Experience food tours in
Kanazawa with Withlocals

"We got in touch with Cris at the last moment. She shifted her schedule a bit to accommodate us, and the rainy weather forced her to adjust what we saw -- primarily the Omichi Market. She was warm, knowledgeable, flexible, and fun. So glad we found her."

"Cris provided a terrific tour even in the rain for us. She was able to show us what we requested and give us glimpse of what we might want to go back and see later. I would highly recommend her for other travelers. I would also like to remind travelers to consider sunset time when selecting tour ti es. Luckily, I was able to ask Cris ahead and adjust our time. Would definitely do it again."

"We signed up for a walking food tour of the Omicho Fish Market where she purchased items we were interesting in sampling and let us know the markets history. (she has a food budget) As it turned out, we had raw oysters and fried blow fish and ate at a very small sushi restaurant, but admired the "perfect" $200 USD crabs and other amazing looking seafood. Since we had time, we walked to two of the three Geisha districts (Kanazawa is the second largest concentration of Geisha next to Kyoto) and had gold covered ice cream cones and fruit mochi for dessert! Then we were off to the amazing Kenrokoen Garden, which is free during peak cherry blossom season where she let us explore on our own. Lucy was a great person and tour guide, knows the area and is flexible in her itinerary. Being from Europe, she speaks English/French/German and Japanese. If you like to walk everywhere, enjoy food and learn local history…this tour is for you. "

"Our tour with Criselda was brilliant. She communicated with us beforehand to find out what we wanted to do and laid on an amazing treat of superb food and drinks. The izakayas we visited were very different but also very special with distinct food and drink offerings, allowing us to be more adventurous if we wanted. Cris was a really excellent host - she was very friendly and very informative about Kanazawa, its food and drinks and Japanese society and culture in general. Cris also followed up with information the following day about places to go in our onward destination. We’ve been on a lot of food tours but we reckon this was the best. We highly recommend Criselda if you’re looking for a highly enjoyable night out sampling excellent food and drink in Kanazawa."

"We had an incredible time on our food tour with Monse. We had two teens and two vegetarians in our group, and she was able to curate a thoughtful and engaging tour for our group. We did a number of food tours while in Japan, and we all felt that the quality of food and experiences on this one was the best. Not only is she knowledgeable about Kanazawa cuisine, she is also really fun to hang out with and chat. She also gave us several shopping and dining recommendations, and called a few restaurants to try to make reservations on our behalf. Also, as a sidenote, my daughter broke her leg just before the trip, and Monse was very mindful of that and retooled our tour to accommodate her. "

"Monse is kind, outgoing, and communicative. She contacted me ahead of our tour to confirm and met us on time at our hotel. She made reservations for our meals (which is often necessary in Japan) and knew the owners of the sushi bar. She has lived in Kanazawa for 5 years and is very engaged with the language, culture and community. In addition to bringing us to restaurants to eat good food, Monse brought us to culturally and historically significant sites in the city and shared her knowledge on the history. She even dropped us off back at our hotel. We felt she went above and beyond to make sure we had an enjoyable and memorable experience. Would definitely recommend Monse for your tour."

"Had a great time with Lucy. Talking about her experiences in Japan and learning a lot about the culture. The food was great to. Tried a lot of things I wouldn't have on my own. Definitely recommended the experience!"

"Lucy is great!!! She is very very informative, personable, articulate, accommodating and has a great perspective on the culture from a Western perspective as well as a local perspective. We highly recommend Lucy as a tour guide (and just as a really great person)"

"We had a great experience with Lucy. We tried plenty of good local food and drinks. Lucy was very knowledgeable about the local history and culture. She was really pleasant and easy to talk to and gave us some good tips for things to do for the rest of our time in Kanazawa. "

"We asked Lucy to take us to see two Geisha Disitricts and the Samuri District before we did our foodie thing. She did. While on the tour she gave us considerable historical and legendary context on the three districts. We would have never had this perspective without her input. While in one of the Geisha Districts we also "popped into" a Saki shop and sampled 6 different kinds. Yum! By the way, it was pouring rain almost the entire time but we still had a great time. After visiting the Samuri District we went to dinner. This restaurant she picked was not a touristy spot but a traditional local favorite - that often was fully booked - we were lucky to get in. She chose so many amazing dishes it's hard to cover. I tried several dishes I would never have without a knowledgible person to guide me - the rest of our small group did too. If you're heading to Kanazawa give Lucy a try and let her know what other interests you have for your stay before you get there. She reviewed our itinerary for the next day said it was good and gave us a couple of pointers too. I'd certainly have her take us around should I ever go again. We're a "mature" group of four - if you are too I'd advise you to take a cab if you're going from the Geisha Districts to the Samuri Districts. We walked it with no trouble but we wouldn't have missed anything by taking a cab. "