Best Of Shibuya Food Tour

A food tour was the best way to get oriented in Shibuya. Our guide Alexa took us to 5 different places that we would never have discovered on our own. The places ranged from an open air hole-in the wall with some of the best Ramen I've ever eaten, to a kooky karaoke joint, to a department store food court. We learned about the history of the area, stories behind the restaurants we ate at, and the relevance of the foods we were tasting. At the end of the evening we weren't sure how to get back to our subway line and Alexa nicely walked us back to the station and pointed our way to the right trains. All in all it was a great evening and we were stuffed full by the end.

'The Best of Shibuya Food Tour,' is the most wonderful introduction to Tokyo and Japanese food culture. Our fluent English/Japanese speaking guide, Matty, (from the USA), was absolutely fabulous and really enriched our experience of Japanese culture and food traditions. Matty, set us up with insider language and etiquette knowledge that helped us throughout the next 2 weeks we spent touring Japan. Matthew answered every question we had and always took us to the best spots for photographs. We were able to photograph the Shibuya Scramble from an uncrowded elevated position, (on a Friday night). Matt later took a photo of us in the middle of the crossing! Matty's local insights and knowledge exceeded our expectations. Highly recommended.

Alexandra did a great job giving us a taste of the wide variety of food that Shibuya has to offer while sharing interesting information about the area. We left full of food and facts!

We enjoyed the locations we visited especially the sushi restaurant. It was great to walk around the Food Hall as well.Alexandra gave us lots of interesting information about our food and Japanese dining.

Diante was an excellent guide. Very personable friendly and fun. He filled us in on many things about the foods we ate and many we didn’t but we’re on the menu. He also helped us learn many things about the Japanese culture.

Our guide Moto was exceptional, professional, informative, friendly and took us off the beaten track to experience a variety of Japanese food. She went above and beyond, adapting the tour to our particular interests. We did the tour on our first full day in Japan and would highly recommend the tour as a good introduction to Japanese cuisine and culture.

We had a fantastic experience on our Shibuya Food Tour. Alexandra was a friendly and informative guide and we enjoyed the time spent with her experiencing many tastes of Japan. This tour set us up for dining out in Japan for the remainder of our holiday.

Daniel was an excellent guide and made this one of the highlights of our time in Tokyo. I especially recommend doing this tour on your first night in the city. It was such a great way to get oriented to Shibuya, experience the energy of the neighborhood, and learn things we never would have discovered wandering around on our own. The food was a major highlight. We had what I can genuinely say was some of the best sushi of my life. If you have the opportunity, do not miss the seared engawa. It was incredible and easily one of the most memorable bites of our entire trip. Daniel was knowledgeable, engaging, and made the evening feel relaxed rather than overly programmed. By the end, we felt like we had experienced Shibuya with someone who really knew how to help us appreciate it. Highly recommend, especially as a first-night Tokyo experience. It was a fantastic way to start our trip.

Wes and Gordon showed us streets and food locals we would never found and tasted alone. This was an amazing Tour!!!!!!

If you have $350 USD to burn and love watching kitchen staff conduct intimate personal hygiene routines while preparing your food, this is the tour for you. Organized Chaos The headaches started before the food did. After explicitly giving the organizer our available times, she booked us an hour earlier than requested. When I pointed out the error, she got visibly angry and dramatically announced this was "the last time" she would reschedule—for a mistake she made. Gourmet Highlights (Or Lack Thereof) Our guide, Josh, led us down into a basic basement food hall to showcase Tokyo's finest. Among the highlights: * The Onigiri: Boldly outclassed in flavor, freshness, and texture by the local 7-Eleven down the street. * The Hidden Ramen Spot: A subterranean eatery where the food was aggressively average, but the real show was in the kitchen. The Main Event: Culinary Hygiene The undeniable star of the evening was the ramen line cook, whose default resting pose whenever he wasn't actively handling food was keeping his hand fully inside the front of his pants, having a good scratch. It was a commitment to body heat management I didn't ask to witness, and it left me dry-heaving into my napkin. Save your money. You can get better food, cleaner kitchens, and significantly friendlier service by walking into literally any random restaurant on your own.

Melissa was a fantastic guide! She took us to a variety of delicious spots that we never in a million years would have found on our own. She is knowledgeable, warm, and a delight to be with. Highly recommend! (The meetup point was just a little tough, mostly due to a protest at the station; highly recommend the what3words app to pinpoint an exact location.)

Clara was an excellent guide! We tried a variety of foods in a variety of different settings. We learned so much about regional foods and the history of foods and got to try so many delicious options. We also got wonderful pictures and enjoyed our time exploring Shibuya between stops. It was a wonderful tour!

A fascinating & fun filled tour. Our guide Daniel shared lots of interesting snippets of information & really knew the area well. I won’t forget drinking a Pyrex measuring jug full of beer!

I am so happy someone suggested I book a food tour in Shibuya! I am even happier I did it with Alexandra and through Arigato Food Tours. Not only did I get to try different types of food (from different regions), the tour had a great structure and our guide was incredibly knowledgeable. From telling us about food origin, to picking picking out local landmarks, to letting me in on some of the "locals" questions I've had here it was a game changing 3 hours (actually more- she went above and beyond). It was also extremely family friendly and Alex was patient with my kids (who are both sassy and slow walkers). Arigato! Arianna & Co

We did this tour when we landed in Tokyo as a way to get an introduction to the city and also stay awake and avoid jet lag. Charlotte was a wonderful host: it felt like having a friend show you around their neighborhood with lots of yummy food spots. It was perfect!

Paul was a great guide with in-depth knowledge of Tokyo and the food. He was friendly and amenable to questions about Tokyo, Japanese culture, history and the food. He was very helpful in all respects. Would recommend Arigato tours.

We are a family of five that did the Shibuya food tour with Serena - it was amazing! We loved everything about it and it was a great way to start our trip in Japan and get familiar with the food, etiquette, etc.

Daniel was our tour guide and he was excellent!! His theme while giving us the tour was that everything is hidden in plain sight. This tour is a foodies dream. Large portions and multiple stops skip the meal prior to the tour!! He was knowledgeable about the Japanese culture and cuisine and he shared his own story throughout the tour. Even though the tour was scheduled to end at 7pm he went beyond to finish the tour.

Amazing tour with Alex - showing us some amazing hidden food gems and pointing out heaps of interesting places along the way. The amount and quality of the food we tasted was incredible and all of the information shared helped us appreciate it all the more. Highly recommend

This was a brilliant evening exploring all the hidden gems in the Shibuya area. We learned all about local food and tried countless new delights, including a tasting flight of Saki, for which we now have a better appreciation. Our guide Joshua was charming company throughout a fun evening and even got us speaking a couple of words of Japanese. We can thoroughly recommend this tour.

I wish we had booked this tour earlier in our trip as we would have cancelled some of the fancy restaurants we had pre booked. This trip showed us and our 2 kids aged 16 and 12 some of the varieties in foods from different regions of Japan. Honestly, the food was great, really delicious and surprisingly varied. It made us realise how easy it is to eat really great food, easily and not spend our whole evening in one restaurant. We mistakenly booked more high end restaurants most nights and this left us feeling very full before bed and with no time to visit the areas as it was very late when the meals were over. In hindsight it would’ve been more beneficial to have fewer long dinners and use the knowledge from our food tour with Ray from Arigato travel to choose quick, tasty and faster fun meals so we would’ve had time to explore after. Next time I’ll do the food tour first. Also Ray was great at prebooking and planning based on our needs which was so helpful. He also showed us how to greet locals, be polite in ordering and leaving and many other helpful local customs. I would highly recommend Ray for your tour.

We booked a private food tour with Saika, and had an amazing time! This was our second time in Japan and we still got to experience new food and spots we will definitely be going back to! She was an amazing guide and we would highly recommend her

Our tour with Jane was both fun and educational. The food selections were amazing and not places that we would find on our own. The local history and etiquette that she gave us was a definite bonus. Jane was friendly and very knowledgeable. Thank you.

We had a fantastic food tour of the Shibuya area of Tokyo. The food was wonderful and our guide Saika was fabulous. Her knowledge of the food stops and local area was excellent.

Alex was the best. Funny. Knowledgeable. Definitely worth the price. The food tour was one of the highlights of our visit to Tokyo.

Alex was our guide. He was very interesting and informative. His spoke perfect English and was easy to hear. He was on time and made sure we found our taxi . The food tour gave us a variety foods to try in 6 different venues. A truly wonderful and unique experience

Jane was a lot of fun and took us to some very obscure spots we’d never have found on our own. The food was great and PLENTIFUL so be ready to EAT!

Diante was simply the best. Personable, knowledgeable, fun and timely. Definitely one of the best food tours we’ve ever been on. The food was excellent, the portions amazing and all was delivered with great hospitality!

We had an amazing time with jane. The food was phenomenal and we really enjoyed her company and all the tips, tricks, do‘s and don‘ts she described to us. There just wasn‘t enough time so we will definetly come back! Thx again for the unforgettable experience.

Absolutely fantastic tour with lovely Saika! So much delicious food that we would never have found on our own. We enjoyed sushi (melt in the mouth), ramen, okonomiyaki, chicken wings, gyoza and red bean/pancake like dessert, beers, sake and soft drink. Saika was fun, bubbly, and informative! This is a must do to discover Shibuya culinary delights.

We booked directly with Arigato Travel. Daniel was our tour guide and he was great! Lots of good stories and info to share. He was very patient with one quirky person on the tour! Shibuya was a great place to have a tour guide as lots of the good food is up on a higher floor and as a tourist from the US, I would've missed these, as I'm not used to looking upstairs for restaurants.

We had a lovely and great time! Our host Melissa was excellent; not only were the spots that she choose fantastic and provided a great overview for the Japanese kitchen, she also shared interessting experiences from her life in Japan and gave us a lot of tips. We would definitely go again with her and wish her all the best!

Great way to see Shibuya at night. We ate at places we would never had gone to.

This was the best Japanese food I’ve ever had, and trust me I’ve had a lot so this is really recommend. Our tur guide Jane was really nice also🙏

Got a wide range of food experiences shibuya that I wouldn't have gotten normally.

Clara was an excellent guide for Shibuya. We visited numerous local favorites sampling different styles of regional cuisines: sushi, ramen, okonomiyaki, and a number of dishes from Nagasaki where Clara has spent time in addition to Tokyo. She knows the Shibuya area well and she really wanted to share her knowledge with us. We had fun learning about her experiences in Japan. I appreciated Clara showing us the sights and choosing such great places to eat as there are SO many options.

Jane was great! Good variety of food

Great time all around! Guide was great!

I had the tour with Melissa and two other couples. Melissa was very knowledgeable about the food and area. She excellently navigated us through the crowded streets and I was so full by the end!

We had a wonderful time on the Best of Shibuya food tour. Saika was such a fun and knowledgeable tour guide. We definitely tried food we would not have tried without a tour guide. One of the best parts of the tour was walking through parts of Shibuya, like beautiful and lively streets off the beaten path. She also took lots of fun pictures and shared with the group. It was a terrific way to get our trip started on our first full day/night in Tokyo. I highly recommend!!! Thank you, Saika!

We had so much fun! My kids were being entertained by our guide, Daniel, and he even got the 10 year-old to try sushi (he ate four pieces!) Our teenagers were so entertained and laughed all night while trying new foods and learning a lot about food customs. The parents got a special treat too. Our guide-in-training, Alex, was able to spend quality time answering all on our questions so we felt like we really had a special time as well.

We had a food tour led by Saika. The tour was informative and fun, and the food was delicious. Saika took the time to teach us about Japanese culture, and took us to a variety of great food spots. Would highly recommend this tour.

We had such a wonderful time with Saika on our food tour! We had lots of great food, drinks, and got to see all the sites of Shibuya that we would not have experienced on our own. Thank you Saika for making our first day in Tokyo so fun and memorable!

A wonderful experience! Our tour started on time. A perfect meeting location. The summary provided on Trip Advisor is 100% accurate. You will visit several wonderful small eateries with menus from across Japan as well as learn about Japanese dining customs & practices. My only wish is that we had this tour at the beginning of our trip. Ray, our guide-extordinare was just perfect! His love & passion for his adopted country made the evening very special. The pace was just right & the restaurant choices were wonderful. Ray is very knowledgeable, friendly & professional. A delightful genuine person. His assistant Maria was charming and had much to share & contribute. Please make sure to have a good appetite! No snacking before hand! :-)

Jane was great. Very knowledgeable and she picked great spots. What a great way to experience and learn about Japanese food and culture!

What an experience! Highly recommend booking this food tour on your visit to Tokyo. My partner and I had such a fun time and learnt so much about Japanese food and tried things we would have never thought to try on the tour!! After trying the pepper chicken wings Raikhan showed us, we ate them eveywhere we went around Japan - they were that good!

Jane was an excellent guide and the food choices were very good. I would highly recommend.

We did the private version of this tour with Francois. The tour was great and so was Francois. We especially enjoyed the sushi - best I've ever had! There was also chicken wings with a pepper dusting which were so good that we went back a second time. The places we visited were restaurants we would never have found on our own!

We had a great time with Wesley! He customized our stops for our group and accommodated some dietary restrictions. We learned a lot about Japanese customs and Shibuya. He even took us to the train station and helped us get our train cards and rode the train back with us to where we were staying. The chicken wings and yakisoba were our favorite dishes.