Tokyo: Tsukiji Outer Market Breakfast Tasting Walk
ID: GYG1495816-2290367
Category:
Country: Japan
Duration:
04:00 hours
Description
Eat your way through the Tsukiji outer market before the tour groups arrive, with every tasting already paid for and a guide who knows which stalls the chefs still queue at.
The wholesale auction moved to Toyosu years ago. What stayed at Tsukiji is the part that actually feeds people: four hundred small shops and stalls in a grid of narrow lanes, most of them run by the same family for decades.
We start early, because Tsukiji is a morning market and by eleven o'clock the good things are gone and the lanes are full. Your group is collected from your hotel in central Tokyo and driven straight there.
You eat as you walk. Grilled scallop on the shell. A tamagoyaki omelette skewer cut from a hot pan. Tuna, from a shop that supplies restaurants, not tourists. Fresh wasabi grated in front of you so you understand what the green paste in your supermarket is not. Strawberries or melon depending on the month. Hot green tea between stops. Every tasting in this tour is already paid for, so you never hand over money at a stall.
Between bites your driver-guide explains the small things you would walk past: why the knife shop matters, how to read a price by grade, which stall the chefs from Ginza still come to at seven in the morning.
At the end we walk two minutes to the grounds of Tsukiji Hongwanji, a stone Buddhist temple that looks nothing like any other in Japan, and sit down for ten quiet minutes before driving you back.
This is a private tour. Only your group walks with the guide, and the route bends to what you like eating.
If a particular stall is closed on your date, and individual shops do take irregular days off, we substitute another tasting of the same value. Nothing is dropped from the price.
Highlights
- Start early, before the lanes fill and the best stalls sell out
- Six to eight tastings, all paid for in advance, no money at stalls
- Fresh wasabi grated in front of you, and tuna from a chefs supplier
- Learn to read grades and prices, not just photograph the fish
- Ends at Tsukiji Hongwanji temple, a stone building unlike any other
Guiding languages
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Tell us about allergies and food requirements when you book. Shellfish, raw fish, soy and wheat are all common here. We can build an entirely cooked route, and a halal or vegetarian route, if you tell us in advance.
The outer market is closed on most Sundays and on Japanese public holidays, and many shops also close on Wednesdays. We will only offer you dates when the market is properly open.
Raw fish is offered but never compulsory. Say so and we replace it with something cooked of the same value.
About 2 km of walking on flat ground, on wet stone in places. Wear shoes you do not mind splashing.
Come hungry and skip your hotel breakfast. This is a full breakfast spread over two hours.
If any individual stall is closed on your date we substitute another tasting of the same value, so nothing is lost from the price.
Price is for the whole group of up to 6 people, not per person.
INCLUDED
- Private van and English-speaking driver-guide for 4 hours
- Six to eight food and drink tastings for each person, all prepaid
- Hotel pickup and drop-off anywhere in central Tokyo
- Guided walk of the outer market lanes
- Visit to Tsukiji Hongwanji temple grounds
- Hot green tea
- All parking and road tolls
NOT INCLUDED
- Extra food or drink beyond the included tastings
- Anything you buy to take away
- Alcohol
- Gratuities, which are never expected in Japan
When should I book?
To guarantee availability book as soon as possible. Early booking is worth consideration especially if you planning the trip during high season like public holidays or weekends.
Cancellations
This excursion you can cancel with no cost up to 24 hours before the start of the trip. If you cancel it after 24 hours or not show up on the excursion you will still be charged the full price of the activity. Being late on pick-up or departure will be considered as not showing up.
