I think had they not bombed it with eel sauce, yes to a person who likes unagi. I just think the sauce overpowered the entire dish.
My suggestion is buying the entering piece in the market for $20 and broiling it yourself and applying sauce as needed.
FML the sign the guy was holding said out for the whole day. Shit. I was wondering WTF they were doing with these when they were “sold out for today” apparently.
Yum, nutritious eel…
I went today, and had the unagi. It was delicious. The line for the chicken wings was too long and we didn’t have time to wait. It smelled super good.
Nice that folks are takin’ it easy on those scarce unagi. But WOW - everyone lovin’ dem wings - bird don’t have chance!!! 
Nagoya Fair 2016 - Mitsuwa Market (Torrance)
Thanks to @MaladyNelson for the heads up, we decided to stop by the Nagoya Fair 2016 at Mitsuwa Market in Torrance (their flagship).
I didn’t have high hopes for this fair compared to previous years since there were so few offerings (really just Unagi Hitsumabushi and Chicken Wings from Nagoya), rather sparse. 
Unagi Hitsumabushi (Eel Bowl):
They offered 2 types of Eel Bowls at this fair: One for $7.99 with Eel from China, or a Premium set for $25 with Eel from Japan. We tried the Premium Set:
While visually it looked gorgeous, they were stacking them up pre-made in the refrigerated section, so these were lukewarm-to-cold in temperature, which was unfortunate.
The Eel tasted pretty good, but not worth $25 for a filet IMHO. It was tender, but maybe overcooked slightly, the Unagi Sauce was the standard thick, sweet offering; nothing notable there. The pickles were quite crisp and crunchy and just the right salt and tart.
Yamachan no Tebasaki (Yamachan Fried Chicken Wings):
First a word about the situation: They capped the line and were sold out by 11:00 a.m.! 
Luckily we were already in line, but when watching them work it was rather ridiculous: Extremely inefficient and a result of bad planning, they simply didn’t stock enough Wings for everyone. One of the staffers mentioned they sold too many Friday evening and sold part of Saturday’s stock as a result.
Watching them work, they fried wings to order, but the whole process was really slow. We waited over an hour(!), which was longer than Howlin’ Ray’s at busy times.
Maboroshi no Tebasaki (Nagoya-style Mysterious Fried Chicken Wings):
It should be noted firstly, that these are half Wings (not full Chicken Wings like what they serve at Howlin’ Ray’s). So you’re really getting 2.5 real Wings worth of meat for a “5 piece” order.
The Tebasaki Chicken Wings are fresh fried (huge plus). They are nice and crispy with no batter. The taste? It’s OK. It’s mainly Sansho Pepper with a bit of Soy Sauce and Mirin. So it’s lightly spicy, a little bit sweet, but thankfully not as sweet as Korean Fried Wings like Kyochon.
Ultimately we all agreed it was not worth waiting over 1 hour for these Wings, and even without waiting they were OK, but not mindblowing.
And their bad planning and cutting off the line (sold out) by 11:00 a.m. on only the 2nd day of the fair was silly and unfortunate. If they had a regular stand and we were in the area? I think they’d be great to pick up a dozen, drink an ice-cold Asahi on Draft (from Japan) and enjoy, but not like this.
Nagoya Fair 2016 @ Mitsuwa Market (Torrance)
21515 S Western Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501
Tel: (310) 782-0335
That’s unfortunate, i was debating if i should drive an hour to try this, i guess not.
You’re being very generous. Partner and I went this afternoon. I asked the cashier, “Does the premium eel taste very different than the regular eel?” Him: “The premium eel is from Japan, the regular eel is from China.” Uh, that doesn’t answer the question, but okay.
Totally disappointing. It looked totally indistinguishable from the regular eel. My eel was mainly overcooked, so it was largely rubbery (I had to take bites from the entire filet b/c it was too tough to separate w/ chopsticks), and the sauce makes it taste exactly like a cheaper piece of eel. Rice was, not surprisingly, kind of disgusting (I poured partner’s miso soup from Hannosuke over the rice). Best part were the surprisingly tasty pickles.
Honestly, I would’ve been a little miffed even paying the $9.99 price for this (the cost of a regular eel bowl). It’s very much just like an eel bowl you’d get at a supermarket…
Crap! Sorry about that.
The wings reminded me - surprisingly - of Pollo alla Diavolo from a Roman trattoria: heavy on the black pepper. The closest version in L.A. would be the Wings alla Diavolo appetizer at Pizzeria Mozza (or its big brother the Pollo alla Diavolo at Chi Spacca).
We lucked out and got there just before the second wave of wings were ready. Wings were better than I expected given the level of chaos and the panicked look on the faces of the cooks trying to figure it all out on the fly.
I enjoyed the mid-priced eel bento. Not the quality unagi you’d be getting from your favorite sush-ya but very agreeable and fairly true to my memory of versions I had in Japan.
The “prohabition” of alcohol - though not a surprise - wasn’t as agreeable.
Ach, sorry the Nagoya Fair was a bust, @Chowseeker1999, @PorkyBelly, @A5KOBE, @paranoidgarliclover, @TriTip, and anyone else I may have left out. Unfeasibly long lines, food shortages, and subpar eel, rice, and chicken wings are inexcusable, plus no alcohol to lessen the blow. My apologies to everyone…
Hi @MaladyNelson,
No it’s not your fault! Don’t feel bad. 
It was Mitsuwa and their vendors more than anything. Yamachan: Their claim to have been doing this for multiple decades (and I think Mr. Yamachan himself was there), but they couldn’t make their Wings in a timely manner, and they sold out by 11:00 a.m. seems like bad planning and execution.
The Unagi was just overcooked and they should’ve sold some Hot, some refrigerated.
It seems Mitsuwa’s Food Fairs are getting worse recently. Then again when was their last great Ramen festival?
I’m assuming that Yamachan didn’t anticipate the demand. I go to a lot of Mitsuwa’s food fairs, and they’re usually very sparsely attended. My guess is the shout-out in Los Angeles Eater brought in an unexpectedly large crowd.
Overcooked unagi is inexcusable, especially since it’s such precious commodity.
I haven’t been to any of their ramen fairs, but I go to the regional ones quite often, and the vendors vary in quality. I’ve been pretty happy with the croquette and musubi/onigiri vendors for the most part.
Why in the world are you apologizing? Partner and I still had a fun time going out to a place that we haven’t been to in months. And I got some sesame ice cream (which has made me decide that I apparently don’t think ANYTHING is adequately intensely flavored unless it’s just straight-up black sesame! Hee, hee). I’m glad we share fairs and such w/ each other.
Oh I forgot to ask, for the pure Black Sesame… what do you think of that Black Sesame Dessert Soup at Dim Sum restaurants? 
Enough Black Sesame taste for you?
Not the whole serving (I think I’ve only had it at Phoenix). 
But, yes, the intensity is correct.
Edit: the ice cream had partially melted by the time I got home. Re-froze it and, curiously, I think it JUST has a enough sesame flavor. Would’ve thought it would’ve been stronger in liquid form, but apparently not…
While the eel was slightly over, it was nice to try something new and different. My order was not overtly sauced, so I don’t feel like they were trying to cover anything up. I shared it with a friend who has spent a lot of time in Japan and we had a great afternoon together.
There are regional ramen fairs in L.A.? Please, tell me more…
Sorry I was unclear, @Bookwich. Mitsuwa has ramen fairs that usually feature three famous vendors. They also have fairs that focus on a single prefecture that is famed for their artisanal food (i.e. Hokkaido seafood and dairy products).
Gotcha. Guess I’ll have to head out to Torrance once in a while.
