Japanese Cuisine

A monja restaurant with white plaster walls and wooden lattice, standing opposite a police box built in the Taisho period, on the boundary between the second and third blocks of Monja Street. It seats 40 and allows smoking.

The hours are worth reading twice: Thursday to Monday it opens for lunch and again at 17:30, but on Wednesday it opens only in the evening, at 17:00, and it is closed on Tuesdays. There is no course menu — the shop asks you to discuss budget and dishes when booking.

Good to know

• Closed on Tuesdays, and on Wednesdays there is no lunch service.
• Smoking is allowed.
• There is no set course menu.
• Listed by the Tsukishima Monja Association; the shop has no site of its own.

Izuei has been grilling eel in Ueno for around 300 years, carried on by more than nine generations. Umegawa-tei is the branch inside Ueno Park itself, five minutes on foot from the Park Exit.

Dinner runs from 17:00, with last orders at 20:00. Unaju — grilled eel over rice, with soup and pickles — starts at ¥3,960.

Good to know

• Closed on Mondays.
• Reservations are taken by phone only.
• Last orders are at 20:00, so arrive with time to spare.