Tokyo Ramen Tours — Local services in Tokyo

We enjoyed a full day of à la carte guidance around Tokyo with Frank. Grown up in Tokyo with a partially American background, still living there and regularly travelling the world, he knows the ins and outs of Japanese culture, speaks Japanese and English natively, can relate to many other cultures and is simply the perfect guide for a trip to Tokyo. If you want to experience Japanese culture as well as the (very) local food scene, he’s your go-to guy! He can take you to places you might otherwise not visit or discover, and he can provide you with a true taste (also literally) of Tokyo. An authentic visit to Japan or specifically Tokyo, simply requires a guide, without one you might as well stay at home and watch a documentary. Frank is very knowledgeable, delightfully chatty and entertaining, and he’s obsessed with ramen. (We suspect he might actually need medical care if he’d have to go without ramen for a few days). He catered to our interests and our tastes with great confidence and could provide multiple alternatives to choose from. As a result, we got to taste a lot of delicious things we’d never even heard of before. At our request he guided us to places only frequented by locals and which you simply can’t visit without a guide. If you want to do the very touristy highlights in Tokyo, he’s got you covered - and let’s be fair, we’re tourists so obviously we also want to do some of the touristy stuff. But in addition to that, Frank excels in providing a local experience tailored to your interests!

Two days later we met up with Frank again to enjoy a rare behind the scenes kitchen experience in the world of ramen. We met at 5am... which is ideal because it doesn’t break up your day. He took us to a very local and tiny ramen restaurant. There we got to make our very own bowl of ramen guided by the chef while Frank translated the instructions. He also made sure the cooking action was recorded so you have some nice photos and videos to remember it by and to show off your skills to friends and family at home. And of course we got to eat our own bowl of delicious ramen too!

There is a lot of diversity in ramen, so it helps if you really understand what kind of flavours and textures you like. If you have a hard time deciding, Frank will happily guide you!

Thanks again Frank! We had an amazing Tokyo...

With this being my first visit to Tokyo Japan, one of the first things I wanted to do was to experience the various ways ramen is prepared in Japan and to deepen my understanding and appreciation for the dish.

With that, I began searching for a tour company that was submersed in the Japanese culture, informative, educational and could provide a balanced and well-rounded experience.

After an extensive search, I came across the company “Viator.” After reading the reviews, I decided on the “Ramen Tasting-Mini Bowl Ramen Tour.”

The tour was scheduled for 10/10/24 at 5pm. Our tour guy (Deep), arrived on time at the location given. He was very personable, enthusiastic, friendly and displayed a passion for his job. He provided us with the evening’s itinerary and inquired if there were any allergic concerns and/or special diet restrictions he should be aware of.

We visited three separate ramen restaurants each exposing us to the various ways which, ramen is prepared. Each of the restaurants provided ramen bowls which contained fresh ingredients and tasted amazing.

The flavor profiles varied at each of the restaurants, so you didn’t feel as if you were eating the same thing every time.

Although, the tour described the ramen bowls as, “Mini” by the end of the tour you will feel more than satisfied. I would highly recommend only having a light snack before your tour and come hungry.

It became clear at the onset of our tour that Deep was very knowledgeable and possessed vast amounts of experience with respect to the Japanese culture, specifically, as it pertained to ramen and its origin.

He was able to answer any question posed to him which, further demonstrated his expertise as a guide. Without question, his personality enhanced our overall experience making for a very enjoyable tour.

If you’re a lover of ramen then this tour is a “MUST.” When booking, I would highly recommend requesting Deep as your guide, you’ll be...

I highly recommend the 5AM Ramen Tour to anyone who eats food. Not only were we treated to a dozen delicious bowls of mini ramen, but spending 3 hours with Frank, our fearless tour guide who took every precaution necessary and braved a pandemic to educate us about ramen, was quite possibly the most entertaining 3 hours I've had in the past 4 months.

Full disclosure: I've known Frank since I was 3 years old. So, on our tour, I imagine Frank brought his A-Game. His deep expertise with regards to ramen was evident by well-thought out answers from the group's tough questions. Not only that, Frank deftly evaded heckling from the crowd (me) with humor and poise that made one feel ashamed for actually attempting to do so.

A group of 9 of us scheduled the three-hour tour with stops in three different ramen stores in the Nakameguro, Ebisu and Shibuya area. Between the 9 of us, we have over 200 combined years of ramen eating experience, yet none of us have ever been to any of the 3 stores on the tour. Additionally, our minds were stimulated with fun facts about the history of ramen and prognosis of the trends of the Japanese noodle-soup in the post-pandemic future.

Honestly, the price had been a slight deterrent in the past, but for a food tour, this was money well spent. The shop selection was excellent and surprisingly they were very flexible in accommodating to our requests. Each restaurant has a selection of four mini bowls, from which one person choses two. I highly recommend going with a partner so you can try all four from each store, which is why we tasted a dozen different bowls of ramen. At the last restaurant, we were given a special treat with a limited-time-only offer of 5 additional choices. Whether you are a local or visitor, Frank's 5AM Ramen Tour is a must-do regardless of whether we're in a...