Tabelog ratingFounded in 1856, Unagi Sakuraya (うなぎ 桜家) is Mishima's oldest eel house, in an old wooden building beside the clear Genbei River. Live eels are kept for several days in Mt Fuji spring water to purge any muddy taste. They are then grilled over charcoal, steamed and glazed in the Kanto style. The result is exceptionally soft eel under a light, barely sweet sauce. Tabelog has named it to its Unagi Tabelog 100 list in 2018, 2019, 2024 and 2026.
Reviewers almost unanimously describe the eel as fluffy and melting, with no fishy or muddy notes. The restrained sauce is the house signature, and many top it up with the table sauce and green sansho pepper. Several call the shirayaki (unsauced grilled eel eaten with wasabi and soy) the best they have had. The umaki (eel rolled in omelette), the generous portions and the old-house atmosphere also draw praise.
Service is the consistent weak point. Around a third of reviews mention curt or rushed staff, particularly the man running the ticket queue. Others note brisk, conveyor-belt ordering, cramped shared tables upstairs and weak tea. Some find the eel too soft, the sauce too thin or the bowl ordinary for the price. Small bones turn up.
Prices rose in April 2025, so the listed ¥4,000–4,999 band is out of date. In 2025–2026, reviewers paid ¥5,500 for an unagi-ju (eel over rice in a lacquered box) with one eel. With one and a half eels it was ¥7,700, and with two eels ¥9,900. The two-tier donburi cost ¥10,120. The box and the bowl hold the same food at the same price. Expect to spend roughly ¥5,500–8,000 per person at lunch or dinner.
Most reviewers consider it fair value, even cheap, given current eel prices and the portion sizes. A vocal minority, including some locals, feel it is no better than cheaper rivals and not worth the wait.
- Getting there: 1 minute's walk from Mishima-Hirokoji Station on the Izu-Hakone Railway Sunzu Line, or 12 minutes on foot from JR Mishima Station on the Tokaido Main Line.
- Booking: lunch cannot be reserved; it is a queue. Walking in is possible, but phoning the day before or that morning to have a numbered ticket held is strongly recommended. Evening reservations are accepted. Ticket numbers are not called strictly in order.
- Queues: waits of 1 to 2.5 hours are common at weekends and on holidays. Tickets are handed out from about two hours before the 11:00 opening and can run out. Numbers are announced in an air-conditioned waiting room next door.
- Payment: cash or PayPay only. Credit cards and electronic money are not accepted.
- Seating: 100 seats, with 20 at tables and 80 on tatami upstairs. Shoes come off upstairs, and the stairs are steep with no handrail. There are no private rooms.
- Children: welcome.
- Smoking: entirely non-smoking.
- Parking: affiliated lots only (Shinkou Parking, Hirokoji Parking, Mishima Taisha, Uchida Parking).
- Take-out: available.
