Kitashinchi Harami Shin-Omiya

This Nara restaurant is a culinary love letter to the harami skirt steak. Among all the cuts of wagyu beef, it is harami that is the most reliably delicious, cost-effective, and ultimately understated.

Kitashinchi Harami aims to change that. Its whole restaurant concept is centered around elevating the skirt steak, serving it with premium ingredients like truffle and caviar. For the former, shipments of black truffle are delivered weekly to the restaurant — sparing them from cold storage — then thinly shaved to adorn bowls of rice and steak, topped with a Ryu no Tamago “dragon egg”.

Other menu highlights include ultra-flavorful and muscular upper cow tongue, served in thick, 1-centimeter slices, and expertly grilled to the ideal texture. Ever-popular among beef enthusiasts, heart is also marinated and seared to perfection by the restaurant’s master grillers, bringing an intense, smoky aroma directly to diners’ plates.