Takeya

Takeya is a famous restaurant of eel speciality in Karatsu. The building of the restaurant itself is worth taking a picture. Eel is also nice. You can order Unadon, broiled eel on the top of rice, from 4 pieces, and with or without soup, starting about $20. Unlike its appearance, it is not salty at ...all. Since this restaurant is closed at 6.30PM, you should go early.

Visited March 2018

There aren't many reviews of restaurants in Karatsu, so I thought I should share our experience at Takeya. This is a wonderful chance to experience Kyushu warmth and hospitality. This restaurant serves eel, but if you are not a fan of unagi-you should know that it is a wonderful, mild-flavored fish.... It is an oily fish loaded with healthful Omega 3. There are no bones to deal with. Traditionally, unagi is grilled with a sauce made of soy, sake, and a few other ingredients. Takeya is located in the downtown area. It is a convenient walk from the station. The restaurant is located in a beautiful, old Taisho-era house. It is worth going to just to experience the atmosphere. We were intrigued to see that it was retro-fitted for electricity with knob and tube wiring--people in Kyoto take classes to add this bit of authenticity to remodeled townhouses. The set dinners vary between 2,620 yen and 4,470 yen. We orded the cheapest "teishoku" or set dinner. They do not speak English in this restaurant, but don't worry about feeling awkward. They are delightful hosts. Just point to the set dinner at the top of the menu that fits your budget. In addition to the set dinners, they have donburi-eel over rice. Our teishoku (the cheapest) included a pickled cabbage with shiso starter, a little local tofu, tasty, local rice (and plenty of it!), and a plate of seven or eight pieces of grilled eel. We also had an excellent clear soup with two intriguing pieces of eel liver and a spring of kinome (a fragrant leaf). I have eaten a lot of Japanese food, but never the eel liver. They looked very pretty-like an exotic mushroom. The flavor was mild and the texture was not mushy. We had draft beer with our dinner. They have tatami mat rooms upstairs, but we opted for the tables downstairs. I would highly recommend this restaurant. The food is delicious, the service is excellent, and the atmosphere is charming.

Visited May 2015