Hitsumabushi at Atsuta Horaiken
1 / 8Hitsumabushi at Atsuta HoraikenPhoto: Bariston / CC BY-SA 3.0
Tap a photo to see it large. 8 photographs, every one credited.
Hitsumabushi is grilled eel on rice, and Atsuta Horaiken is the name for it. Of its three restaurants, only the Honten (main shop) at 503 Godo-cho is open on Tuesday 10 November: lunch 11:30–14:00 last order, dinner 16:30–20:30; it closes Wednesdays and the 2nd and 4th Thursdays. Jingu-ten, by Atsuta Jingu’s south gate, and Matsuzakaya-ten in Sakae are closed on Tuesdays and open on Saturday 14 and 28 November. At the Honten only kaiseki courses take bookings, so expect a queue and arrive near opening.
- Our number 3 for Nagoya, out of ten. It is the first thing we would spend the hours on.
- Reachable on foot from the berth, so no timetable can strand you.
- It is not only a photo stop: eel in three rounds, pork in dark miso, and toast with red beans at breakfast.
- Closed on Tuesdays and open on Saturday 14 and 28 November. Check the day before you plan around it.
- 3 hr 30 min door to door means a 2–3 hour stop ashore cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
Why Hitsumabushi at Atsuta Horaiken is famous
Eel in three rounds, pork in dark miso, and toast with red beans at breakfast
Atsuta Horaiken runs three restaurants, and their closing days do not line up. The Honten, or Jin-ya, in Godo-cho closes on Wednesdays and the 2nd and 4th Thursdays. Jingu-ten by the shrine’s south gate closes on Tuesdays and the 2nd and 4th Mondays; Matsuzakaya-ten in Sakae closes on Tuesdays. That makes the Honten the only one serving on a Tuesday call. At the Honten only kaiseki courses can be reserved, so the ordinary menu means a queue.
Nagoya sells its cooking under one name, Nagoya-meshi. Most of it runs on dark soybean miso, and most of it has a known shop and a known year behind it.
Flat noodles in tamari broth; the likeliest date is the mid-Edo period
A restaurant in the Tokaido post town of Atsuta; hitsumabushi grows out of its delivery trade
Credited to Cafe Matsuba in Sakae, now closed
Founded in Osu; salt-free noodles in a single clay pot
Eat by the map. Hitsumabushi near Atsuta Jingu (Honten on Tuesdays), miso-katsu and miso-nikomi in Osu and Sakae, kishimen inside the shrine, and the morning service anywhere before 11:00. Tebasaki is mostly an evening dish.
Three places, three different answers
The one the queue agrees on, the one people who live here use instead, and the one nearest your ship. Opening days change; check before you build a day around one.
503 Godo-cho, Atsuta-ku; tel 052-671-8686. Lunch 11:30–14:00 last order, dinner 16:30–20:30 last order. Closed Wednesdays and the 2nd and 4th Thursdays (open on holidays), so open on Tue 10 Nov and both Saturdays. Only kaiseki courses take bookings: expect a queue.
Open in Google MapsWhere locals goAtsuta Horaiken Jingu-tenあつた蓬莱軒 神宮店2-10-26 Jingu, Atsuta-ku, just outside Atsuta Jingu’s south gate. 11:30–14:30 and 16:30–20:30, last orders. Closed Tuesdays and the 2nd and 4th Mondays: closed on Tue 10 Nov, open on Sat 14 and 28 Nov.
Open in Google MapsWhere locals goAtsuta Horaiken Matsuzakaya-tenあつた蓬莱軒 松坂屋店Matsuzakaya Nagoya South Building 10F, 3-30-8 Sakae. Weekdays 11:00–14:30 and 16:30–20:30, Saturdays and Sundays 11:00–20:30, last orders. Closed Tuesdays, so closed on 10 Nov. A takeout counter on the main building’s B1F runs 10:00–20:00; whether it is open on Tuesdays is not confirmed.
Open in Google MapsWhere locals goMiya Kishimen Jingu-ten宮きしめん 神宮店Not eel: kishimen noodles inside the Atsuta Jingu grounds, 1-1-1 Jingu. 9:00–16:30 last order, open every day. The fallback when the Horaiken queue is too long; its exact spot in the grounds is not confirmed.
Open in Google MapsHitsumabushi at Atsuta Horaiken and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Where the 3 hr 30 min goes
Counted from the moment you step off the gangway. The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside.
24 minutes each way is the measured figure for aonami line to nagoya 24 min, then meitetsu or the meijo line to the atsuta stations; the honten is at 503 godo-cho, atsuta-ku, and the walk from the station is not in our sources, not the optimistic one. If your ship is late, cut the 2 hr 42 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day we have walked and timed, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
See · ~4hNagoya Castle and the Hommaru Palace
The main keep is closed, so the visit is the Hommaru Palace, about 10 minutes on foot from the Main or East Gate, and the grounds.
See the detail →
See · ~3.5hAtsuta Jingu and the Kusanagi-kan sword museum
The shrine grounds are free; no official opening hours are published.
See the detail →
See · ~3.5hOsu Kannon and the Osu shopping streets
Osu Kannon’s main hall is open 6:00–19:00, free, with no closing days, right outside exit 2 of Osu Kannon station.
See the detail →