Osaka Street Food Tour: Private & Personalized With A Local Guide

We had such an amazing time on our Osaka food tour with Kai—she absolutely deserves 5 stars! She guided us through the Dotonbori district and made the whole experience feel fun, relaxed, and really personalized. My husband loved the takoyaki, and I’m still thinking about the matcha crepe she introduced us to—it was so good! My parents especially enjoyed trying all the different small bites along the way, which made it a great experience for our whole group. One of the things we appreciated most was how much we learned. Kai explained the different types of miso and shared little details about the food and culture that we wouldn’t have picked up on our own. Kai was kind, knowledgeable, and made sure everyone was comfortable and having a great time. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Osaka!

SO fun!!! Mayura is the sweetest and took us to her hidden gem favorites. It felt like we were hanging out with a foodie friend! Her choices were great, she accommodated our daughter who is vegetarian and allergic to nuts, while making sure the rest of us got the best stuff too!

Maria was an amazing guide! We told her what we wanted and she customized the experience for us. The food selections she chose were amazing. Highly recommend this tour.

Kanna contacted me the day before to ask what we would like to try in our food tasting tour, she planned our tour perfectly. We tried delicious food and she took us to amazing eateries/restaurants. She was friendly, knowledgeable, informative and professional. Highly recommend Kanna to other people. Thank You for an excellent experience.

Fabulous experience from start to finish . Maria was a great guide and took me to some really memorable places …. Do this tour and ask for Maria !!

you better bring your appetite and good shoes. They take you everywhere and you will be trying everything! So fun!

Easy to plan, great tour guide (Khalid was super knowledgeable, generous with insight), and super easy to meet up with. Literally the perfect way to start our time in Osaka.

Fumiko was warm, friendly and knowledgeable about the city of Osaka and its wonderful history in food. She ushered us through the city and introduced us to the most delicious foods (ex. best crab-in-bao-bun we’ve ever had). We thoroughly enjoyed our tour.

Loys was our guide and he took us on a culinary journey to remember. We experienced the first conveyer belt sushi and my firsts there was whelk (sea snail) and whale skin - both were a bit chewy but new adventures, we walked the food alley and had another great adventure- my grandkids had baby octopus on a stick - they crushed it - and then the pinnacle- blow fish. Lots of taste adventures from the best and freshest mochi to yakitoki. Bravo to Loys!!

Our guide was very friendly and informative. He took us to some excellent restaurants and gave us a great insight into Osaka. We walked through interesting streets and laneways. The information he gave us really helpful

Our tour guide Aoi was very friendly and informative about Osaka, she took us to some interesting areas. The only downside of the tour is the price, as the food we had did not cost much and yet the tour is expensive, you are really paying for a local to walk around with you.

This is advertised as a street food tour where 6 different foods and 2 drinks would be included which was not the case. Our first stop was a restaurant in which we had to wait 30 minutes. Then we went down to where all the actual street food was but were told that we would have to pay for whatever we wanted on our own (what!?). And we ended at another restaurant where we had to wait another 30 minutes. This was a complete waste of money. We actually ended up doing our own street food tour after for a fraction of the cost. The street food ranged from 500-1500 yen and we went to 6 stalls on our own after the tour trying things like octopus, oyster, dumplings, and more. Too bad we wasted our money to have someone take us to a restaurant. We were expecting to try some of Osaka’s famed street food and for $100, we got to eat at 2 restaurants. Logistically, this was a nightmare with City Unscripted emailing me 2 days before our tour letting me know we needed to move our scheduled time. So we had to change our travel plans in order to get to Osaka on time. Furthermore, this is an Osaka Street food tour but had the meeting location in Hong Kong. Wishing I just cancelled and got a refund. Don’t do this tour. Viator needs to remove this from their site as they lost a ton of credibility with me.

Our host Haruhi was fantastic. She showed us some excellent food places throughout Namba and Dontonbori districts. We were a little confused on what was and was not included in the tour however. The tour advertises 6 foods to taste and 2 drinks but we only tasted 3 foods with our purchase and we paid for some additional foods in the market. All in all, we really enjoyed our tour with Haruhi, I just wish it was more clear on what was included.

Our tour guide was not prepared for this tour. Instead of having a plan, the guide kept asking us what we wanted. A tour should have a pre planned itinerary and include a sampling of multiple tastes. When we did stop at a restaurant, the guide order way too much food and not enough varied to get a full understanding of the foods of Osaka. Guide was also not fluent in Japanese nor could they answer any questions about the areas we explored.

A great tour in Osaka. We were very pleased with our guide. The Okonomiyaki was amazing . A very good experience.

I was so much happy with this tour. My luck Maria was my guide. She is amazing. She is so cute and patient. Cura sushi was wonderful. Hope to see Maria soon when I come back to Japan.

I would give this 10 stars if I could! Food choices were excellent, tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable, the area we went to was iconic Osaka!

Our young Japanese guide took us around the city to try various foods; unfortunately she only had us trying a few things, on our feet, in a food mall and a market, and didn’t give us much to eat at all for the rest of the time. She didn’t speak good English, which made things difficult, and kept asking what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go; for a tourist who’s only been one or two days in a foreign city this is not an easy answer. We bought some warm tempura shrimps and some cold white wine in a shop, then walked over half hour before we begged our guide to sit somewhere in order to eat. When we finally found a spot on a set of stairs, the tempora was cold and the wine was warm; bad bad. Our guide was a nice girl, but quite unprepared and she didn’t share with us many information on the city, not cultural nor historical. She needs to be trained to do a better job.

We had a fantastic evening trying all kinds of local delicacies with Fumiko, and definitely tried things we never would have otherwise. Loved seeing Dotonbori at night and learning more about Japanese culture and cuisine. It was so much fun.

We had a great time with Maria and we got to try lots of different things guided so we knew which to choose from. We recommend doing this on the first day so you know where to go after.

Absolutely fabulous! We had such a great time. Our guide took us to just the type of food spots we asked for and was a great conversationalist to boot.

My guide, Maria, was wonderful; very kind, and even helped me navigate the train station by meeting me after the train from the airport, as this was my first night in Japan. She brought me a lovely cheesecake as a gift. My tour was set to start at 8:30 pm due to my night time arrival. I did make it to the hotel earlier than expected, so we did get an earlier start. Unfortunately, so many places we went to were already closed. We did a lot of walking but I only had food at 2 places. It would have been very helpful if the company had planned out the tour more thoroughly. Knowing when restaurants were closing would have saved a lot of unnecessary walking. I was disappointed that I did not get to sample ramen nor teppanyaki. The food I did have was excellent. Luckily, we ate a lot of sushi at our first stop. I enjoyed my time with Maria and she did show me several landmarks on our way. But this was a food tour and I did not feel it lived up to my expectations, especially given the cost of the tour. I would recommend the company not schedule tours after maybe 8pm on weeknights when apparently so many restaurants are already closed.

I had 2 days/2 different activities with Aljic. The street food experience and the city exploration. The food experience on 3rd of May. He greeted me at my hotel and walked a bit on the Dotonbori area, for some pictures on known sites. Then we went to a restaurant he knew where we waited inside for 5 minutes (the queue outside was huge, lots of tourists and locals as it was golden week). We had delicios and generous portions of Takoyaki, Yakisoba and of course the famous Okonomiyaki. After that we walked a bit on a temple nearby. Then it was food time again, on a restaurant with tables put on a fishing boat deck and an aquarium. Here I went for the option to catch the fish. Luckily Aljic was more experienced and caught one of the biggest fish (the policy is: you eat what you catch). We ate the fish half raw and half fried. Fresher fish than this you can't have. It went really well with a beer and a hot sake. Again, Aljic knew the place and people there so we didn't stay in line, we were taken to the table, the first table in the front of the boat. On the way to the hotel, we had a very creamy ice-cream, with a very soft cone. On the city tour, we started the day visiting the Osaka Castle. On his recommendation we went a bit early, not to stay too much in line. Visited the castle, went to the observation deck and made some pictures from below with the garden and castle on the background. Aljic was accommodating with my needs and we always changed planned as the tour went along: tried to go to another observation tour, but the time to enter was 50 minutes, so we went to a quiet temple to escape the noise and crowd. We ended the day having lunch at a restaurant he knew, made reservations on the go and had a table in a mini complex of restaurants located in the basement, where we were served raw meat which we cooked ourselves on a mini-bbq with coals (each table had a separate ventilation system to absorb the smoke). For sure I wouldn't find this place (and managed to communicate with the staff) without Aljic. Eating in Japan for an european can be intimidating, as all places seem to be very intimate. Throughout the 2 days, I had a great time experiencing unique places and food in Osaka. I enjoyed this in the good company of a local, and Aljic was all the time flexible and adapted to my plans.

Unfortunately, this tour was a huge disappointment. We had one evening in Osaka and were hoping to learn about the food, the culture, the people and the city. We have been on several great food and culture tours in the past and this was horrible. First, our guide showed up sick and coughing and did not inform us in advance or give us an option to cancel but told us right when we saw her. This made us feel uncomfortable especially during times of covid. Moreover, our guide was not only sick, not a local and did not speak Japanese, but she did not seem knowledgeable at all about the city, the people, the culture, or most relevant to this tour, the food. She didn’t offer much input or share much information and when asked pertinent questions, she did not know the answers or would give answers we would find out were inaccurate. I actually taught her some of what we already learned. We were so excited and looking forward to this tour but felt uncomfortable and did not think she added much beyond pointing to places and asking if we want to try things without even describing what they were. She was not engaging or knowledgeable and felt like a sad waste of time and a ripoff. She was nice enough, just not particularly professional and it was clear she was not well versed in the material enough to be a tour guide and it clearly wasn’t her day job. If we wanted someone to point and stand quietly coughing next to us and pointing for us to eat random things, we didn’t need to pay for a private tour. I could have done better with google reviews. If she cancelled and gave us notice, we could have made alternative plans or been offered alternative Osaka tours and could have had a nice evening in Osaka. It felt very inconsiderate and u professional. This company needs to do a better job vetting their guides.

Cannot recommend this tour highly enough. This was worth every $! Louis was an excellent guide who had tailored the tour exactly to our wishes and then altered it as we travelled through the tour to make it just perfect. The food was amazing, delicious, plenty of it and varied to suit our tastes and inquisitive requests. Louis’s knowledge and understanding of all the locations & questions we had was very much appreciated. We have taken two other food tours in Japan which left us very disappointed. THIS tour was on point! Thank you - we will be recommending this tour to anyone we know and anyone who reads this genuine review. Arigato!

It was a very personal experience! Andy was great and answered all our questions. He gave good recommendations.

Great experience and our guide, Haruhi. She was so AWESOME and took us to local places we would have never gone to. She sent us a questionnaire prior to arriving of any food dislikes to make sure our food tour experience was good. We rode the train to two different parts of the city that was fun too. I highly recommend Haruhi if you do this tour.

My guide Marcelo was a nice guide. I give him a 5/5 for being a gracious host that shared some history about important sights along the tour. The average rating is because of the organization before the tour and the usual shops were not open during the tour (I only ended up eating at 3 establishments). The first spot we ate okonomiyaki and takoyaki. The 2nd place I tried manju (steamed wheat cake with a sweet filling), and the 3rd place served kushi katsu. The food was good at all places, but the name of the tour is Osaka Street Food Tour with a Local Foodie. I was expecting to try way more food given that Osaka is known for its food. Even if we tried the same dish at different locations that would have been nice. For example, it would be nice to try takoyaki at more than just one place because there are so many places that make it and there were multiple places that were open. I also paid for the kushi katsu because I wanted to order more food without feeling like I’m eating into the tour guide’s budget. I think an important thing that didn’t happen was the communication with the guide before the tour to talk about expectations and what exactly was going to happen on the tour. I had to send my message to the tour guide through 3 different channels because I was getting messages that my guide wasn’t receiving my messages. The guide should be the one contacting me and asking for my preferences and expectations, not the other way around. The tour directions said the guide would be in contact with you 24 hours before the tour and pick up accommodations would be offered if agreed upon with the guide. However, I was only told a meeting spot off the Osaka Metro. Luckily, I’m adept at using the train and know some Japanese. But for future reference, the tour company should be more accommodating to tourists that may need help with getting around or offering to come to pick up the customer. None of these were offered to me. These critiques may be affected by Covid and Japan’s borders only recently opening fully to independent tourism. But for the price of $155 it left much to be desired, especially by the amount of food for a food tour, in a food city, in a country that arguably has one of the world’s greatest cuisines. If you’re the customer, make your expectations known even if the company doesn’t ask. And for the company (Viator), be more accommodating and thorough in communicating with the customer’s needs and expectations for a private/personalized tour. For the guides offering this tour, make more relationships with food shops so future customers come away with a fuller experience and a fuller belly.

Had to leave (directed by US military) the area due to increase in Covid at the last minute. Company would not give me a refund for the event. Covid has caused many difficulties and this will be add to the list. Will not use this company ever again and will tell friends and family not to use them.

We had a great tour of small, off the beaten path, local foods with Riley. Everything was delicious!

Four of us did the 3 hour Osaka food tour with Brice. Excellent tour, totally recommend it. Brice was outstanding.

We had the fabulous Haruhi show my partner and I around. You would not find a sweeter, more generous person out there. She took us to so many places. Showed us places that we could go back to when we had more time and made us feel like we were meeting an old friend. All of that ignores how sensational the food was. My partner is still talking about it! Such a brilliant night and I would recommend it to anyone!

Osaka was our first stop during our family trip in Japan. We reserved a food guide for the second night in town as we were expectedly still suffering from the jet lag in the previous evening. We got Haruhi as our guide and she took us to a local restaurant which we wouldn’t have found on our own. The place matched all the expectations with tables on the floor level, chefs cooking in front of us and a clientele consisting of local people that had come to enjoy their evening with friends or family. Also, It was not only the atmosphere that impressed us but also the menu had a wide range of foods from fried chicken all the way to foods that a European family such as ours had not seen before. The evening passed by effortlessly with Haruhi as we talked about our trip so far, differences between our cultures and wide range of other topics. She explained all the foods in a simple, understandable manner while having a laugh when the boys of our family were testing their limits with more local dishes. Overall, the experience was a really positive surprise and we would recommend it to anyone who is stopping by in Osaka. As mentioned before, the evening was informative as well as simply good time.

We had the pleasure of meeting Haruhi in Osaka and spent a fantastic evening with her. I was traveling with my husband, mom , sister and father in law. We had the best time getting to know Haruhi and the culture whilst eating and walking through the streets that only locals would know about. Haruhi's fun and bright personality is contagious! We definitely made a friend in Japan through this tour and wish we were closer to Haruhi. My mother even requested dessert in the end, and even though the tour time was finished, without any hesitation Haruhi was excited to show us one last place. Thank you for one of the best evenings in Japan Haruhi! We miss you already!

It’s always great when teenage boys enjoy being dragged around a city! We did the private foodie tour around Osaka with Roberto this week. Despite his favourite restaurants being unavailable we found some great little places we wouldn’t have found in an area of the city we wouldn’t have visited. Roberto tailored the trip to the boys so naturally we ended up in an 80s/90s throwback amusement arcade with all my family and Roberto competing!! Great fun was had by all and we went home absolutely stuffed!!!

It was like catching up with an old friend who shared the exact same values as I did. Street food, local hangouts and fun times. After hanging out with Brice for just a few hours, I felt like Osaka was my home town. He showed me some super cool spots that I would never have ventured into and I enjoyed them so much, I became a tour guide for a Korean couple I met after the tour at a restaurant that Brice also recommended. I think I have a new friend in Osaka, a French guy that speaks Japanese!! I chose City Unscripted because I liked the design of their webpage. After the experience I had with my recommended guide, Brice, I am going to use that system for all my touring/event decisions. It was the best decision I made and as a result, the best Unscripted experience had! I want to come back to Osaka, or, should I say... BrOsaka!!