Shimbashi Night Food Tour

Shimbashi Night Food Tour

Enjoy a Tokyo night out in Shimbashi, an oasis for businessmen

Overview

Slip into the role of a Tokyo salaryman for the evening and step into the hidden drinking dens of Shimbashi, where the city's office workers gather after dark. The neighbourhood's narrow lanes and railway-arch alleys hide the kind of izakayas and ramen shops that visitors rarely find on their own, and your guide opens the door to two of them.

The first stop is Izakaya Sato, a small Japanese pub where quality is treated as more important than quantity. The bluefin tuna comes from auction, the mackerel is fresh enough to be lightly vinegared and eaten raw, and the seasonings are chosen with care: the soy sauce for sashimi comes from Kagoshima, the ponzu from Kyoto, and the salt from Ishikawa. A seven-course tasting moves through appetizers, hot dishes, sashimi, fried dishes, Japanese delicacies and grilled fish, alongside an all-you-can-drink bar of sake, beer and other Japanese alcohol. Your izakaya-loving guide explains every plate and pour as it lands on the table.

To close the evening, your guide leads you to a Shimbashi ramen shop, an area known across Tokyo for an unusually high concentration of top-tier ramen counters. Pork, seafood, soy sauce, salt or vegetable broths are all on the table depending on your preference. In Japan there is a long-standing custom of ending a drinking party with a bowl of ramen, and this final stop closes the night the way locals do.

Details

❖ Hotel Pick-up

18:00

Your guide meets you at your hotel within the eleven central Tokyo wards and accompanies you to Shimbashi by metro or train. Pick-up is at six in the evening, the hour when the offices of Shinbashi, Toranomon and Kasumigaseki empty out and the salarymen begin their walk toward the gado-shita lanes under the railway arches.

❖ Izakaya Sato

18:30 - 20:30 (2:00 h)

The first restaurant we visit, Sato, is a small Japanese izakaya. At Sato, quality is more important than quantity, both in terms of food and alcohol. The tuna is bluefin tuna and the pickled mackerel is fresh enough to be eaten raw and lightly vinegared. The seasonings are carefully selected so that you can feel the quality of Japanese ingredients: the soy sauce for sashimi comes from Kagoshima, the ponzu from Kyoto and the salt from Ishikawa. The tour includes six different items from the menu (appetizers, hot dishes, sashimi, fried dishes, Japanese delicacies and grilled fish) and an all-you-can-drink bar with a selection of Japanese sake, beer and other alcohol. Your izakaya-loving guide will explain the contents of the menu as appropriate.

Sato offers a seven-course izakaya menu unique to Japan, using a variety of seasonal ingredients purchased by the owner. Please note that the menu is subject to change depending on availability and the time of year. The following is a sample menu.

Examples of dishes served at Sato:

① Appetizer: Asparagus, Bitter gourd with miso paste, Deep-fried and soaked eggplant

② Nimono: Deep-fried fresh onion

③ Sashimi: bonito, tuna, vinegared mackerel, etc.

④ Deep-fried snow crab croquette

⑤ Deep-fried octopus

⑥ Sake snack: firefly squid with vinegared miso, iburigakko cheese, dashimaki tamago (rolled egg)

⑦ Hot dish: grilled Spanish mackerel

❖ Shimbashi by Night

20:30 - 21:00 (30 min)

After dinner, your guide walks you through the gado-shita alleys of Shimbashi, the narrow streets tucked under the elevated railway tracks where paper lanterns mark the entrances of yokocho bars. The short transit between dinner and the ramen counter is the most photographed part of Shimbashi night life, and the contrast with the office towers a few minutes away is striking.

❖ Shimbashi Ramen Shop

21:00 - 21:45 (45 min)

Next, your guide will take you to a ramen shop that offers pork, seafood, soy sauce, salt, vegetable or other types of ramen according to your preferences. Shimbashi is one of the most popular areas in all of Tokyo with extremely high-level ramen shops. In Japan, there is a culture of ending a drinking party with a bowl of ramen noodles, so enjoy an evening unique to Tokyo in Shimbashi, where local Japanese people frequent after work.

A. Ramen Horiuchi Shimbashi

Ramen Horiuchi is particular about its noodles, with the boiling time adjusted according to temperature and humidity to give them a sticky, firm texture. The restaurant also features a light, traditional soy sauce-flavoured soup made from chicken and pork bones, and thick, juicy pork chashu (pork cutlet). For those who want to try a slightly different ramen, zaru ramen and natto ramen are also recommended.

Opening hours:

Mon - Thu: 7:00 - 27:00
Fri: 7:00 - 28:30
Sat: 11:00 - 27:00
Sun & holidays: 11:00 - 23:00

B. Ramen Tanise-ya

At Ramen Tanise-ya, you can enjoy the classic Iekei-ramen (a style of ramen with fatty pork-soy-sauce flavored soup with thick flat noodles). The pork bone broth simmered for a day, which matches the slippery noodles, is very rich but not boring. So, it is easy for everyone to eat, and many people queue day and night to get a taste. The service is also attractive: you can choose the firmness of the noodles, the amount of oil and the intensity of the flavor to your liking, and rice and refills are free of charge.

Opening hours:

Daily: 11:00 - 26:00

❖ Hotel Drop-off

22:00

Your guide accompanies you back to your hotel by the closest evening transport, with arrival around ten in the evening.

OPTIONS

Notes

The izakaya is a small venue and smoking is allowed, so other guests may be smoking nearby.
Reservations are confirmed two days before the scheduled date due to ingredient preparation. No refunds are issued after the reservation has been confirmed.
If you have food allergies or any ingredient you cannot eat, please let us know at least seven days before the tour date.
The izakaya menu changes depending on availability and season.
During the peak travel periods of March, April, October and December, an additional charge of two thousand yen per person applies.
Izakaya Sato specialises in seafood. While non-seafood options are available on the menu, we do not recommend this tour for guests who are not fond of seafood.
Tours do not run on Fridays and Sundays, or on the day before a Japanese national holiday.

Meeting Point

Hotel pick-up within the eleven central Tokyo wards: Minato-ku, Chuo-ku, Shibuya-ku, Shinjuku-ku, Taito-ku, Shinagawa-ku, Bunkyo-ku, Chiyoda-ku, Toshima-ku, Meguro-ku and Sumida-ku. For hotels outside these areas, please contact us in advance to arrange a custom pick-up.

What's included:

A seven-course izakaya tasting menu
All-you-can-drink set (sake, beer and other Japanese alcohol)
One bowl of ramen at a local ramen counter
English-speaking guide
Hotel pick-up and drop-off within eleven central Tokyo wards (Minato, Chuo, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Taito, Shinagawa, Bunkyo, Chiyoda, Toshima, Meguro and Sumida)
Round-trip transportation between your hotel and Shimbashi
Photos of tour participants
Local tax