Nodaiwa Azabu Iikura Honten

The crispy pork with Sichuan peppercorns has a strong Sichuan peppercorn flavor. The crispy pork is a bit tender and goes well with rice, but it’s a bit too salty, so I didn’t eat much of it. I had dinner too early, and I’m hungry again after watching a drama…

Today’s focus is to recommend an eel rice restaurant! Nodaiwa is within walking distance of Tokyo Tower. It has a history of more than 200 years and has one Michelin star. The restaurant is small and the menu is simple, with various eel rice sets, but it is really delicious! It is a restaurant that I will eat every time I go to Tokyo!

Michelin one star restaurant. You can see Tokyo Tower across the street from here. The seats in the restaurant are a bit small, but the service is very good. We both ordered grilled eel, which tasted very good. The eel was steamed first and then grilled, which was relatively light, different from the eel rice style in Kansai, and those who like heavy flavors may not be used to it.

Everyone has the same purpose when they come to this store! When we went there, we had to queue up. Everyone must check in at this store. The country that promoted eels is Japan. If this fish is not cooked well, it will still smell fishy. This store melts in your mouth and the eel is also very thick. Although it is not cheap, it deserves extra points for its thickness.

Noda Rock is located not far from the foot of the tower. After coming out of Tokyo Tower, go straight to Noda Rock, because this is also one of the pilgrimage places on this trip. The owner of Nodaiwa, Kanemoto Kenjiro, is the god of eel, one of the three gods of Edo cuisine. Nodaiwa's main store has also been rated as a Michelin one-star restaurant. It also serves wild eels in the summer and has been recommended many times by gourmet Cai Lan. Dinner started at 17:00 and we arrived before 17:00. The weather was bad that day, so there was no need to queue. We were arranged to dine on the second floor of the restaurant. The dining time was limited to 90 minutes. We chose a chazuke and a 4,650 yen set meal, which was very cost-effective. The first thing served was the eel jelly, an appetizer of the set. It was the first time I had eel cooked in this way, and it was amazing. The eel sauce and eel meat were made into jelly, which had a great taste, and the jelly-like sauce was also very strong. Then the white-grilled eel was served. It was also the first time I had eel without sauce, and it was very fresh. The eel was cooked soft but had a bit of meat floss feeling. The waiter introduced how to eat it, and it was delicious just with salt and wasabi. The staple food was unagi, which was served with pickles and eel liver soup. The eel rice was very light. If you like Kansai-style eel rice, you may think that Nodaya's eel rice is too bland, but it is precisely in this way that you can taste the freshness of the eel without being covered by sauce. Finally, the dessert was seasonal fruit. Although the waitress in kimono didn't speak English, she taught us how to eat. She also gave us an explanation card for eating tea rice, and we could follow the instructions on it. She would replace the tea for us from time to time. The service was very good. Per person: 5,000 yen (tax and service charge included; this restaurant has a 10% service charge) Address: 1-5-4 Higashiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Business hours: Monday to Saturday 11:00-13:30, 17:00-20:00, closed on Sunday

I ate there last year. I was lucky enough to be seated after waiting for about 10 minutes. I ordered a very filling set meal. The white-grilled and soy-grilled eels were both very large, so it was no problem to eat two bowls of rice. I think the most exciting appetizer was the marinated eel fillet. Now that I think about it, I was probably stupid at the time. It was obviously no different from the local dish, the fermented eel (this is a compliment, thank you) Although I can't say how amazing this restaurant is, it's still enough for me to eat an extra bowl of rice (yes, this is also a compliment, thank you)

There are three chefs in Tokyo, known as the three gods of Edo-style cuisine. Among them, Master Kanemoto Kanejiro, known as the God of Eel, is the owner of Nodayawa. In order to taste eel cuisine, I made a reservation more than a month in advance. At that time, I was told that only the annex of the main store had vacancies, but it might not be Master Kanemoto who was in charge. I was a little disappointed, but I still confirmed the reservation. I booked at 5 o'clock and arrived at the annex early. There were two old ladies inside. After seeing the name of the reservation, I made a phone call and was taken to the main restaurant for dinner. I was so lucky. When I sat down at the main restaurant, an old lady introduced one by one in fluent Mandarin, and communication was barrier-free. Finally, I ordered the eel heavy set meal, which is a classic. The set meal includes appetizers, white grilled eel and eel rice. Since I had eaten at Horaiken in Nagoya before, I had high expectations, but I didn't expect that the taste was not disappointing at all. Whether it was white grilled or soy grilled, the taste was super good, with moderate saltiness and sweetness. The eel was very soft and glutinous after steaming, and it was no exaggeration to say that it melted in the mouth. This pilgrimage will be etched in my memory.

Noda Iwa, a well-known restaurant, is a century-old restaurant that sells eel rice in the Edomae River. It is run by the current fifth generation. It is one of the must-try restaurants. I went to the website to make a reservation, but the restaurant does not accept online reservations. I called again and found out that reservations are not limited to lonely gourmets. I was eating alone, so I came directly to the restaurant. If there was a seat, I would be seated. If there was no seat, I would have to wait. I knew that eels are in great demand during the summer, which is the best time for eel rice. I also knew that a good quality eel is not cheap. But when I came to the restaurant, of course I wanted to try other methods, so I ordered a set meal. First, there was an eel jelly, which was made from the soup made from eel bones and internal organs, frozen and condensed into jelly, and then sandwiched with eel. It had a fresh taste, a soy sauce flavor and a sweet taste, and it felt refreshing and not greasy. It was good. Then there was a white-grilled eel. I felt that the fat had been drained after steaming, but I did not taste the uniqueness of the eel selection, and the taste was also light. It felt soft and moist, and only the outer part was crispy. The only saving grace was the hot iron plate that the dish was served on, which was able to keep the fish warm. The main character was a box of unagi. I don't know if the set meal included two ways of eating one eel, and the unagi was not completely covered with the rice, which was a bit disappointing. After eating it, the taste was still bland, the fish was thin, and the oily aroma was gone. The kabayaki was not too sweet, but it did not have a barbecue aroma. The rice was also okay, with each grain in place and a chewy texture in the middle. I wanted to add some sansho, but it was too pungent. From my previous visit to Nodaiwa, I learned that the owner tried to pair eel rice with wine, so I ordered it specifically to open my eyes. But unfortunately, the pairing effect was just average, and the taste of the dish was not enhanced. Overall, it was still lower than I expected, maybe I had too high expectations!