Tokyo: Shinjuku Local Eats, Street Food Tour & Culture Walk

I booked this tour because of the title and description, "Tokyo: Shinjuku Local Eats, Street Food Tour & Culture Walk". The title and the description are super deceptive, deceiving, and extremely misleading. Five days before our tour, I messaged the tour operator and asked what food was included on the tour so we could plan accordingly. The tour operator responded by saying, " There is no food included on the tour". I said, "I'm confused because the title of the tour is Shinjuku Local Eats and Street Food Tour, but you are saying that there is no food included, and there are several pictures of different street foods in the tour description?" The operator did not respond. On the day of our tour, they canceled our tour with the excuse that the guide was ill. Very convenient excuse. However, I wish the guide a full recovery if that's the true case. And I hope the tour operator change the title of this tour to a more honest description. I don't recommend this tour due to a deceiving title & description.

Ryo was our local guide, three diverse restaurants: satay, dumplings and sushi visited. Spoke very fluent English, visited another shrine with us, got many info about Japan and address for other sushi restaurants on tape. At the end of our trip he also made a telephone reservation for a bar. Very pleasant, polite and non-intrusive contact. Recommended!

This was a good food tour as we got to eat at 3 different restaurants, so ate a variety of food. Therefore remember to pace yourself. Our guide Ryo, explained beforehand the types of food we would be trying. Important to note that although in the guide, it recommends bringing cash, it does NOT make clear that there are No split bills. Therefore bring sufficient cash in various denominations to cover the bill. In our group, one person opted to pay the bill by credit card and the rest paid her by cash. Fortunately our particular tour group gelled almost immediately so we all made sure that she was recompensed. However this could be a very awkward situation if everyone does not have adequate cash. You might have to go into a convenience store to get more cash. Fortunately there are convenience stores on every corner.

We enjoyed all 3 restaurants Ryo took us to. He communicated with us before the tour. His recommendations were spot on. We will be going back to the restaurants he took us to. I recommend Ryo as your guide.

Good experience over all, food was good, and the company was as well. I wish we would have known about the cover charge at one place, and that we had to pay for some table apps that were required. Ryo was helpful and informative, when asked questions.

Haru was our guide tonight and he was fantastic. The food was delicious and his suggestions were spot on. He also gave us a great insight into living life in Tokyo. He showed us a side of Shinjuku that we had not explored. Would highly recommend this tour.

Our travelling party of 6 (+ 1 other) was happy to be shown some places to dine in Shinjuku, and Ryu made it easy by ordering off the menu for us. He had some local intel about the area. However, was not particularly engaging. Perhaps he is new to hosting a tour? He was very polite and helpful when we asked questions, but I guess we were expecting him to lead some interesting discussions. Where I had been expecting a customisable selection of restaurant food, my pescatarian diet was not well accommodated - at one restaurant resorting to a bowl of edamame and fries. The rest of our group (omnivores) were well catered for.

A delightful evening in the bustle of Shinjuku. Seated at a table in several local venues for really good local specialities.

We had a delightful evening with Haru. He was personable, sensitive and engaging. It was the end of our first day in Japan and we were happy to learn about Japanese culture from a young local and also a little about life in Tokyo. Haru came across as a mature young man and he spoke excellent English. Would highly recommend!

We had Leo as our guide. He walked with us thru the streets and know exactly were to go and recommended us the most famous food we must taste. He made the reservations ahead at the restaurant so we did not had to wait. I highly recommend this tour to others while in Tokyo area.