Halal Gourmet Japan lists 12 restaurants in Nara Prefecture (as of October 2026). Eleven are in Nara City, and one is in Oji, Kitakatsuragi District.
If you are spending the day around Todai-ji and Nara Park, deciding where to eat in advance makes it easier to plan your route. This guide covers the 10 restaurants whose listing pages describe their halal arrangements, in this order: wagyu, then ramen, sushi and Japanese food, then Indian food, mochi and Turkish ice cream, and finally Oji. The descriptions are based on what each restaurant says on its listing page.
Wagyu: sukiyaki, teppanyaki steak and ramen
Wagyu Sukiyaki & Sushi Restaurant Niku-no-Asatsu Kintetsu Nara is a sukiyaki restaurant inside the NARARA complex, just steps from Kintetsu Nara Station. It says it serves halal-certified beef exclusively, handles no pork or pork-derived ingredients, and prepares its sukiyaki broth without mirin, cooking sake or any other alcohol-based seasoning. It keeps a separate set of cookware and tableware for Muslim guests.
Its listing page shows that it has halal certification, uses halal meat and halal seasonings, is pork-free, and has halal options and a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware. Alcoholic beverages are served to other guests in the dining area, so the restaurant asks you to contact it before booking if you have any concerns. There is no prayer space on site, but a public prayer space is about a 10-minute walk away, and the staff can give you directions.
Steak Nagomi is in Yumekaze Plaza, a few minutes’ walk from Todai-ji. It serves teppanyaki steaks made with Japanese beef from the halal-certified Sanda Meat Corporation, and it has private rooms. Its listing page shows that it uses halal meat and halal seasonings, is pork-free, and has halal options.
Halal Wagyu Ramen & Gyukatsu GYUMON Nara, in Takamachou, Nara, is a ramen restaurant that uses halal wagyu. It says it kept refining its halal wagyu ramen after opening as a yakiniku restaurant in 2007, and arrived at a bowl it was proud of in 2023. There are two broths: a rich, creamy beef bone broth and a spicy one made with its original miso. Each bowl is topped with marbled A5 halal wagyu. Its listing page shows that it uses halal meat and halal seasonings, is pork-free, does not serve alcohol, and has halal options, a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware, vegetarian options and a prayer space. According to the listing, the restaurant is preparing to obtain halal certification. For group bookings, contact the restaurant by phone.
To see what to check in the meat, sauces and menu before you eat wagyu, read our guide to halal yakiniku.
Ramen, sushi and Japanese food
Naramachi Jinniyah, in Minamijodocho, Nara, is a ramen restaurant. Its listing page shows that it has halal certification, uses halal meat, is pork-free, and has halal options, a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware, and a prayer space.
Our guide to ramen explains where pork and alcohol tend to be used.
For sushi, there is Umemori Main Store in Hokkejicho, Nara. According to its listing, it has halal certification, uses halal meat and halal seasonings, is pork-free, and has halal options, a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware, and a prayer space.
Japanese Restaurant Yoshino is in Sanjohonmachi, Nara. Its listing page shows that it has halal certification, uses halal meat and halal seasonings, and has halal options, a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware, and vegetarian options.
Indian food, mochi and Turkish ice cream
Ponte Rosso Halal & Vegee, in Konishi-machi, Nara, is an Indian restaurant in a renovated 100-year-old house. Its listing page shows that it uses halal meat and halal seasonings, is pork-free, and has halal options, a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware, vegetarian options and a prayer space.
NAKATANIDO, in Hashimoto-cho, Nara, is a mochi shop known for its high-speed mochi pounding, and it has been widely featured in the media. Its listing page says the only ingredients are glutinous rice, yomogi (mugwort), sugar, salt, red beans and kinako (soybean flour). It also shows that the shop is pork-free, uses halal seasonings, does not serve alcohol, and has halal and vegetarian options.
Also in Hashimoto-cho is Turkish Ice Cream, a Muslim-owned shop that uses halal meat and halal seasonings, is pork-free, does not serve alcohol, and has halal options and a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware.
Indian food in Oji
Mayur is an Indian restaurant on the B1 floor of Liebell Oji Higashi-kan, by Oji Station. Its specialties are tandoori grill, naan and spicy curry, and it says it does not use pork or beef. Its listing page shows that it uses halal meat and halal seasonings, is pork-free, and has halal options, a dedicated halal kitchen and tableware, and vegetarian options.
Prayer spaces and mosques
We list six places to pray in Nara Prefecture, all of them in Nara City.
- Mosque: Nara Masjid & Iqra Academy (Minamikyobatecho). It has a women’s prayer room, an ablution area and parking, and Friday prayer is from 12:00 to 13:00
- Prayer spaces: JR Nara Station and Nara City Sightseeing Information Center (both in Sanjo Hommachi), KAI (Wakidocho), NARAigoto EENA HOUSE (Kawanokami Tsukinukecho) and Naramachi Jinniyah (Minamijodocho)
Among the restaurants, you can pray at Naramachi Jinniyah, Umemori Main Store, Ponte Rosso Halal & Vegee and GYUMON.
Other ways to search
If you are also visiting Kyoto or Osaka, see our guide to halal-friendly food in Osaka and Kyoto. For mosques and prayer spaces elsewhere in Japan, see our guide to finding a mosque or prayer room in Japan. You can find all our Nara listings on these pages.
Before you go
Information on our listings may change at the restaurant’s discretion. Please check menus and arrangements on the linked pages and with the restaurant on site.
Each listing page describes the restaurant’s halal arrangements (certification, ingredients, kitchen, and so on). Please read the listing and decide whether it meets your own standards. If you want to let staff know that you avoid pork and alcohol, you can show them our note in Japanese.
To wrap up
From wagyu sukiyaki and teppanyaki to ramen, sushi, Indian food in an old house, mochi and Turkish ice cream, Nara City has places to suit what you want to eat. There is also an Indian restaurant near Oji Station. Once you know where you are going, open the listing pages for places nearby and check their halal arrangements.
Image credits
- Featured image (Great Buddha Hall, Todai-ji): ONO Masanobu / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons
This article was written by the Halal Gourmet Japan team. On Halal Gourmet Japan, you can search for halal-friendly restaurants and prayer spaces all over Japan. The service is also available as an app (iOS / Android).
After seeing his Muslim friends struggle to dine out in Japan, he founded Halal Gourmet Japan, a restaurant search service for Muslims, and has been running it for more than a decade since its launch in 2014. He also co-founded Food Diversity Inc. (formerly Halal Media Japan; he has since stepped down), and has deep expertise in halal support for restaurants and Muslim-oriented inbound tourism. Halal Gourmet Japan is one of Japan’s largest halal-friendly restaurant search services, used in more than 140 countries, introducing halal-friendly restaurants and prayer spaces across Japan in multiple languages.
