Eat Like a Local in Tokyo – Private & Personalized Food Tour

Tokyo, Japan

3 hours (approx.)
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Go beyond the typical dining establishments frequented by tourists and get a real taste of local life on this guided food tour in Tokyo. In the company of a local host, discover local ingredients and dishes you have never heard of, and visit eateries you'd never find on your own. Eat your way around the city, visiting 2-3 different places that might include side street yakitori, tiny sushi joints, and lively izakaya, while your host shares insights into Tokyo food culture.

No language barriers: Benefit from having a guide to translate menus
Go off the beaten track and beyond the typical tourist-favored restaurants
Private tour that can be customized to your preferences
Plenty of variety: Taste 6–8 delicious local dishes

What's Included

A private, personalized experience with a local food expert
6-8 local dishes and drink tastings from 2-3 eateries
Pre-tour questionnaire to tailor your experience
Direct communication with your host to plan your itinerary and share recommendations

Additional food, drinks, or attraction tickets (beyond those included in the experience)
Transportation costs (as this is a walking tour, public transport may be used at an additional cost)
Gratuities (optional)

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

JR Nakano Station, 5-chōme Nakano, Nakano City, Tokyo 164-0001, Japan
Your host will be meet you at JR Nakano Station.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Nakano San Mall Shopping Street (Pass By)

Nakano (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Most travelers can participate
You'll receive a questionnaire about your personality and interests. Based on your responses, we'll assign a like-minded host who will communicate with you directly to suggest an itinerary and ensure your experience is flexible and tailored to your preferences.
This private tour is a walking experience. A private vehicle is not included.
Public transportation or local taxis may be used to transfer between sites. Exact transportation costs can be discussed with your host after your reservation is finalized.
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Reviews

4.0

based on 26 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Sort by: Most insightful

Amazing

stephanie_w, Jan 2025

Amazing food tour of Shibuya. We enjoyed our evening with Chiria - a little history of the area along with amazing knowledge of the food!

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thank you for your kind words! We are thrilled you enjoyed your Shibuya food tour with Chiria. Exploring the area's history and delicious food sounds like a perfect evening!

Great tour!

Gina_B, Oct 2024

Had a wonderful time walking through local markets, and sampling various delicious foods. Kieran was very informative and helped me buy some gifts for my family.

Response from Host, Oct 2024

Thank you for your lovely feedback! We're so glad to hear you enjoyed exploring the local markets with Kieran and tasting the delicious foods along the way. It’s wonderful that he was able to assist with finding gifts for your family too. We hope to welcome you on another walking tour with us in the future!

Great!

MelanieG, Jul 2024

Lauren got in touch with us weeks ahead and catered the tour to our liking. We visited and learned about places we would've never encountered on our ow. Highly recommended.

Response from Host, Jul 2024

Reading this warms our hearts! I am so thrilled to know Lauren gave you such a personalized and insightful experience. Thanks for choosing us and we look forward to welcoming you back.

One of the most beautiful and delicious meals

Jamil_R, Mar 2024

We had such a wonderful time with Mari on our first night in Tokyo. She met us at our hotel and took us to one of our favorite meals! It was a rainy night and she made it a great night with delicious food and incredible crepes. Thank you Mari!

Response from Host, Mar 2024

It's great to know that despite the rainy weather, Mari was able to make your evening memorable with delicious food and incredible crepes. Thanks for sharing your experience!

A highly recommended tour.

Saud_H, Dec 2023

Yohei is a very professional and accommodating guide. He communicated very well before starting the tour to make sure that we get the most out of this experience. He is a pleasant person and he did take us to local Japanese traditional restaurants with amazing food experience. A highly recommended tour for anyone who wants to experience local cusins outside the touristic restaurants.

Response from Host, Dec 2023

I'm overjoyed to hear about your experience with Yohei – thank you for sharing! Here's to the delightful food discoveries and Yohei 's dedication. Cheers!

Terrible experience!!

SidharthS, Nov 2023

Horrible experience - not even worth a penny! Because my hotel delayed my check in due to some system issue at their side I reached about 40 min late but regardless he promised he will give a fulfilling experience just to find out that it was hardly anything which he made me try. For a cost of $311 approx. this is a very bad experience with very bad host. He might have his own thoughts but I know for a fact that anyone who wants to experience while not getting ripped, this is definitely not the tour!!

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Hello Sidharth, I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing experience, especially considering the delay and unfulfilling nature of the tour. This falls short of the standard we aim for, and your feedback is invaluable in helping us address and rectify such situations. We've reached out to you directly to discuss this further and find a fair resolution. We appreciate your understanding and the opportunity to make things right. Warm regards, Ruslan and the City Unscripted Team.

what a great food experience!

Shalini_D, Jun 2023

Our guide Jonny Wu arrive promptly and took us to an amazing food tour in Shinjuku. We went to 3 great restaurants which we would not have found on our own, each one a bit different than the other. He was great company and very knowledgeable about the food and city and fun to be with!!

An expensive disappointment

William_H, May 2023

Your mileage may vary - this seems highly dependent on who you get as a guide. We read the good reviews and were excited by the first guide we were assigned, who reached out over a week ahead of time to help plan an itinerary. For whatever reason a new guide, Ian, was assigned. In short we were treated to a night of wandering aimlessly while he looked for places on Google Maps (none of which he had been to before, many of which were not open). Couldn't be bothered to learn the names of the 5 people in our group. Demonstrated no knowledge of the neighborhood we were eating in. Had no interest in sharing info about local food culture, history, traditions, etc. Was a wasted night, especially disappointing given the high cost. We reached out for a refund and the company took their sweet time but did offer a partial one, so there's something. Your experience may be wonderful like many reviews; just make sure you get the guide you are working with from the outset and cancel if a new one appears suddenly at the last minute.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Hello William, I appreciate your candid feedback and understand your frustration. We're sorry that the switch to another host led to a disappointing experience after the anticipation created by your original host. We're enhancing our procedures and host training to handle such situations more effectively. Your trust means a lot to us, and we've contacted you directly to address your concerns and provide a resolution. We hope for a chance to change your perspective and provide an unforgettable experience in the future. Warm regards, Ruslan and the City Unscripted Team.

Tokyo afternoon

David_G, May 2023

Wonderful walking tour and lunch. Tsukiji market. Fukugawa Edo Museum. Kind a Ed thoughtful guide who customized the day. Wonderful to chat and learn new neighborhoods after many trips to Tokyo.

Great Experience

Jessica_M, May 2023

I loved this tour. We did this after 5 days in Toyko and still manage to see things we didn't see before. It was all about the food and it was awesome food and great company. We had a great time and would do it again.

A fun day in Tokyo

Ginger_H, Mar 2023

I had a wonderful tour with Mari. She tailored the tour to my interests, showing me lots of local “treasures” I wouldn’t have found on my own. She was also good company and we had a lot of laughs. Definitely book with this company and ask for Mari.

Gabriel was excellent

Vanessa_G, Jan 2023

Gabriel was fantastic. I loved my tour and saw parts of Tokyo that only a local could help me navigate. Definitely made my trip so much better AND he gave me some great recommendations to a local ramen spot to try later on my trip that turned out to be fantastic.

Amazing guide Karina

Margarita_P, Jan 2020

Our very customize food trip was Amazing thanks for our wonderful guide Karina. We communicated before tour via email, she listen to our preferences, she advise great new places, we had no idea about. She was very accommodating. We found out a lot about local life. Thank you Karina!!!

The food was great.

Stegar_T, Sep 2019

So, first let me say that our guide was very nice, but she was also fighting a cold, which probably isn't a good thing for a food tour. Then while she met us at the hotel, we then took a complicated metro/subway ride to get to the area of Tokyo for eating. We had many issues with those tickets, and at times, it almost had us cancel before we started. Once we started the actual food part, it was fun and we were tasting many different things. We did cut the tour short, and took a cab to the hotel, instead of trying to get back the way we came. Our guide did give us a partial refund, which we appreciated.

Response from Host, Oct 2019

Dear ragets, Thank you for submitting feedback on your recent City Unscripted experience. I review all comments we receive from guests and the team and I are always looking for ways to improve our services. This being said, we are currently conducting a thorough investigation on your experience and will get in touch with your host to get a better understanding of the situation and ensure that similar confusion can be avoided in the future. We aim to provide all our guests with 5* experiences at all times so I am sorry that this wasn’t the case for you in Tokyo. However, I am happy to hear that you enjoyed the food and hope you are willing to join us in the future for another tasty experience with a friendly local in any of our 40+ destinations worldwide! Kind regards, Sonja Customer Happiness Manager - City Unscripted

Try it

Manley_C, Sep 2019

Surprised that our guide Mike was an American in Japan. Food was good.....make sure you come hungry. Definitely recommend it.

Response from Host, Jan 2025

Thank you for your feedback! It’s great to hear Mike made your experience enjoyable and that the food was a highlight. Coming hungry sounds like excellent advice—thanks for recommending it!

Best Tour We Did in Tokyo

jmillsnj, Jul 2018

Our guide, Sergio, went above and beyond to give us a great tour. We definitely visited places and ate food we never would have found on our own. I'd have to say this was the best night of our trip.

Mit Noah durch die lokalen Izakaya Restaurants

Jim_M, Nov 2024

Wir wurden von Noah durch Tokio geführt und hatten eine hervorragende Zeit. Er war uns immer einen Schritt voraus und wusste wo die besten Läden zu finden waren. Ein unvergessliches Erlebnis welches was ohne Noahs umfangreiches Wissen und mit seiner charmanten Art nicht erlebt hätten. Klare Empfehlung für jeden der Tokio besucht. Gerne wieder!

Response from Host, Nov 2024

Hello Jim, Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We're thrilled to hear that Noah's knowledge and charm made your Tokyo experience truly unforgettable. We’ll be sure to pass along your kind words to him—he’ll be delighted to know he helped make your visit so special!