Tokyo: Edo Soba, Tempura & Eel Tasting Flexible Private Tour

A flexible private food tour for 1-6 guests by van tasting Edo's classic soba, tempura and anago eel at long-running Tokyo shops, with tastings included.
Before sushi became Tokyo's calling card, the city ate soba, tempura and eel, and some of the shops that served Edo still open their doors every lunchtime.

Your driver-guide collects you at 11:00 in a private van for one to six guests and drives to Kanda, where two famous soba houses stand a few streets apart. Kanda Matsuya has made buckwheat noodles since 1884, and Kanda Yabu Soba is known for its light, pale noodles and its sing-song order calls. You share a soba tasting at one of them and your guide explains how Edo people ate noodles quickly between work. Next, the van takes you to Asakusa for tempura at Daikokuya, where prawns are fried in sesame oil to a dark, rich crust. The third tasting is anago, a sea eel that Edo cooks simmered and grilled, at Nihonbashi Tamai, served in a lacquer box. Between shops you can walk up to Kanda Myojin Shrine, the guardian shrine of old Kanda. If your group wants a full meal, Imahan in Ningyocho is an old sukiyaki house, optional and at your own cost. You are back at your hotel around 16:00.

This is a flexible private tour: choose three to five stops from the menu, which is Kanda Matsuya soba (since 1884), Kanda Yabu Soba, Asakusa Daikokuya tempura, Nihonbashi Tamai for anago eel, Ningyocho Imahan for sukiyaki (optional, own cost), and Kanda Myojin Shrine. Your driver-guide adjusts the order and pace during the tour to suit the weather, opening hours and your energy. Included tickets stay included whichever stops you choose.

Three tasting portions per guest at two or three shops are included, which together make a filling lunch. The private van, driver-guide, pickup and drop-off anywhere in the Tokyo 23 wards, fuel, tolls, parking and bottled water are included. Extra dishes, drinks and the optional Imahan sukiyaki are at your own cost.

This tour suits food lovers, history fans and repeat visitors who have already done sushi and want the older taste of Tokyo.

If any included stop, ticket or activity cannot run on your date because of weather, closure or availability, your driver-guide takes you to a similar place nearby instead. The tour price does not change.

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.

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.