Kawatoyo Honten

Was the most famous Unagi restaurant in Narita. You can witness the chef prepare the life eel to be cooked.

Very tasty, tender and fresh eels! They kill it from live ! The the area is not dirty, it still remains Japanese tidy and neat in the restaurant! The only good and bad things are too close to Narita airport, so you can only visit when you are going to airport or leaving from it!

very delicious Eel bowl my girlfriend very happy with it. staff can speak english

The famous aphrodisiac unagi is a must-try dish in Japan and Narita is famous for their unagi. Kawatoyo is the oldest unagi restaurant in Narita and very popular. Customers have to get a number at the entrance and queue for about 20 minutes. Inside, there is another queue for the tables on the second floor. The stairs to 2nd floor are very steep, so elderly people will want a table on the ground floor. The dish is called Unaju and consists of grilled eel over rice. It varies from small (¥2700) to large (¥5100). It’s fresh, tender and very mild taste. There are other dishes worth trying, like the shirayaki - grilled eel with salt only, also delicious.

Place and atmosphere is good but food wise, they are not living up to the hype. Food is really average, probably other reviewers are too generous in their review.

Fresh unagi don. If you travel to naritasan temple, let’s try!

Choose from Una-juu, Jou-una-juu and I guess Tokudai-una-juu.Even the most basic set will set you back by 2700 Yen but getting to have some authentic Unagi is just something.Pay first. This is a pretty old shop.

Famous but food so so.

Pricey but very very flavourful. The medium box cost ¥3300 (or so). A lovely treat. Go early!! Very busy shop but service is efficient and fast.

Good Eel meal but majority of the restaurants here serve eel.

Best unagi place!

Best Unagi Resto in Narita ~ long lines but the eel was extra delicious! Plus you can watch the preparation and the grilling while waiting ~

Nice place and delicious unagi

Lives up to the hype. One of most delicious things I have ever eaten. Be careful of the stairs if you sit on the second floor.

This eel restaurant stood out amongst the many along the main street, as it was full and had a lot of local Japanese customers. The fresh eels are cleansed and dressed right in front of the restaurant, and grilled on the opposite side. The unagi was delicious and flavorful. Price ranged from ¥2700 to ¥5000 depending on quantity (quality of the eel is exactly the same ). No credit cards, cash only.

Wait on short line at 10am for this little unassuming place then prep as y and be seated to enjoy an amazing delicacy!!I got the fried eel bones, soup of eel liver and of course the eel itself (no rice watching my carbs ;)) great meal fast service great memories!!

Apparently the number one unagi place. Saw a poor, tense apprentice get evaluated on his "putting flat sheets of unagi on skewers the hard way" technique (how they grill them). Great meal.

Unagi is so soft and tastes amazing!

Old Japanese restaurant with delicious roast eel rice. You can watch the chefs preparing and roasting the eels in front of you!

Not sure why have such high reviews, it was delicious but not wow . They have few fresh BBQ cooking station right next the restaurant bbq the eels , maximum 20 minutes waited as it fresh cook. The sauce was delicious but small eels & pricey with heaps of rice . Cash only .

What an experience! The eel dishes are so fresh and yummy!

Unagi rice set, start at mini (Unagi size 2/3), medium(1 Unagi), large size (1.5 Unagi)

Great food. Must try!!

Love unagi from this place.You pay before you have a seat so after you eat, don't need to wait for cashier to pay.Soup does not come with Unajuu so you need to pay extra but I loved it a lot!!

Very delicious unagi. I think this is the most crowded shop along the street to the temple. And you get to see the people preparing the fish infront of the stall. Very delicious. No fuss pricing. Not cheap, but no tricks. Pick from the menu, pay for them and get a seat. Servings turns out to be very good. We ordered the biggest they offered anyway and we finished everything. Eat upstairs. And dont forget the beer to go along with it. This shop has been there forever. I went in early 2000 also. Was good and still good.

An excellent service such as the food

It has over 110 years of history and they Grill your eal only after you place your order, so although it takes some time to arrive your food, you know it's fresh. The quality is amazing, but I gave -1 star because the cashier only accepts cash, and during the peak time (which it was my case) you have to take the number and wait for your turn, and at the table you'll be sharing it with many others, leaving a small space for yourself. You can call it as an "authentic japanese tradition experience" but it's not comfortable having a restricted space to eat. I'd come back on a non-peak day and time.

Freshly slaughtered eels grilled over a bed of charcoal with their special sauce. You smell it before you see it.The shopfront is busy with staff prepping and grilling eels.The menu is simple, featuring their hero ingredient, all parts of it. Nothing is wasted. Bones are fried, livers stewed. And all so delicious.Servings are very generous and pricing is reasonable. This place is frequented by locals, but you'll also find hungry tourists here too, lured by the history of the establishment.The grilled eel is beautifully coloured with a rich and luxurious texture. The meat is delicate and slightly oily. This is balanced by their pickles and goes down well with perfectly cooked rice.Well worth the trek from the station!2 thumbs up.

Place ia famous for Unagi...!

Superb eel meal and excellent service!

Freshly grilled eel rice there is delicious. Seeing the staff preparing and grilling eels proficiently in front of the restaurant can be a special experience for some people. There is always a long queue especially during weekend or holidays, so be prepared to wait for some time and better come early.

I ate here once, I'm going to remember it for the rest of my life. Nothing short of AMAZING!!!!!

well done Unagi. Its become the standard for comparison

The eel was so soft.

Very good eel rice bowl though a bit pricey

Great experience. The food was delicious. In the entrance you can see the cooks preparing the eel from scratch. And the inside of the restaurant is so old style, very cool experience. Try to get their as soon as they open, as the place get crowded very very fast.

Popular place for great flame grilled unagi. Unagi was not burnt, grilled perfectly ina generous portion

For Unagi (eel) lovers and those wanting to experience a touch of old Japan (pre war).The building was built in 1917. They did their best to keep the atmosphere of the time. Lots of Japanese tourists and locals. Sitting will be uncomfortable for western customers as it is old style (sitting cross legs) on a cushion on what looked like a coffee table. Unagi on bed of rice is out of this world.

Very popular during lunch time but the management of queuing is quite ok, I didn’t need to wait too long to get a table.Taste is just ok. It seems that the difference between price is portion. The bigger, the more expensive. To be honest, you probably can find better (but maybe more pricy) place to enjoy eel in Japan. It doesn’t have to be at Narita.

We had a wonderful lunch time here.

BEST Japanese I've ever had! And I've had a lot...but the food here is so clearly on a different level. Come here ASAP and do NOT skip this hidden gem! Wonderful vibe with supremely warm staff--not just polite but genuine! You can tell they care about their service and customers.

Traditional River Reel restaurant. You can choose 3 different price but differences are just amount of Griled eel. I ordered regular size but good enough. It was 2500yen ($22 almost)

Taste good. Ingredients fresh.

This is probably the best unagi restaurant I have ever been. The unagi was very fresh as it was killed just before it was cooked. You can see how it is killed in front of the restaurant. They have several different serving sizes here. You can also put some seasoning to the unagi, but it will make your tongue numb if you put too much.

Wonderful unagi rice. Pricey.The bad thing is the seating upstairs. You have to knee down to eat or sit on your legs...anyway, make your legs numb. Also, you have to take your shoes off and place it in a plastic bag. Then, carry it with you upstairs.

Wow. I absolutely enjoyed every single bite of the grilled eel. Every mouth was like a mouthful of flavour exploding in your mouth, a mix of the sauce, the charred taste, and the tender texture of the eel. I ordered the soup too but honestly that was a bit too much for me to stomach, as the flavours were getting too rich for me. I'd have done fine without the soup. It was good still, nonetheless. Seeing the guys go on the spot with the eels really give you a sense of amazement.

Excellent Unagi grill. The front has 3 Chefs dressing the eel. Very busy with line but worth the wait. Grilled eel over rice my favorite. Carp sashimi also excellent.

Very good smoked eel without bones

Wife loves unagi, very nice small cosy restaurant

Decided to had this famous BBQ eel for lunch before flying back home. We reached there about 12 noon and we saw a queue been lining up at the entrance, however, we got our seat within 10min wait. Food is nice and staffs are friendly. Ordering is fast as they have English menu with picture for guidance. Overall experience is great.One thing to note is that to check ur bill for payment if any food that you wish to order has been sold out. It happen to us where we wish to order the egg-wrapped eel that has been sold out but the staff has keyed in the dish and worst still, we didn’t checked the bill and pay for it. Lesson learned.