This post was written in 2008. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
When I asked around about what to eat in Nagoya, everyone said the same thing: you really should try hitsumabushi. Well, going by the guidebooks it looked like a pretty ordinary eel rice bowl, and at 2,500 yen I wasn’t exactly keen, but since everyone recommended it I gave it a go.
Atsuta Horaiken’s main shop is at a place called Atsuta Jingu. It’s the kind of place with a seriously long queue, so I got there early, parked in the free car park, put my name on the waiting list at the shop, and wandered around Atsuta Jingu in the meantime. Well… it’s just an ordinary shrine.
After about 20 minutes of wandering I came back and a seat had opened up. Normally the wait here is much longer, but since I was on my own a counter seat came up right away.
These are the toppings you put on the eel. They’re called yakumi.
Green onion, wasabi and nori.
Tsukemono (pickles)
The basic setup
The main event: hitsumabushi
It somehow has real presence.
Here’s what it looks like with the lid off.
Taking the rice paddle out
Suimono
The clear soup.
Apparently there are three ways to eat hitsumabushi.
1. Eat it as is.
2. Eat it with the yakumi on top.
3. Eat it as ochazuke.
I just went with ochazuke, my favourite.
Made into ochazuke
For the price, the taste is ordinary. Something like 1,500 yen would feel about right. I really wonder why the queue is so long, but if it weren’t this expensive the queue would be even longer, so the 2,500 yen price isn’t all bad. The service is very good and the food isn’t bad, so I don’t feel ripped off, but if I ever go to Nagoya again I don’t think I’d have any reason to come back here.