Asakusa Unatetsu Ekimae Honten, Tokyo: Grilled Eel in a Lacquer Box by Asakusa Station

Asakusa Unatetsu Ekimae Honten (浅草うな鐵 浅草駅前本店) is an eel restaurant beside Asakusa Station in Tokyo, where in April 2018 I photographed unaju, grilled eel over rice in a lacquer box. The noren curtain at the door and the chopstick sleeve both carried the name 浅草うな鐵 with a circled U logo.

Grilled eel in a lacquer box

In the cover photo, a rectangular black-and-red lacquer box holds pieces of glazed eel with charred streaks laid side by side over rice. Beside it are a black bowl of clear soup with green leaves and a small brown piece, and a small dish of pickles.

In the next photo, chopsticks lift a thick piece, and its cut end shows white flesh.

Through a glass panel at the counter, a steel tray holds stacks of bamboo skewers threaded through gray-brown pieces that look like eel, with no dark glaze visible. Rolled bamboo mats lie beside the tray, and a pot sits over a blue gas flame.

The menu, then and now

The Asakusa Unatetsu menu page I photographed in April 2018 listed, before tax, unadon (eel over rice in a bowl) at ¥2,290, marked as a limited item, then 竹重 (take-ju, the bamboo box) at ¥3,100, 松重 (matsu-ju, the pine box) at ¥3,710, a double box at ¥6,420 and a mini unaju set with liver soup and pickles at ¥2,430, each with its tax-included price printed beside it. A blue badge with the character 蒸 (steamed) sits beside a line reading 柔らかく蒸したずばり江戸前蒲焼, which means softly steamed, true Edomae-style kabayaki.

The menu section of Unatetsu's Hot Pepper Gourmet listing, updated on October 20, 2026, is the only source I could read for what the shop serves now. It features shio-hitsumabushi, eel grilled with seaweed salt and eaten three ways (plain, with condiments, then with dashi broth poured over), and an Edo-style Asakusa hitsumabushi. Shirayaki, unglazed grilled eel, is listed at ¥4,100 including tax.

At the door

At the door in April 2018, a white three-panel noren curtain showed a circled U and 浅草うな鐵. A wooden sign beside it read 営業中 (open for business), and a notice said no outside food or drinks were allowed.

Before you go

• Hot Pepper Gourmet shows online booking for Asakusa Unatetsu Ekimae Honten, and a reviewer in October 2026 who booked was seated by a window and says many of the guests seemed to be from abroad.
• English, Korean and Chinese menus are available, according to the listing.
• The listing says the shop accepts major cards and QR payments such as PayPay and Alipay, but not electronic money, and that there is no parking, only coin parking nearby.
• Asakusa Unatetsu also has a Kokusai-dori branch, listed separately on Hot Pepper Gourmet, so check that the address is 1-2-11 Hanakawado when you book.

How to order