One of the top dishes I wanted to eat on this trip to Japan was Unagi. If you grew up in the era of ‘Friends’, you’d probably most associate this term with Ross and his ‘a state of total awareness’. However, as you all most likely know now, Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eel. This delicious dish is the perfect balance of sweetness and umami. The top spot on my list in Osaka was Unagi Kushiyaki Izumo. This restaurant is located inside LUCUA Osaka, the largest commercial station complex in Japan. It can be found on the B2F floor AKA the Food Hall. There are so many options, but I only had one destination in mind! This restaurant is small so there will most likely be a wait. Check out my full Unagi Kushiyaki Izumo review to see if it’s worth the wait!
Unagi Kushiyaki Izumo – Unagi Bowls and more!
The menu is small with unagi being the star. The bowls range from about $15 CAD – $60 CAD. Check out the full menu here:
On my visit we went with two items:
- 鰻玉丼 (Eel and Egg Bowl) – their signature item
- うっとり重 (Eel, grilled chicken and egg rice box)
Their signature item (鰻玉丼) features a large bowl of rice (750 g) with the option of a half portion of rice, a massive fluffy egg omelette and a large piece of grilled eel. The bowl is 2,590 yen (approx. $25 CAD). Every table in the restaurant had this bowl and for good reason. The egg is so fluffy and light and the grilled eel was just perfect. The char flavour was prominent without overwhelming the delicate flavour of the eel. The bowl was just picture perfect. If I were to get it again, I would definitely get the half order for rice because it is a massive amount of rice.
The other item we tried was the rice box that has smaller pieces of eel, chargrilled chicken and a gorgeous egg yolk. This box was 1,590 yen (approx. $15 CAD). Surprisingly, the star of the dish was the chicken! It was so tender and moist and the char on the chicken was spot on. This dish comes with soup and pickles, and for $15 it’s an absolute steal.
Worth a Try?
Unagi Kushiyaki Izumo is one of the top spots to get unagi in Osaka. If you’re looking for the best value for your money, this spot is it. One bowl could honestly feed two people with the amount of rice provided. The restaurant is small, and we queued for about 45 minutes for a table which wasn’t too bad. Because it’s in a mall, you can switch off with your friends to explore while waiting so the time goes by quite quickly. The service is really friendly and the staff try their best to explain what the dishes are. The menu is also very easy to translate using Google translate, so I definitely recommend adding Unagi Kushiyaki Izumo to you list of restaurants to check out on your next visit to Osaka.
This spot is also near HEP 5 Ferris Wheel which is a really fun Ferris Wheel that is attached to the HEP 5 shopping mall. You can get free entry to this attraction if you use the Osaka Amazing Pass.
Unagi Kushiyaki Izumo (うなぎ 串料理 いづも ルクア)
Address: Japan, 〒530-0001 Osaka, Kita Ward, Umeda, 3 Chome−1−3 B2 ルクアバルチカ (LUCUA Osaka)
Website: https://www.instagram.com/izumo_restaurant/