Eel Tomisan

[I ordered a steamed dish. “Wow! It’s a whole lot bigger!”]

The menu is filled solely with eel dishes. When you order the steamed eel in a bamboo steamer, you’ll be surprised at the size of the vermilion-lacquered container that comes out: “Wow! It’s a whole lot bigger!” When you open the lid, it’s packed with eels. This restaurant is recommended for those who come to Yanagawa to enjoy eel. Founded in 1980. The owner, who trained in French cuisine, decided to open a restaurant in Yanagawa and was wondering “what kind of restaurant should I open?” when a relative of the owner showed him the way, saying “In Yanagawa, an eel restaurant is the way to go.” The building that houses the restaurant was originally a storehouse. The interior is a calm space with thick beams supporting the heavy white walls.

When I tried the steamed eel, I noticed that the eel and rice went well together. The owner explained, “We choose the rice’s production area every year through trial and error. Even with the same brand of rice, the taste changes from year to year. There is no set number of rice that goes well together. As a result, we sometimes choose rice from different production areas each year.”

The large servings are said to be a reflection of the desire to “serve a satisfying amount for our customers.” The restaurant is located off the tourist route, so there are few tourists, and most of the customers are locals who know about the restaurant. If the restaurant’s existence becomes widely known in this internet age, I’m sure it will become a hot topic, given the size of the steamed eel bowls and their dedication to finding the perfect rice to go with eel.