Kawatoyo Bekkan

Last year we went for lunch and had to wait in a queue more than one hour. But for this year, we went for our early dinner, as my Japanese friend had discovered that there should not be a long waiting queue in the evening. I ordered 2/3 unagi, instead of one whole unagi, as it was still 4:30pm. M...y friend ordered a platter of Tofu & Jako salad as she was on diet, while I was trying to gain weight! Both of us enjoyed the meal, but the position of our table was not so good, as the wait staff were busily going back and forth to serve large groups of people in the banquet rooms in the back.

Visited March 2019

Kawatoyo is an old standing restaurant specialised in eel dishes in Narita. As there is an eel farm nearby, they prepare locally raised fresh eels. My Japanese friend took me to this restaurant for our late lunch. When we arrived at around 1:30pm, there were still quite a few people in a queue. ...(The last order was at 2:30pm.) There were vacant Japanese style low tables on tatami floor, but most customers who were waiting preferred tables and chairs. After waiting for nearly half an hour, we were led to a table. My friend ordered a set of eel lunch and I ordered a one whole grilled eel served in a square dish. She also ordered Tofu and Jako Salad for entree, while waiting for the eels to be cooked. We enjoyed the food very much, except ‘kimo’ (intestine of eel) in ‘kimo-sui ‘clear soup. As Japanese people consider that small eels are more tasty than large ones, one grilled eel I ordered was cut into half and fitted in a square dish horizontally. If you order 2/3 eel or 1.5 eels, pieces of grilled eel are placed vertically in a square dish. If you order 1/2 eel, it will be served in a ceramic bowl. After the meal we went out into the courtyard. We had to be careful to walk on the uneven ground. I wondered why they didn’t level it properly. There was a fishpond, in which we could see a few large carp in a murky water. There were several banquet rooms with low tables on Tatami floor. So they must cater large groups of people. But they accepted cash only. Behind the bamboo screen was a preparation building, in which eels were kept alive till they were prepared for the guests.

Visited March 2018