Restaurants

Uya Japanese Unagi Restaurant

$ $ $ $   |   Orchard

This authentic Japanese restaurant brings traditional unagi cuisine to Singapore

 

The restaurant is a collaboration between a fourth-generation unagi distributor and a Japanese restaurant group that hails from Nagoya. A traditional noren curtain greets guests at the entrance, and a pebbled path leads guests into the main dining area. The live eels are at the back-of-house in the tateba tanks, which comprise columns of black buckets with filtered water running through to echo the dark environments that the fish thrive in. Expect comforting bowls of unagi, lightly glazed in a sweet-savoury tare sauce based on a family recipe. Top picks include the hitsumabushi, in which tender, but firm grilled eel pieces are set in a fluffy bed of white rice. The moreish dish is made more enjoyable when the dashi broth is added to the rice, lending both a soothing touch and depth of flavour to it.