Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa

It’s astonishing how some restaurants can turn something as unappealing as a writhing freshwater eel into golden brown morsels glazed with sauce so that they practically glisten. At this Tokyo outpost of a Nagoya speciality restaurant, grilled unagi is served any way you like in a polished setting that’s casual enough to duck into for a seat at the counter with no reservations. Through a window to the kitchen, you can watch as fresh unagi is prepped and grilled over bincho charcoal until the flesh is crisp and golden brown on the outside while staying fluffy and fragrant on the inside.

An ever-popular choice is the hitsumabushi set – a regional dish from Nagoya where grilled unagi over rice is served with a small pot of dashi to add to the wooden bento box halfway through the meal. If you’re looking to splash out, go for the kaiseki set where the whole eel is served in a series of preparation styles: as sashimi, baked in a Japanese omelette, skewered and grilled over charcoal, and shiroyaki (grilled without glaze).