In shortNine-seat unagi counter by Ito Station — one cook, unadon and salt-grilled eel, on Tabelog's Unagi 100. Reservations run in Japanese and are hard to place from abroad, so our Tokyo desk requests the table for you, by phone and in Japanese.
Price
Unadon ¥7,480, shioyaki ¥7,480 (2024 prices); budget roughly ¥6,000–8,000 per person; cash only
Hours
Lunch 12:00–14:30 (last order 13:30, seatings at 12:00 and 13:30); dinner 17:30–20:00 (last order 19:00), Saturdays to 19:00
Closed
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Seats
9 at an L-shaped counter
Payment
Cash only
Getting there
JR Ito Station, about 3 minutes on foot (Odoriko limited express from Tokyo, about 1 h 45 min)
Ichiunagi is the reason to get off the train at Ito rather than ride
straight through to the tip of the peninsula. Three minutes from JR
Ito Station, behind a plain door, an L‑shaped counter of nine seats
wraps around a single cook who does everything himself — boning,
grilling, serving — with jazz on in the background. A visiting eel
writer in 2020 found him in his ninth year at the counter; Tabelog
has listed the house on its Unagi 100 in 2024 and 2026, and a hotel
blog records the same honour in 2022. It is a small operation in a
resort town that rarely gets this kind of cooking, and it fills.
What you eat
The menu is essentially two things: unadon and shioyaki,
salt‑grilled eel without sauce, each ¥7,480 at a 2024 visit (¥6,800
the year before). The unadon arrives after pickles, a small dish of
eel jelly and a mound of local wasabi, with liver soup alongside;
diners describe the grilling as crisp outside and soft inside, in
the lighter Edo manner. Kimoyaki, grilled livers, comes with wasabi
and a raw egg. Izu wasabi is the house’s condiment of choice — the
takeaway eel bento is sold with it. The eel is boned to order, which
is why a booking matters — and diners advise saying when you book
if you want the shioyaki as well.
The booking reality
The house takes bookings by telephone only (0557‑37‑9927), in
Japanese, with no release day and no online channel. Diners’
accounts in 2026 are consistent: a month ahead lands a weekend seat,
a Friday or midweek evening has been booked two days out, and a
diner who rang the day before got in. Lunch runs in two seatings,
12:00 and 13:30; dinner is from 17:30, with last orders at 19:00 and
an earlier close on Saturdays. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are closed. A
solo diner booked a counter seat by phone for 18:30 in 2026, so one
is fine. Because the cook is also the person answering the phone, the
line can go unanswered during service; our desk calls in Japanese at
a quiet hour, fixes your seating, and tells the house if you want
both dishes. Bring cash — no cards, no e‑money — and do not expect a
long evening: this is a counter that serves and turns.
Travelers heading down the Izu peninsula who can route lunch or an
early dinner through Ito; anyone who wants proper unagi at a counter
rather than in a banquet room; and solo travelers, who are welcome
here in a way many nine‑seat houses do not manage.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
Ichiunagi: common questions
Can you book Ichiunagi from abroad?
Yes, through our Tokyo desk. Phone only, in Japanese; no fixed release day — about a month ahead for weekends, a few days for weekday seats. We call the restaurant for you, in Japanese, and the ¥6,000-per-seat fee is charged only if we confirm your table — no seat, no fee.
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Facts on this page were checked by our Tokyo desk. You are welcome to quote them with a link:
