I had lunch at Atsuta Horaiken Honten (あつた蓬莱軒) before going to the live event. Though they have a branch close to Atsuta Jingu, I went to the head shop because it’s close to my hotel. I slept in the room while waiting. Atsuta Horaiken was born in Meiji period and they are long-established eel restaurant. “Hitsumabushi” was born in the restaurant.
The head shop don’t accept reservation in advance. There’s a staff in front of the restaurant . So, when we get to there, we need to tell them our name and the number of people, and they say “come back here at hh:mm. When I got to there around 11:30 a.m., the staff said to me “come back at 1:30 p.m.”. Yes. I had to wait for one hour and 30 minutes. So, I went back to my hotel and slept :p
This is the entrance.
They were born in 1876. Though their house was rebuilt, the house have historical atmosphere. The garden is awesome. They have 160 seats or so.
I was brought to the upstairs. Orthodox tatami room. Because I was there alone, they brought me to the back of the room. I felt relax.
Menu. They have English and Chinese menu, too. Speaking of Atsuta Horaiken, hitsumabushi is very popular, but they have unadon and tempura, too.
Drinks. And another they have some foods suitable for alcoholic drinks.
Though I intended to eat grilled liver of eel, they have some dishes having eel’s liver. So, I ordered kimowasa. This was the first time to see the word “kimowasa”. So, I was interested in the dish. They boil eel’s liver and serve it with wasabi. I ate it with wasabi and soy sauce like sashimi. It didn’t have any bitterness. And it had springy texture. And it had refreshing tastes. Though I drunk beer only this time, I was sure that it go with Japanese sake !
And another, they have kimoponzu (liver with ponzu), and liver karaage. I want to try next time !
Of course, the main dish is hitsumabushi ! Hitsumabushi in the ohitsu, condiments (laver, wasabi, green onion), soup stock, soup, pickles. Wow. Great view.
At first, I dished up simply.
Because the sauce soaked into the rice, it’s enough delicious without eel. Eel was steamed in the ohitsu. So, it was soft. Delicious. Awesome. Truthfully speaking, I thought eel can be eaten in Tokyo and I didn’t want to eat eel at Nagoya. But Horaiken’s hitsumabushi is splendid all the same.
By the way, they show how to eat hitsumabushi (I think they have it in English and Chinese words, too). So, don’t worry about the way of eating. In the first place, hitsumabushi have rice and eel. We can enjoy what we want 🙂
But second, I put some condiments on it and ate as they teach. I felt it added refreshing tastes.
On third, I put soup stock and ate like ochazuke. Yes. I think the ochazuke is the great way of eating hitsumabushi ! Soup stock for ochazuke must be delicious. Horaiken’s soup stock is perfect ! I drunk up left-over soup stock !
I ate five bowls after all. So, fourth was it with condiments, and the last was ochazuke. I ordered to change normal soup to kimosui with additional fee. I ate much eel’s liver !
About
Name Atsuta Horaiken Honten (あつた蓬莱軒 本店)
Open Lunch, Dinner
Reservation Available for kaiseki course only
Credit card Available
URL Website
Google Map
