Traveler Reviews

• Ancabx204uq 06-Apr-2023

  My family and I had an amazing flavours experience at Kyoto Nishiki Food Market this week. Sae, our tour guide, was very professional, curteous, patient and very knowledgeable. As a local, she had many insights and made recommendations based on our interests. She introduced us to various traditional foods, savory or sweets, spices and ingredients, that otherwise would not have appealed to our pallate. It was an enlightening nourishment experience! Thank you, Sae!

• Sarahsantaclara 20-Mar-2023

  Mickey (Miyuki) was so much fun and so very helpful! She has such energy and enthusiasm, and knows so much about Japan! The hours flew by as we are our way through Nishiki, and Mickey found so many interesting things for us. I’m a seasoned traveler and have been to plenty of markets like this, but having her as a guide amped up the fun 10000%! She was able to get us samples of so many interesting things, and it was like hanging out with an old friend as we chatted at lunch. Book with Mickey! She was THE best tour guide we’ve ever had!

• Farleiii 27-Jul-2019

  Sets the surrounding stage well culturally and historically. We were able to eat food that varied a lot from one another. Having guidance was great. As far as orienting ourselves with culture in Kyoto this was a great way to start. Timing was perfect-the market gets much more crowded late on in the day. Our guides were great.

• Rapedathotel 26-Jul-2019

  Our guide, Abiyan, was knowledgable and fun to be with. We had a great time touring Nishiki Market and having lunch and really felt like we learned a but about the city that was out of the ordinary. Would recommend this wholeheartedly!

• Nancy L 24-Jun-2019

  We find these tours a fantastic way to orient ourselves with the unique aspects of the culture, area and food. This was a great tour. We learned quite a bit, tasted many samples - virtually anything we saw along the tour that we wanted to try. The market is fabulous. It was a true farmers market for centuries and remains a place the restaurant chefs come for special foods. But so much more! Not a tourist trap, it was lively and clearly a place for town residents. Now the lunch. It was fabulous. Seven courses may sound daunting but it is done in the small bento-box size so not at all overwhelming. I am a tiny eater and this was not too much to comfortably handle. The foods, style and service was very much that if the Kyoto region. The tour guide explained and answered many questions. The tour guide. Abiyan was wonderful. Handled our little group gracefully and was most informative. The tour company clearly is very good and finding guides that will work well with guests.

• Shannl808 07-Jun-2019

  This was our second tour with Arigato Food tours and so worth it. Nishiki Market is a huge street market in Kyoto. There are at least 100 vendors! We wanted to explore the food side of Kyoto and so glad we did! Our guide, Yoshiko Tanimoto, was from Kyoto and so knowledgable. If you can get booked with her I would recommend highly. She had me try things I would have NEVER tried. So worth the adventure it was because they were delicious! Like Yoshiko advised, "Close your eyes and bite!" You will not be sorry!

• Olivera88 31-May-2019

  Nishiki market is great place to visit, eat and buy things. But with guidelines of Yoshiko and Ida it was unforgettable experience. From them we learned about Japan’s culture and way of living.

• Moatazdajani 04-May-2019

  Most enjoyable market visit , tried several street foods. 7 course tofu lunch was excellent, didn't know that Tofu can be so diverse. Guide was very knowledgeable & fun.

• Scotiascotia 30-Apr-2019

  In Tokyo a few days ago we wandered around the fish market on our own - it was certainly fun and we tried a lot of things. Doing the guided tour in Kyoto was a whole different experience. Fun in a different way. It was nice to be able to actually ask questions, get some thoughts back, get suggestions about local specialties, etc. Our tour guide had spent a couple weeks in the US a while ago and had great English skills. Our group had a great time. And the full lunch to conclude it all was fantastic!

• Jrlp 09-Apr-2019

  We thoroughly enjoyed our tour. OK, we could have wandered through Nishiki Market on our own and sampled things (we're very independent travellers), but having a knowledgable local guide (Yoshiko) was undoubtedly a benefit and made it a fun event. The lunch was excellent, better than we expected! Very good food in a nice setting. Thank you Yoshiko!