The original Hourai-ken, founded in 1873, is the senior restaurant of the family that invented hitsumabushi — eel grilled over charcoal, chopped into pieces, and served over rice with three eating stages (as is, with garnishes, then poured over with dashi as ochazuke). The flagship sits a couple of minutes' walk from Atsuta Shrine and is the closest thing the city has to a culinary pilgrimage site.
Lunch queues from 11am stretch around the block; reservations are not taken at this branch. A bowl runs about 4,500 yen. The eel is from Lake Hamana, grilled to order by a row of cooks over white-charcoal grills you can watch through the open kitchen. Other Hourai-ken branches in Matsuzakaya, Esca and Lachic open the same menu without the queue.