Shabu-shabu Haru-Haru — Restaurant in Kyoto

The sukiyaki here is one of the best meals I had in Japan, period! And this was my fourth trip I've taken to Japan, overall, with my third time visiting Kyoto.

We just arrived in Kyoto that day, tired from our Shinkansen ride from Tokyo, and we were staying near the area, as we had a concert at Rohm Theater Kyoto nearby. It was a little bit later in the evening due to doing laundry, and for dinner, we decided to get our fix of Shabu Shabu for this trip. We decided on this place based on reviews and walking distance from our hotel, and boy, we were in for a treat!

The restaurant only had a couple of other customers in there when we arrived, and the workers behind the counter were incredibly nice to us, just 2 foreigners coming in for a late night meal.

As for the meal itself... We chose the Sukiyaki for 2, and it was the best meal we had during our two week trip to Japan. The meat was definitely the star of the show.

The menu says they use Kyoto Wagyu, definitely not as well known as Kobe, Matsuzaka, Kagoshima, and the others. I have had Kobe beef before, and I have had other Wagyu variants before as well. Compared to those other Wagyu meats, the Kyoto meat they used here has such a unique flavor, in a great way. I really didn't expect it, and it's difficult to describe how good it was. It's not as fatty as the more premium Wagyu, and a lot more balanced between fat and lean meat.

The price is expensive, of course, but it's very reasonable for what you get here. The quality and experience of the meal was simply outstanding. I cannot convey how much we enjoyed this meal.

If I make it back to Kyoto in the future, this is definitely one place I would revisit. The very high ratings this place has is...

Overcharged during payment: They added one more dish to our bill, attempting to overcharge us by 1000 yen. We only ordered one set meal. At the time, there were only two customers in the restaurant, and it was the male server who served us prepared the bill, there’s no possibility it was a mistake. When we noticed there were some mistakes on the bill and were about to translate it, the server’s expression became very unnatural. If we hadn’t used a translation app, we would never have known.

Terrible quality of beef: They recommend the beef sukiyaki hot pot. A two-person set meal costs nearly 20000 yen, but the quality of the beef is nowhere near worth that price. It was tough and chewy. It made me think of the wagyu beef we had a few days ago, which cost less than 5000 yen per person. It’s so disappointing.

It's the worst experience I had in Japan, there are many reviews in google map are fake ones!!!! Hopefully, you can hesitate one second before you choose this fake 'high...

Freshest ingredients Friendly staff Fabulous experience

We wanted to have some hotpot at Kyoto and found this shabu shabu place via google search. It’s small and cosy, and for two persons, you will need to take the counter seats. Nonetheless, the experience was quite personable. The staff were friendly and welcoming so you don’t feel awkward. The meat both pork and beef were just so amazingly fresh and soft. The ponzu sauce was delicious and complemented the meat so well. The side dishes Karaage and seared octopus were top notch and draft beer, rightly chilled that it was so refreshing.

Thanks to Haru Haru, it was one of our Kyoto...