Kyoto Nishiki Market Morning Food Tour: Kyo-Yasai, Yuba & Pickles
Day tour
Food tour
Standard
Departure point
→
Destination
Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto
1N (Participation Duration)
Walking (Transportation)
English (Language)
Number of participants 0/8
0 booked
Tour description
Nishiki Market has supplied Kyoto's kitchens for around four hundred years. It is a single covered lane, four hundred metres long and about three metres wide, lined with specialist shops that each sell one thing - pickles, tofu skin, dried fish, knives, tea. Kyoto's cooking is built on what is sold here, so this is the most efficient way to understand the city's food.
We walk it at nine in the morning, which matters: by half past eleven the lane is so crowded that a group cannot move, let alone taste anything. We stop at a pickle house for tsukemono cut from the barrel, at a tamagoyaki shop for rolled omelette hot off the copper pan, at a yuba maker who lifts the tofu skin off the vat in front of you, and at a sesame and soy-milk stall for doughnuts. Your guide explains kyo-yasai, the heirloom Kyoto vegetables, and why a city with no coastline built a cuisine on dried and pickled things.
We finish outside the market with a proper tea tasting - gyokuro and matcha side by side - so you understand what the fuss is about.
Small group, maximum 8 guests, entirely on foot.
We walk it at nine in the morning, which matters: by half past eleven the lane is so crowded that a group cannot move, let alone taste anything. We stop at a pickle house for tsukemono cut from the barrel, at a tamagoyaki shop for rolled omelette hot off the copper pan, at a yuba maker who lifts the tofu skin off the vat in front of you, and at a sesame and soy-milk stall for doughnuts. Your guide explains kyo-yasai, the heirloom Kyoto vegetables, and why a city with no coastline built a cuisine on dried and pickled things.
We finish outside the market with a proper tea tasting - gyokuro and matcha side by side - so you understand what the fuss is about.
Small group, maximum 8 guests, entirely on foot.
Meeting point:
View on map
Nishiki Market east entrance, Teramachi arcade, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto
We meet at the east entrance of Nishiki Market where it joins the Teramachi arcade, three minutes from Shijo subway station or Kyoto-Kawaramachi on the Hankyu line. Your guide will have a small sign with your name.
Detailed itinerary
Stop 1 - Nishiki east entrance: We start with the market's etiquette, which matters here - you eat in front of the shop you bought from, not while walking - and your guide's short history of Kyoto's kitchen.
Stop 2 - Tsukemono, Kyoto pickles: Cut from the barrel at a pickle house - salted cucumber, shibazuke, senmaizuke turnip - with your guide on why a landlocked capital preserved everything.
Stop 3 - Tamagoyaki: Rolled dashi omelette lifted hot off a rectangular copper pan and sold on a stick, from a shop that makes only this.
Stop 4 - Fresh yuba: Tofu skin lifted off the vat with chopsticks in front of you and eaten within a minute, with soy sauce and wasabi. A Kyoto temple-cuisine staple.
Stop 5 - Dashi and dried goods: A stop at a dried-fish and kombu merchant, where your guide explains how dashi is actually built and lets you smell the difference between grades.
Stop 6 - Soy milk doughnuts and sesame: Warm soy-milk doughnuts and black sesame sweets from the market's dessert end.
Stop 7 - Tea tasting: Gyokuro and matcha tasted side by side at a Kyoto tea house, with your guide explaining shading, grades and how to brew it at home.
Stop 2 - Tsukemono, Kyoto pickles: Cut from the barrel at a pickle house - salted cucumber, shibazuke, senmaizuke turnip - with your guide on why a landlocked capital preserved everything.
Stop 3 - Tamagoyaki: Rolled dashi omelette lifted hot off a rectangular copper pan and sold on a stick, from a shop that makes only this.
Stop 4 - Fresh yuba: Tofu skin lifted off the vat with chopsticks in front of you and eaten within a minute, with soy sauce and wasabi. A Kyoto temple-cuisine staple.
Stop 5 - Dashi and dried goods: A stop at a dried-fish and kombu merchant, where your guide explains how dashi is actually built and lets you smell the difference between grades.
Stop 6 - Soy milk doughnuts and sesame: Warm soy-milk doughnuts and black sesame sweets from the market's dessert end.
Stop 7 - Tea tasting: Gyokuro and matcha tasted side by side at a Kyoto tea house, with your guide explaining shading, grades and how to brew it at home.
Tour price includes
• Small-group English-speaking local food guide (maximum 8 guests)
• All food tastings listed in the itinerary
• A seated green tea tasting at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout
• All taxes and service fees
• All food tastings listed in the itinerary
• A seated green tea tasting at the final stop
• Bottled water and wet wipes throughout
• All taxes and service fees
Tour price excludes
• Hotel pick-up and drop-off (the meeting point is 3 minutes from two stations)
• Subway fares
• Alcoholic drinks
• Personal travel insurance
• Gratuities (tipping is not customary in Japan and will be politely refused)
• Subway fares
• Alcoholic drinks
• Personal travel insurance
• Gratuities (tipping is not customary in Japan and will be politely refused)
Cancellation policy
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour start time for a full refund. Cancellations within 24 hours are non-refundable. Tours run rain or shine - Nishiki is entirely covered. If we cancel, you receive a full refund or a free transfer.
Other notes
Runs daily at 09:00. The early start is the whole design: Nishiki between 11:30 and 15:00 is impassable with a group.
Market etiquette, which we take seriously: Nishiki asks visitors not to eat while walking. We eat at each shop's own counter or standing space. Large luggage is not allowed in the lane, you carry your own rubbish, and you keep to the left. Ask before photographing a shop or its staff.
Many stalls are cash only. Individual shops close on a Wednesday or a Sunday and the closures are not uniform, so your guide confirms the route the day before and always has a substitute.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Vegetarian works well at Nishiki via yuba, pickles, tofu and tea; a vegan route is possible with notice. Dashi is fish-based, so tell us if that is an issue.
Entirely on foot, about 1.5 km on flat covered ground.
Market etiquette, which we take seriously: Nishiki asks visitors not to eat while walking. We eat at each shop's own counter or standing space. Large luggage is not allowed in the lane, you carry your own rubbish, and you keep to the left. Ask before photographing a shop or its staff.
Many stalls are cash only. Individual shops close on a Wednesday or a Sunday and the closures are not uniform, so your guide confirms the route the day before and always has a substitute.
Dietary needs: tell us at least 48 hours ahead. Vegetarian works well at Nishiki via yuba, pickles, tofu and tea; a vegan route is possible with notice. Dashi is fish-based, so tell us if that is an issue.
Entirely on foot, about 1.5 km on flat covered ground.
Detailed price list
| Guest type | Price |
|---|---|
| Adults | $85 |
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