Atsuta Horaiken Main Restaurant

I came to Nagoya for Ghibli Park, but unfortunately I couldn't buy the tickets even though I bought them a long time in advance, so I rewarded myself with a good meal to comfort my wounded heart! The receptionist was so handsome, like the male lead in a Japanese drama! I was not impressed when the set meal was served, but when I took the first bite, my taste buds started dancing. The idea of ​​eating three times is very Japanese, and the tea rice at the end is really friendly to the stomach. I like it and give it a thumbs up!

I went to have dinner, the taste was amazing! The service was very good, you had to take off your shoes when entering, there was a dry landscape in the store, a very beautiful environment. I ordered the eel rice set, the eel bones served first were delicious, then the eel rice served four ways, both brewing tea and adding ingredients were done in steps, and finally you could choose your favorite way to eat it. It was tasty as a whole, highly recommended!

"Horai-ken" is a century-old restaurant in Nagoya. It is located in the city center, in a Japanese-style building with traditional Japanese characteristics. It is famous for its delicious eel rice. Because the business is so good, a strict reservation system is implemented. The time is accurate to the minute. Even the number of people cannot be increased or decreased. If one person is less, the rest of the people will not be allowed in. If one person is more, one person must be subtracted before entering to eat. There is a reason why the business is so good. First of all, the restaurant environment is good, and the courtyard is lush and well-arranged. Secondly, the service is standardized, friendly and thoughtful. The most important thing is that the eel rice is really delicious. The eel meat is fresh and delicate, the eel bones are soft, and the sauce is rich. The sauce with the fragrance of eel penetrates into the pearl-like rice, and the fragrance of the rice itself is really enjoyable! The set meal is also thoughtfully accompanied by exquisite pickles, miso soup, and other seasonings and sauces. The century-old restaurant is well-deserved.

I ate this during the May Day holiday between the transition from Japan to the Heisei era. There were so many people that those who went there at noon were told that they would have to wait four hours, so lunch turned into dinner. There are three ways to eat eel rice. The first is to eat it in its original flavor, the second is to add shredded seaweed, chopped green onions and mustard, and the third is to add the juice from the second flavor and make it tea rice. The eel is grilled after being cooked, and the charcoal used is called bincho charcoal. The eel has crispy skin, tender meat and a fragrant taste. The largest portion is 5500 yen, and the regular portion is 3900 yen. If you order too much, you won't be able to finish the 5500 yen portion.

Almost all Japanese who know about the three ways to eat eel rice know the origin of the restaurant, "Horaiken". All three restaurants, including the branch, have a high rating of 3.7 points on the famous Japanese restaurant review website, and are well-deserved of the legendary restaurant. It is always packed during meal time, and the queue is very long, so I suggest you go during non-meal time. Generally speaking, you can get a seat without queuing if you arrive around 3:30 in the afternoon!

When you come to Nagoya, you must try the eel rice - Horaiken. 📍Detailed address: Penglaixuan has many branches, and we chose the one on the upper floor of Dasongbanwu in the center of the most famous commercial street. If you take the subway, the most convenient way is to get off at Yabacho station and walk for 2 minutes to reach Matsuzakaya. In fact, when we arrived at Penglaixuan it was already past lunch time, but there was still a long queue. I asked the salesperson and he said it would take about 1.5 hours to wait. What should I do? Do you want to wait? It was raining so hard outside and I didn't bring an umbrella. Besides, since I was already here, it would be a shame not to take the Shinkansen, which is so expensive to come to Nagoya. So, let's line up. We let my brother line up alone. There was a hall at the entrance which was a waiting area for people in line. We sat down one by one. My mom and I went downstairs to go shopping, and we actually had to wait for 1.5 hours before we were seated to eat. I also bought a skirt during this shopping trip. Look at the queue. First, register your number, decide how many people will be dining, and then start queuing. And it's not just foreigners, many Japanese people also line up here to eat eel rice. 📌Tips: There are Chinese, English, and Japanese menus here, which clearly indicate how to eat eel in three ways. Most people ordered the three-course meal, and the dishes were served quickly and in order. 💰Average consumption per person: Normal is 3600 yen/person, large portion is 5500 yen/person. My brother ordered a large portion, while mommy and I ordered normal. There are also some chicken rice set meals, sashimi set meals, tempura set meals, etc. on the menu, but they are not within our consideration, because 3,600 yen converted into RMB is more than 200 yuan per person for a serving of eel rice, which is not cheap. In fact, one serving of eel rice per person can be finished quickly. The hall is spacious, with plenty of space between seats, so conversations can be private. 💗Recommendation reason: Three ways to eat include: One way to eat, original flavor. Second serving, add condiments. The third way to eat is rice soaked in tea. I like the second way of eating it the most, which is a mixture of mustard + seaweed + green onion, and it is not easy to get sick of it. The eel was indeed very tasty, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, melts in your mouth, and has a smoky charcoal-grilled aroma. The portion was also quite large, and the rice underneath was plump and crystal clear, plus mustard + seaweed + green onions = the second way of eating, which I think is the most delicious. In addition, the salesperson will bring you hot towels before your meal and will continue to pour you tea to relieve your greasiness. I don’t understand what those two oval things are in the bowl of soup, but it doesn’t taste good. The soup is rather light, perhaps because the eel rice itself is quite rich, so the soup is rather light. This is the last kind of meal I tried, rice soaked in soup. Personally, I think it’s just average. I still prefer the second kind with the aroma of chopped green onions.