Sukiyaki Kushikatsu Haruna Honmachi

The rugged flavor of Japanese wild boar, sans the gamey smell or aftertaste, with the melt-in-your-mouth fatty texture of Japanese domestic pork. These are qualities found only in Wakayama Prefecture’s Ibu Biton pork, the primary meat used at Sukiyaki Kushikatsu Haruna Honmachi. Raised exclusively in the coastal town of Susami, Ibu Biton pigs are fed with grain mixed with plum vinegar extract, which is said to give it its characteristic sweet flavor. The Osaka-based restaurant offers diners the opportunity to cook it either sukiyaki and shabu-shabu style; sukiyaki’s sweet simmer augments the natural sweetness of the meat, while shabu-shabu’s simple boil is more popular for those who want to enjoy its flavor largely unadorned. Course menus at Haruna Honmachi also come with kushiyaki skewers and a premium all-you-can-drink menu, the latter of which includes high-quality sake, shochu and even Okinawan awamori. But you’ll have to move fast—as a hit with both locals and travelers from abroad, they are known to sell out weeks in advance during peak seasons.