Tokyo: Shinjuku Food Tour Highlights (Best Eats)

One of the worst tours I've ever taken. While the restaurants and food they chose were good. Our guide was the absolute worst! So awkward and uninformative! So so bad! From the second she arrived you can tell she didn't want to be there and the tour reflected that energy. Long walks of awkward silence. At the first location she didn't even know what was ordered! Her defense was she didn't order it, the company did, and she usually works Shibuya. Clueless. The first plate was sashimi, she knew salmon. And her description of the other fish was "it's sashimi raw fish," just enjoy. I asked her what they were and she said let me ask again, waitress came and described them in Japanese. She said oh I don't know the English names and proceeded to repeat the names in Japanese. Next dish was a salad with tofu and mixed greens. She pulled up her phone and read off the ingredients. I ate it. As I was eating it my friend said be careful there is shrimp inside the dish. I am allergic to shellfish and our horrible tour guide knew this. She said no there isn't, it's just veggies and pulled out her phone again and read it of some list. I said there is fish in this, little tiny fish, she said no there isn't. I then pointed to it and she quickly changed the subject. Thankfully it was not shrimp otherwise would have been so bad. As much as I wanted to leave the tour my friends insisted we continue because we had already paid for it. We continued with more awkward silence and more blah interactions with our bad guide. I wont name her, even though I know her name. Just have Faith I would never ever go on this tour again and definitely do not recommend. So many other tours. Do any other one, where the guide actually enjoys her job and isn't just doing it for a paycheck. I would demand a refund but I ate the food and thankfully I was with friends. Would have dreaded being alone with just this bad tour guide.

Our guide Peter was fantastic but I was let down by the itinerary which did not match the TripAdvisor description. The “About” section on TripAdvisor says “The Shinjuku Golden Gai district in Tokyo is packed with tiny bars that can be tough to navigate on your own. This bar crawl takes you to several hidden bars you wouldn’t discover on your own…”. Similarly, the photos from “Management” on TripAdvisor show grilled skewers that appear to be from Omoide Yokocho and the “What to Expect” section references one hour at Omoide Yokocho. What we actually did was walk through Omoide Yokocho, without stopping for food there, on the way to a sushi/sashimi spot, then to Kabuchiko for a bite of katsu, strolling around and then stopping for Okinawan food (the highlight of the evening), and ending with another stop for dessert. Peter was delightful, provided good insight, and answered all our questions. Trying Okinawan food was a nice surprise and something I wouldn’t have been able to do on my own. But the fatal flaw for this tour was that it did not match the TripAdvisor description or photos at all! If the description had been more accurate I would’ve booked a different tour that highlighted Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai.

Excellent tour with great food selections and drinks were a great accompaniment. Highly recommend this if you want to explore local food in the Shinjuku area.

We had a lovely time. Mak was informative and the food was great You won’t leave hungry that’s for sure!!

We met on one side of Shinjuku and walked over from side to the other side. Be ready to walk. Lloyd, who was our guide, did a good job giving this tour. At each stop gave a little history and briefing and we all got to try a variety of food from Shinjuku. We tried food from a Izakaya, pork cutlets from a historical restaurant , food from Okinawa cuisine and dessert. Overall four good choices.

Food was good, but the experience and information about Shinjuku was better! Our guide, May, was great.

Well worth it, gives you a real feel for the city. Places you would not think to visit and authentic Japanese food. Michael was a great guide, made the evening enjoyable and interesting

I joined bar hopping tour in Tokyo and had an amazing time! Our guide, Benjamin took us to hidden gems where locals actually spend their Friday nights, which made the experience feel very authentic. Along the way, he suggested a great variety of local food and drinks, so I got to try things I wouldn’t have found on my own. Benjamin also shared interesting historical facts about Japan as well as insights into modern life, which gave the night even more depth. The balance of culture, food, and fun was perfect. I really enjoyed the entire experience and would highly recommend this tour with Benjamin as your guide!

Kai was a great guide. We had a great time with him. She made us discover hidden places of Tokyo with authentic flavors and different atmospheres. Thank you very much for this this inner tour of Tokyo.

Such a great experience the guild was great. Took us to several bars with great conversations. Would recommend over and over again.