Unagi Restaurant with 300-year-old History, Osaka, Japan.
Unagi is freshwater eel in Japanese. It is very popular among the Japanese especially in summer. The Japanese believes the nourishing unagi helps maintain one's stamina against the withering heat. Grilled eel is the official food of a national holiday called the Day of the Ox.
Honke Shibato, one of the few establishments that serve the best unagi in Kansai area, has 300 years of history since Edo era. Most of the patrons are local who work nearby, and with very few tourists.
Their 15th generation "eel master" serves up an excellent eel cuisine. The fish is prepared in the Osaka harabiraki-style, i.e. sliced from the front and solely grilled over super charcoal fire that reached 1,000 degrees with the house's secret sauce. The unagi is flame broiled, brush with sauce, the process is repeated until the degree of charring and crispiness is to the master's liking. This method suppose to make the fillet to be packed with flavour and crispier.
The unagi omellete as starter.
Seaweed soup with eel liver.
Unagi layered with rice.
The Osaka Mamushi set (S)
Their specialty is Unagi Don, "Osaka Mamushi" (Kansai style unagi on rice). The lunch box comes in 3 sizes of S, M and L. The eel is placed in layer of hot rice in a square lacquer box. I ordered a S size set that serves together with picker and seaweed eel liver soup. The portion is really big. For a person who does not like eel, I am a convert now! The taste is superb, sweet, savoury with a tinge smokey flavour. As the thin layer of crispy charred skin cracked under my bite, the juicy, soft and smooth fillet melts within, my mouth is coated with the full unagi oily flavour but without fishy taste! Furthermore, there is not a hint of bone or fat like the eels that I previously ate.
Ichiban! I will come back again!
Honke Shibato
Koraibashi 2-5-2, Chuo-ku, Osaka
(06) 6231-4810
11am to 2pm (lunch)
5pm to 10.30pm (dinner)
Closed Sunday, public holidays.
Reservations recommended during summer months.
Cash term only.
www.shibato.net.
