Japan – Restaurant Reservations for Foodies
Japan is home to many great restaurants, but it can be challenging to get reservations.
Japan is a wonderful destination, but not an easy place for authentic travelers. We can’t just rent a car and drive around on our own. If we wander off the beaten path, it’s challenging to use local signage to find our way back. In addition, the resident population is very polite, but most people are reticent to answer questions and provide directions.
Given these factors, it’s not surprising that many visitors to Japan travel on group tours and get nothing more than a touristy view of the country. Alternatively, savvy authentic travelers turn to excellent travel companies such as Japan Quest Journeys and The Real Japan.
But what if you’re an authentic foodie and what you want is access to the best restaurants in Japan? Read this trip report from an Australian couple who found just the right resource:
A selection of seasonal produce presented with delicate precision.
My partner and I enjoy dining out and consider ourselves foodies. Ordinarily, when planning trips abroad, we arrange our restaurant bookings from home in Melbourne, Australia. There are usually few complications as most services provide an English-speaking option. Yes, sometimes the most sought after restaurants are difficult to book but, by and large, we can reserve even the places with particularly good culinary reputations.
When travelling to Japan – specifically, Tokyo and Kyoto – we wanted to incorporate the dining experience as a feature of our trip. In terms of how my partner and I found out about UMAMI, we were looking to make reservations at restaurants in Japan in advance of our arrival.
For a long time we have been fascinated with all aspects of Japanese culture, particularly its food. We had read several write-ups on the range and depth of choice of restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto, which naturally drew our attention to visiting the country. However, when attempting to book from Melbourne, we faced some hurdles. Many of the restaurants required a local phone number in Japan to reserve. Unfortunately, our hotel was reluctant to make the reservations for us. By chance, we happened upon the UMAMI webpage when browsing for information on one of the restaurants that we wanted to visit.
Our friendly head chef Ogawa-san before sushi service in Ginza.
The secret to restaurant reservations in Japan
We have found UMAMI to be an efficient and professional provider of restaurant reservations. We were very satisfied with the services rendered. The tiny hiccup with the reservation time with Jiro in Roppongi notwithstanding, it was an excellent experience. In fact, I was surprised with the amount of effort the co-founders put forth in ensuring our convenience. This included making sure we located the sites and arrived on time for our reservations without any confusion or issues.
Without such a connection, we would never have had access to the exclusive restaurants in Japan that are hard to book or perhaps don’t take reservations online or over the phone. Being responsive to our every need, UMAMI arranged the requests for bookings on the spot, going beyond our expectations.
Even the most exclusive restaurant Tapas Molecular Bar, which seats only eight guests at limited specific time slots was, within the day, securely booked to our delight. Whenever we had queries about booking times, concerns about dress-codes, even climate conditions upon arrival, their customer service was very responsive, with very clear and reliable information promptly delivered.
Autumnal fare fit for a king.
UMAMI made our Japan trip a big success
This direct line – tapping into the exclusive venues – was easy to use. For a modest fee, we could simply choose our preferred restaurants, list the details on a user-friendly page on the UMAMI site, and secure the tables before we commenced our travels to Japan. Upon reaching each restaurant, we were promptly greeted and ushered to our table to begin dining hassle-free.
For gastro-tourists like ourselves, UMAMI provides a window of opportunity. They enabled us to get the tables we wanted on our once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Words to describe UMAMI: high quality, reliable and unique.
Best regards,
Chris and Vanessa Santiago
Note from
Carla Ceravolo is Co-founder and CEO of Umami, also known as UMAMI-Tokyo and UMAMI-Tokyo/Kyoto. She’s originally from Australia, but has lived in Japan for 20 years. Her parents are of British and Italian heritage, and she speaks English “of the Australian variety,“ French, some Italian, and Japanese (but “cannot claim to be fluent”).
Category: Japan
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