Charcoal-Grilled Unagi Uotora

A long-established unagi restaurant founded in 1930. In Gujo Hachiman, upstream of the Nagaragawa River, the shop is known for its machiya-style exterior that feels like a castle town. The unagi, grilled over carefully selected binchotan charcoal, offers crispy skin and juicy, tender flesh. With a wide menu including unagi rice bowls and hitsumabushi, it’s also highly popular with locals.

The secret to its popularity lies in the shop’s time-honored sauce and high-quality water, both passed down since it first opened. After sourcing quality eel, they let it swim for two days in water drawn from a local Gujo well—selected as the very first site in Japan’s “100 Exquisite Waters” list. In the well’s ice-cold water, the eel avoids excessive movement, its rich fat returns, and the flavor deepens.

The finishing sauce has been replenished for over 90 years since the restaurant’s founding. Mixed with the flavorful fat that drips from the eel grilled each day, this traditional sauce gains a mellow depth that makes the eel taste even better.

All rice is locally grown. Pair freshly grilled eel with fluffy, just-cooked rice, and you’re sure to leave with a delicious memory of Gujo Hachiman—known as the “Little Kyoto of Oku-Mino.”

The same menu is available for both lunch and dinner, including rice bowls, shirayaki, and hitsumabushi. You can enjoy it at any time of day.