Tokyo guided culinary tour and tasting local specialities

Sample local culinary specialities while enjoying an evening out in Tokyo!

Japanese cuisine is one of the most popular in the world and the reason why numerous visitors flock to Japan - particularly Tokyo which has over one hundred thousand restaurants! During this tour, you'll enjoy Tokyo's food culture just like a local, by going to several establishments accompanied by your guide, who'll tell you all about the history of the culinary specialities and places you visit, while sharing their own food-related knowledge.

After meeting up with your guide, you'll begin by going to the basement of a famous department store, which has a superb food hall AKA depachika. You'll find ready meals, deli products, desserts and other sweet treats. You'll learn more about traditional Japanese pastries, called wagashi, and get to snack on one. Their delicate shapes and colours are inspired by flowers and plants. They're usually made from rice flour and red bean paste and are accompanied by green tea.

You'll then take an evening stroll through the Ginza district, known for its luxury boutiques and numerous restaurants, before heading to Tsukishima and Monja Street, a street lined with restaurants specialising in monjayaki. You'll get to sample this battered Tokyo dish which uses various ingredients (vegetables, meat, octopus, etc); it's often compared to Osaka's okonomiyaki, which is cooked on a hot plate in front of you. You can watch your dish being cooked and chat with the chef, before eating your "monja" with a small metal spatula.

You'll then return to Ginza by metro and go to Yakitori Alley, which is lined with izakaya and stalls a lot of which, as the name suggests, serve yakitori (chicken kebabs). You can enjoy a glass of beer or sake with some yakitori in one of the restaurants, just like the locals do after work. The tour ends after this visit. You can make your own way back to your hotel, but your guide will be happy to point you in the right direction if you want to continue your evening on the town!