Tokyo Allstar Food Tour

What was good? The food at the first two restaurants was excellent. What was less good? - We found the meeting place difficult to find (you can't see the clock easily from the direction we arrived) - Our guide was French and had only lived in Japan for 15-years. There were a lot of questions about food, food culture, etiquette and broader Japanese culture that he wasn't able to answer confidently - Meeting at 4:00pm was way too early for a dinner tour. The Japanese do eat early but there was no one in any of the restaurants we visited. So there was no atmosphere. We'd deliberately chosen this tour because it promised to show us the busy bars where salary men meet after work and because it would give us an understanding of range of Japanese cuisine from across the country. I didn't feel we got this either - The third and fourth stops were essentially selling opportunities. A green tea shop and a biscuit shop. There was at least tea tasting at the tea shop with a few tasting notes from our guide. But apart from a 'free' biscuit at the fourth stop, there was no reason to go there - The fifth stop for desert had no choice as the shop had run out of everthing except one chocolate and one chestnut sweet. It felt as though we were in a department store coffee shop Very disappointed

Wonderful experience learning about the city, culture & food. Our tour guide KAZ, was very knowledgeable and fun to tour with!

Ethan was great. Good conversationalist and fun. He gave us some history and awesome cool eating areas which we would never have found.

We did an Arigato Food Tour on our first night in Japan and loved it so much, so we booked another! Our second tour was with Ethan and it was such a great experience. We went on our last night in Japan and tried foods that we hadn't tried yet and explored a new neighborhood. Highly recommend!

Excellent tour with 5 great stops and all super quality food and drink We went to restaurants we would never have found ourselves We both really enjoyed our tour and the tour leader Francois was brilliant throughout

We had a great time with our tour guide, Kazuko, she introduced us to so many different types of tasty fish that we saw at the fish market. She was very knowledgeable about all the different seafood options available for us to eat for lunch. She is a very kind person and a joy to be around.

We had an absolutely incredible food tour in Tokyo with Ema from Arigato Travel, and it was hands down one of the best experiences of our entire trip! The evening started with a thoughtful tea tasting, which set the perfect tone and made the whole tour feel so well planned. From there, Ema took us to a wonderful local Japanese restaurant, followed by another authentic spot where we enjoyed both cold and hot udon noodles. Ema has such a gift for making you feel welcome — he took the time to learn our likes and dislikes, then ordered for us with perfect intuition every single time. After dinner, he treated us to a delicious dessert and then took us to the most amazing view and park at the top of Ginza 6. Throughout the evening, Ema shared fascinating cultural insights that made everything so much richer — like how slurping noodles is customary and that you should never pour your own sake because it's considered bad luck. He was patient, never rushed us, and made us feel like we were exploring Tokyo with a good friend. Ema is a true five-star guide in every sense — kind, smart, funny, worldly, and such a joy to spend time with. We laughed, learned, and ate incredibly well. If you're visiting Tokyo, do yourself a favor and book a tour with Ema and Arigato Travel. You won't regret it. Thank you so much, Ema — you made our evening unforgettable!

A really fab food tour. Wonderful Francois took us to really interesting places - eg a restaurant under railway tracks. Lots of delicious food and really learnt a lot about Japanese food. Highly recommended!

The food was wonderful, and the tour guide Vasilii was incredible. Very knowledgeable not only of the food, but of Tokyo as a whole. You can tell he really enjoys the city and especially letting people know how great it is there. Can't recommend him or the tour highly enough

Had a great time during our tour. I suggest taking the tour early on your trio so yo can better navigate your way around town.

We really enjoyed the tour. Wesley is a great guide, very friendly, knowledgable, and fun. The food stops were so much more than tasting the delicious food, so interesting to learn about the stories of the dishes coming to the table, the places, and their origins. Experiencing the tea tasting at a small tea shop made us aware that appreciation of the tea culture needs to be nurtured, especially among the younger generations. Overall it was a great experience. We highly recommend the tour!

We really enjoyed our Tokyo food tour with Vasilii. He took us to some great and unique places. Vasilii was knowledgeable about the food, culture, sights, and history of the area which really enhanced our enjoyment of the tour.

Wonderful experience. Ema was a great tour guide. Very knowledgeable, friendly and fun. We tried lots of new and delicious foods

My family of 8 arrived in Tokyo about 24 hours before this tour began. We are a group of 3 generations with varied food preferences and walking paces. Ully did a great job of leading (herding?) us from place to place with grace and humor. We learned a lot, and we ate a lot of new and delicious foods. We highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in walking through a neighborhood and tasting food at places you might never find on your own. When else would we have tried Okinawan style food and have heard a folk song from Okinawa sung by the restaurant owner at the conclusion of our meal??? Also, our guide Ully spoke wonderful English, and she knows firsthand about the culture and history of Japan. She interspersed facts and stories as we ate and talked, it almost felt like a mobile dinner party by the end of the evening.

An excellent you,really good fun and informative at the same time. Our guide Ully was friendly, well informed and ensured we had the best time, the food was excellent and we visited places we would never have found without her. Highly recommend if you want good food and a fun introduction to the Tokyo food scene.

We met at the clock tower with just another couple joining our group. Ema took us to places we would never have found or even if we came across them would have felt intimidated entering. Ema introduced us to the real Tokyo. Ema was very approachable, friendly, knowledgeable and to be honest just very good company.

As this was our first visit to Japan, our travel agent booked this food tour for us and as such, I am writing the review on the basis of not k owing how much it cost. We met our guide at the appointed time and very soon our ‘fellow foodies’ were gathered. One was a web adviser on Japan holidays and the other a travel agent from the Philippines. Our guide was Sandra, originally from Barcelona, but now residing in Japan. Although not a local, Sandra had clearly done her homework, and came across as being quite knowledgeable about Japan, so as well as some culinary knowledge she was able to impart interesting information about the Tokyo area. We stopped at an interesting variety of places, but upon counting back there were 5 stops, one of which was to see a demo of green tee being brewed and another was to see a bakery place at which we were just provided with some history followed by a dry biscuit with the company logo on it. 2 beers or ‘local’ drinks were provided. We enjoyed the overall experience and guide Sandra was good but on writing the review and looking up the price….£186 per person, I was shocked and am unable to recommend as good value.

Excellent experience with Ully on a food tour, great knowledge of the local area and was a pleasure to spend time with. Thanks again!

A true highlight of our stay in Tokyo, our food tour in the Yurakucho and Ginza districts of the city was an unforgettable delight. Our guide Yappy instantly enthralled and entertained us with stories and fascinating details of the area and culture as we tasted sumptuous food at a variety of restaurants (restaurants we would never have found without Yappy’s expert guidance). I highly recommend this tour!

I enjoyed the tour with Kaz! The food was fresh and tasty, the places we've been to interesting and different. I would recommend it to discover places you most likely won't visit yourself 💜

The AllStar Food Tour was amazing and wonderful. Our guide, Francois, shared so much about Japanese culture and introduced us to so many wonderful foods. We also got to participate in a tea ceremony, which was very interesting. This tour was the highlight of our visit. What a wonderful memory. Thank you!

Great introduction to local Japanese food in the Ginza district of Tokyo. The guide was excellent (together with his assistant) with just the right amount information without going over the top. Some interesting places visited, which you would not have normally found, and different types of food were experienced.

A quick shout-out to Hugh who showed us thru the Ginza ward and not only showed us some very interesting places to eat, but was also very knowledgeable about Tokyo customs (past and present) and history and was gracious enough to share that with us.

Shigeki, our All Star guide, took us to some fantastic restaurants, but really, the best part was the Inari shrine hidden away in a back alley in Ginza. Shigeki is so kind and knowledgable. Unforgettable guide, unforgettable tour. Highly recommended.

Kay was an amazing guide! Warm, friendly, and knowledgeable. Come hungry as there is plenty of food on the tour. Great way to start our visit to Japan. Learned and laughed so much while learning about japanese food and culture!

Amazing! We had very yummy food for all palates but also super interesting and unique foods. All of the places we would have never found by ourselves! Hidden underneath train tracks, Japanese cuisine from a far away Southern island - even got to try a unique snake liquor with the snake still in it! How cool! This is a tour for the more or less adventurous eaters alike. Accommodated food preferences and allergies perfectly. Kids on the tour even enjoyed it. Alcoholic or non alcoholic beverage at the savory food stops. The desserts were also to die for- mochi with chestnut was amazing! And the cracker cookie a delight. We loved all food and it was the best we’ve had so far on the trip- despite going out of our way as foodies and having tasted lots of delicious food around the world.

My family had a wonderful tour with Jacob. Eating in locations no tourist would know about. Authentic food and an amazing experience. Jacob knows so much about all the different areas of Japan and what best food they have. A great afternoon.

Excellent food and tour guide. We had a great time. We tried places we would not have otherwise known to try and learned a lot. It was a wonderful experience. Great communication both before the tour with logistics and during the tour.

We went about a week ago on the All Star tour with Norma as our guide. We had a great time. The food was really good. Found out some interesting things about Ginza. Norma was great. Would strongly recommend.

Great time with tour guide and food was delicious and catering for all dietary requirements is a fantastic.

Well organised tour, perfect pace, interesting and fantastic food and stories. Some great tips for eating in Japan including a few key Japanese phrases and etiquette.

Thank you, this was the best tour ever. The food was awesome, and Motoko, our tour guide, was thoughtful and really looked after the children as if she was family! The food choices were fantastic, yummy, and we also got a good tour of the Asukasa area! Highly recommend!

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Hannah B - not just a food tour but we also got lots of interesting insights into the city as well as experiencing yummy food. Thanks

This was the best food tour we went on while in the city! Kay was our guide and was excellent! She taught us so much about Japan and how to eat like a true local. Everything we tried was incredible and we left so full and happy! I would highly recommend for anyone visiting Tokyo!

We had an incredible time on our arigato Japan food tour! It was such a great way to learn some history of the city and enjoy food with the locals. Jacob was an awesome guide and we would recommend him to anyone looking to do a food tour through Tokyo. We will be sure to rebook on our next travel to Tokyo.

Thank you to Motoko, our tour guide for a fun and memorable night! We enjoyed the food and your company very much. Thank you so much for sharing the history of the places we visited. We would love to sign up with you and your company again and again! Thank you very much! Doe and cousins

The food tour was well organized but we wish it was a bit more kid-friendly. We notified our kids age way in advance but we were still taken to some experiences where kids were not welcomed. It felt like a waste. The food was good and our guide Sandra was very knowledgeable and kind.

To provide some context, I live near Vancouver BC where we have a wide variety of quality Japanese restaurants. We were not looking for an introduction to gyoza and sushi. We chose this tour as it seemed to offer a more sophisticated food experience. Positives: guide was knowledgeable and spoke excellent English; first two stops were great and offered good food with the highlight being grilled/smoked bonito. Negatives: we had to pay for a second drink (two drinks were supposed to be included we realized later). The last three stops were a cookie shop, tea shop and fruit daifuku shop. The cookie and tea shop just seemed like shopping stops and really didn't offer anything unusual if you've had green tea before. The daifuku shop was interesting and high-end, but three dessert stops out of 5 seemed lopsided. The other thing that was annoying is that we kept running into the same tour groups at the different eating venues, which didn't make this feel like a unique or carefully curated selection of eateries. Given the number of restaurants in Tokyo I think a much better job of choosing venues should be possible and there should be at least three savoury stops before getting to the sweets.

This was our first night in Tokyo and the tour was a great way to find out about Japanese food and lifestyle. Hannah was an excellent tour guide. Very knowledgable and inclusive for the whole group. The blackened tiny was delicious. Thanks

And a great way to meet other travellers too. Our tour guide Hannah was kind, enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable. And she also takes great pics too! Highly recommended

Motoko took us to a great variety of places and we had some delicious food, notably the briefly BBQ’d bonito and burdock with ‘whitebait’. The dessert at the end of the tour was also delicious and a massive sugar rush though by that stage my friend and I were fuller than we’d felt for ages. Still, we forced it down! Far too good to leave. We liked the pace of the tour and Motoko was an easy, friendly guide speaking excellent English. While she explained the reason for starting at 4, it would have been far preferable to start at 6. Couldn’t the places be booked in advance so that the tour could be accommodated even when places were busy?

We had the best time with Hannah B on our food tour in Ginza. Hannah did an excellent job of teaching us the history of the area and showing us around. We had a ton of fun and the food chosen was so different from the other food we found on our own. Delicious! Would highly recommend. Thanks Hannah!

The guide of this food tour was very nice and informative. We had no problems with him at all. The food tour consisted of 5 different venues; with what we thought was a high cost. However, with 5 different food venues we thought it would be worth it. The first two venues (seafood and noodle shops) were great and enjoyed by all. The third venue was a cookie/pastry shop where we were handed a cellophane wrapped thin dry biscuit/fortune like cookie; that was all. The fourth venue was a tea shop where we sampled 3 different small cups of green tea; took about 5 minutes (nothing else provided). The last venue was dessert and it was very nice. Basically, the tour was not worth the money based on venues 3 and 4.

It was fabulous. So much food… all delicious. A great introduction to Japanese food and culture. Shigeki was professional and entertaining. Very knowledgeable. Would highly recommend this tour.

My wife and I had a wonderful time with Shigeki! It was a great way to get to see the Ginza area, as well as to learn more about Japanese culture. It felt like the perfect amount and variety of food. Highly recommend!

My husband and I did a food tour in the Ginza area, and Shigeki was our guide! This was a great way to try local Japanese food and learn more about the history and culture. We tried a variety of food and drinks at places that we would have never found ourselves. Thanks to our excellent tour guide, Shigeki, for sharing a memorable experience!

We have done a lot of food tours and this was the lightest. Two of the stops were mainly for advertising purposes where the shop owner lets you taste tea or cookies with the hope of selling you things. You don’t really need a food tour to sample. Josh our tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Overall light in food options, so don’t recommend. Highly priced.

Had the best time with Yu Iizuka as our guide! All the spots were amazing and definitely places we wouldn’t have found on our own. I love sushi now lol. Loved all of his insight and background knowledge on the food and Japanese history and culture in general. Thanks Yu for sharing so much of yourself. Hope we can meet again soon!

An amazing way to spend an afternoon in Tokyo. The food was delicious (impossible to find by ourselves), the guide was amazing and all of us (5 in the family) had a terrific time.