This is Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa chain restaurant at Kanazawa cross gate branch.
After seeing that restaurant when I was walking through Naritasan park, I knew I couldn’t pass up the chance to eat unagi during my stay here in Japan. Thankfully, I saw that Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa had a Kanazawa Cross Gate branch.
Unagi Yyondaime Kikukawa Restaurant: Serving Fresh and High Quality Eels Daily
I managed to find the location (after walking for 2 minutes from Kanazawa station’s west exit) and was greeted with this. I’m not gonna lie, the picture of the unagi had me starving. One thing I did notice though is that the place had more of a ‘commercial’ atmosphere to it as opposed to the rustic/quaint exterior of that restaurant I saw at Naritasan Park. With that said, I think this is understandable considering Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa is a restaurant chain after all.
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Prior to going here I read online that a lot of unagi restaurants require most of their patrons to reserve in advance. This was the case with this branch of Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa. As for business hours, the restaurant is open from 11:00AM to 3:00PM and 5:00PM to 10:00PM daily.
Here are some posters advertising what looks to be an eel ehomaki and some takeout meal options. The ehomaki in particular stood out because I didn’t see it on the restaurant’s website.
I know I said earlier that the restaurant exuded a ‘commercial’ atmosphere but in all honesty, it probably won’t bother you one bit. I loved that it was clean and organized when I stepped inside. Moreover, I appreciated that you could somewhat see into the kitchen without having all the smoke from the grill sticking to your clothes thanks to the glass.
If you’re a newbie at eating unagi (specifically Hitsumabushi) then the restaurant has these reminders/instructions for enjoying this delicious delicacy. It seems like the translations were made by Google Translate but thankfully it’s still easy to understand thanks to the drawings.
In case you’re wondering, I had my first “Hitsumabushi” experience at the Okafuji Unagi restaurant in Nagoya.
So I ended up getting two orders and the first of these was the Kikukawa Hitsumabushi set. At JPY4200, it featured grilled eel, already sliced and generously topped over rice. Accompanying the star of the show were some condiments, pickled veggies, and some kind of clear soup.
Priced at JPY5780, the Ippon Hitsumabushi set is the restaurant’s most expensive meal. And looking at my order, I kind of understand why that is. It’s actually very similar to the Kikukawa Hitsumabushi set but instead of just choice cuts, you get the whole eel. While the included condiments are more or less the same, you do get eel liver in your soup with this set.
As I had a hankering for some sashimi, I also decided to get the Sashimi set. It featured sashimi of 5 different kinds of fish/seafood at just JPY2750. My personal favorite here was the shrimp and scallops. The tuna was also great but I wanted more and there was just so little of it. Sad but understandable considering the specialty of the restaurant is unagi/kabayaki.
Menu of Unagi Yyondaime Kikukawa
One thing that I can appreciate about Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa is the simplicity of their menu. Nothing fancy here, just the name of the restaurant on the cover.
Opening the menu and we see this on the first page. So apparently the restaurant has been around since the 1930s and the fact that it’s managed by an eel wholesaler makes a lot of sense now. Japanese eels are some of the rarest fish in Japan and with their populations decreasing, it’s increasingly hard for regular restaurants to get them.
Thanks to being managed by a wholesaler, the restaurant is able to get the best and freshest eels every time. What’s surprising to me though is when they say the eels are only prepared and cut after they’re ordered by the customer. I’d always thought they prepped the eels before service but it seems I was wrong. Knowing this, I kind of get why unagi is pricier than your typical fish.
Continued from the previous page. I can attest to the tare really bringing out the flavor of the eel. I’m still amazed at how such a simple dish consisting mainly of eel and rice can be so delicious.
Whoever took this picture deserves a raise (if they haven’t been given one/compensated already). I’m not entirely sure but I think the same image was used on the poster outside of the restaurant.
As you can see there’s not much variety with the meals. Pretty much every meal is similar with the only differences being in the plates used (Kabayaki Ippon Jyu and Ippon Hitsumabushi use special plates) or the absence of sauce (Shirayaki Ippon Unagi).
Arguably the restaurant’s best value offering, the Kikukawa Hitsumabushi set only slightly differs from the ippon set because it doesn’t use whole eel and you don’t get eel liver on your soup. Other than these though, it’s still tasty. Word of advice, make sure to read the ‘How to Enjoy Hitsumabushi’ section!
I seriously contemplated getting the Kikukawa Unagi instead of the Kikukawa Hitsumabushi set but eventually decided otherwise. Three slices just seemed too little for me. If the budget was tight though, I’d seriously consider getting the Eel Rice Bowl for JPY3300.
I’d pretty much stay away from the single orders page especially unless I want something that isn’t included in the unagi set meals. In my case, I went with a single order of the sashimi set here since like I said earlier, I just had a hankering for sashimi for some reason.
Now if you really want the complete Unagi Yondaime Kikukawa dining experience then you might want to look into the restaurant’s Banquet dishes. Take note though that these can go as high as JPY13500 and some of the meals/contents might not be available if they’re not in season.
The drinks selection is pretty much the same with what I’ve been seeing in other restaurants. There’s both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options at what I think are very reasonable restaurant prices.
And since we are in a Japanese restaurant, of course there’s sake! A glass ranges from JPY1250 to as much as JPY2200. If you do decide to cap your meals with sake, I’d recommend just getting the 3 Sake Trial Set since it’ll only set you back JPY1400.
Here are the meals available for takeout. Take note though that you’re probably going to wait a while as takeout meals (like dine-in meals) are prepped and grilled only once they’re ordered. That said, you can always pre-book your takeout orders via phone if you know Japanese or know somebody who does.
