot near Yeoksam Station.

For lunch team meals, we usually have pizza, pasta, gukbap (rice soup), or meat, but that day we had an eel rice bowl meal for the first time in ages. The place we visited was Unagiwa near Yeoksam Station.

Unagiwa

It is on the second floor at 71 Bongeunsa-ro 30-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea, near Yeoksam Station. It opens from 11:00 a.m. on weekdays, so it worked well as a lunch team-meal venue. We arrived around lunchtime too, and its clean yet more upscale atmosphere felt different from an ordinary lunch restaurant—great for a group meal.

A clean eel rice bowl restaurant near Yeoksam Station

Unagiwa is an eel specialty restaurant centered on hitsumabushi, Nagoya-style grilled eel served over rice. When you think of an eel rice bowl, unadon—eel laid over rice—usually comes to mind first, but hitsumabushi is distinctive because you can enjoy it in several different ways.

I already love hitsumabushi, so I was excited that this was a place where it came as a proper full set. Since we were visiting for a lunch team meal, we wanted somewhere with a bit of atmosphere rather than somewhere overly casual, and it fit that requirement too.

The interior was clean and calm overall. The tables were not packed too closely together, so it was comfortable for several people to dine together, and it had a nice atmosphere for chatting quietly over a meal.

So I think it is worth keeping in mind if you are looking for a Yeoksam Station group-dining spot or lunch meeting venue!! It did not feel burdensome at all to visit with coworkers during lunch, like we did haha.

Unagiwa menu: we chose Hitsumabushi Sang!

Besides hitsumabushi, Unagiwa had several choices including unadon, grilled eel, eel tempura rice bowls, and umaki (eel omelet). Hitsumabushi comes in different sizes, so you can choose according to your appetite.

• Hitsumabushi Mini: ₩26,000
• Hitsumabushi Sang: ₩38,000
• Hitsumabushi Teuk: ₩52,000

That day, we all ordered the Hitsumabushi Sang. It includes one whole eel, so I wondered whether it might be a little too filling for lunch, but it was a team meal and we had not had eel in a while, so we decided to do it properly.

Our order arrived, and I loved how neatly the entire set was presented. It was not just eel and rice sitting on their own; everything from side dishes to accompaniments came together, making it look really tidy too.

Personally, a full-set meal just puts me in a better mood when the food is presented beautifully. Haha. Even though it was a lunch team meal, it definitely felt different from the lunches we usually have around the office.

It came with chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg), salad, pickled ginger, and clear soup too!

Hitsumabushi topped generously with eel

And finally, the main event! When I lifted the lid, there was a generous amount of eel over the rice. The eel had a lovely sheen and was brushed with tare sauce, making it look irresistible with the rice.

Unagiwa says it uses tender eel sized at 3.5 to 4 mi, and when I tried it, the flesh was quite thick, so I could really feel the texture of the eel in each bite.

The sauce was not aggressively sweet or salty; it was just right with the eel and rice. When I eat eel rice bowls, a sauce that is too strong can become cloying after a few bites, but this one was fine with the rice and eel together. Above all, perhaps because the Hitsumabushi Sang included a whole eel, it was satisfyingly filling as a lunch.

How to enjoy hitsumabushi

The fun of hitsumabushi is that you do not eat it just one way! First, I had the eel and rice plain to enjoy the eel itself. Then I tried it with the scallions and wasabi that came with it, and personally, this was my favorite combination.

The small hit of wasabi brought out the eel's flavor while cutting through the richness, so it tasted much cleaner. Eel can feel a little heavy at lunch, especially, but with wasabi I kept going back for more.

And the one thing you cannot leave out of hitsumabushi is ochazuke—rice and eel finished with warm broth poured over them. After eating some of the rice and eel, you pour in the broth, and it gives the same eel rice bowl a completely different feel.

With warm broth over the eel and rice, it went down much more softly and comfortably than before. You begin with it as an eel rice bowl, have it with toppings in the middle, then finish as ochazuke, so hitsumabushi's charm is getting to experience several flavors from one bowl.

My honest overall review

Unagiwa, which we visited for this lunch team meal, was a place where we could have a proper eel rice bowl in a clean, polished setting. We ordered the Hitsumabushi Sang, which included one whole eel and was plentiful; I also loved being able to enjoy it not only as an eel rice bowl but in different ways with toppings and ochazuke.

Personally, I liked the generous eel topping, the clean and well-arranged full set, the chance to enjoy one dish in several ways, and the atmosphere that suited a lunch team meal or gathering.

When you are tired of your everyday lunch choices and want a special lunch team-meal menu near Yeoksam Station, an eel rice bowl could be a good choice here. Next time, I would like to visit for dinner rather than a lunch team meal and try grilled eel or other dishes too. Haha. If you are looking for a clean place to eat near Yeoksam Station or want a different menu for a group meal, Unagiwa may be worth considering :)