In shortCharcoal-grilled "ao" eel — una-ju, shirayaki and fresh liver — at the gateway to Hakone. 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
Around ¥8,000–10,000 per person for una-ju with sides; the turtle-and-eel omakase ¥19,800
Hours
10:00–16:00 (last order); takeout until 17:00
Closed
Thursdays and Fridays; summer closure 28 September–2 October 2026
Seats
69 — tables, tatami rooms, a counter and private rooms for 2 to 20
Payment
Credit cards accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners); no e-money or QR
Getting there
Hakone Tozan Railway Kazamatsuri, 7–10 minutes on foot; by car, just past the Hakoneguchi interchange
Tomoei sits on Route 1 at Kazamatsuri, the last stop before the road
climbs into Hakone, and more than 140,000 Tabelog users have saved
it. The
family opened its first shop in Shimoda in 1978, moved to Odawara in
1996 and rebuilt the house in 2014, drilling two wells to reach the
groundwater the previous owner believed made the difference. The
house explains, on its own site, why there is only one Tomoei: a
sauce that never leaves the building and a supply of top‑grade eel
too small to share, so no branches, no sister shops, no licensing —
which is why guests must come to the foot of Hakone and wait. Tabelog
gave it Award Silver in 2026 and a place in the Unagi Hyakumeiten
in 2024 and 2026; the Michelin Guide’s Yokohama‑Kawasaki‑Shonan
special edition of 2015 gave it one star.
What you eat
The eel is “ao” unagi, the grade the trade prizes most, brought in
daily from producing‑region wholesalers and dipped four times in the
sauce without turning cloying — the house adjusts for each day’s fat.
Order una‑ju or the shirayaki set with wasabi, and add what
regulars come for: freshly cut liver, grilled in sauce or with
wasabi, which sells out and goes to a waiting list. The side menu is
unusually good for an eel house — peanut tofu, house‑cured eel
“shiokara,” sweetfish uruka, hana‑mozuku from Ishikawa, house‑made
karasumi new and aged, four preparations of wild yam — and expect
to spend ¥8,000–10,000 a head. On limited days the house also serves
a ¥19,800 omakase built on eel and soft‑shell turtle, for
parties of four to six at 10:00, 12:00 or 14:00, sold only through
OMAKASE.
The booking reality
Tomoei does not take table reservations, and this is the part that
confuses first‑time visitors. What you reserve is the eel: from
two months ahead until the day before, you phone in Japanese and put
your name against a number of una‑ju, shirayaki or liver portions.
That guarantees the fish will still exist when you arrive — on busy
days the house sells out. On the day, the whole party must be
present to register; you are then called in arrival order, and
the wait runs from 40 minutes on a weekday afternoon to an hour and
a half on a weekend late morning. The staff ring your mobile when
the table is ready. Book the liver when you book the eel; it wait‑lists early.
The turtle‑and‑eel omakase is the one exception: a timed seat, sold
on OMAKASE, on limited days. Everything else is cash‑register
simple — cards accepted, children welcome, casual dress, 32 parking
spaces plus an overflow lot, private rooms at a 10% service charge.
Our desk phones in Japanese to reserve the eel and the liver, gives
the house a reachable number for the callback, and tells you when to
arrive.
Travelers heading to Hakone by car or the Tozan railway who want
the region’s definitive lunch on the way up; eel devotees who want to
compare ao unagi against the Tokyo standard; and families, who will
find a house that seats 69, welcomes children and has somewhere to
park.
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.
Unagitei Tomoei: common questions
Can you book Unagitei Tomoei from abroad?
Yes, through our Tokyo desk. Phone in Japanese up to two months ahead to reserve the eel itself; seating is in arrival order with the whole party present. 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.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
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