Guide · Food and drink

Yakatabune dinner cruise menu: tempura, sashimi and free-flow drinks

A yakatabune dinner cruise menu is a Japanese course served at your low table while the boat moves: small dishes, sashimi, tempura fried on board, rice and something sweet, with drinks that keep coming.

Check availabilityfrom $102 · free cancellation possible

Editorial team, yakatabunedinnercruise.comUpdated October 22, 20266-minute read20 sources

This guide's tour Sumida River yakatabune dinner cruise 4.6 (897 reviews) 2.5 hoursDinner of about 14 dishesFree-flow drinks included from$102per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 10 days before

What you will eat

01On our cruise: A full Japanese course of about 14 dishes.
02The highlight: Tempura fried in the boat's own kitchen.¹
03Drinks: Free-flow beer, sake, whiskey, wine, plum wine, tea.
04Diet changes: Ask at least two days before, by message.
05Seasonal: Amitatsu adds sukiyaki in winter, steak in summer.²

A course, not a buffet

Food on a yakatabune arrives the way it does in a Japanese restaurant, in a sequence of small plates rather than all at once. On the cruise this site sells, the fare includes a full-course Japanese-style dinner of about 14 dishes, together with free-flow drinks and the boat itself. You sit at a low table, the crew brings each course, and the city passes the windows as you eat.

The idea behind the menu is old. The Ministry of Agriculture explains that Edomae cooking grew out of Edo-period food stands, where sushi, tempura and soba made with fish from the bay first appeared.³ Eels, conger eels and shellfish were caught in large quantities in the innermost part of Edo Bay.⁴ A dinner on the Sumida is a direct descendant: fish, rice, broth and fried food, eaten on the water that once supplied them.

So, are meals included on cruises like this one? On the long dinner cruises, yes. The Asakusa fare covers the dinner and the drinks, and the Shinagawa bay cruise lists a multi-dish Japanese dinner with all-you-can-drink included. On the shorter Etchujima cruises the meal is a sukiyaki pot or Japanese sweets, depending on the option you book.

A sample course

How a yakatabune dinner unfolds

First

Starter and appetisers

One starter, then three appetisers.⁵
Next

Small dishes

Four small dishes from the season.⁵
Then

Sashimi platter

Fresh raw fish, often on a boat-shaped dish.⁵ ⁶
Hot from the kitchen

Tempura

Fried on board and brought in batches.¹
To finish

Rice, soup, fruit

A rice dish, a bowl of soup, seasonal fruit.⁵

Tempura, the dish everybody waits for

If one dish defines the yakatabune dinner, it is tempura that comes straight from the fryer. Tokyo Updates describes freshly fried tempura, brought piece by piece from the boat's kitchen, as the highlight of a Harumiya dinner, with anago, the conger eel, as a high point.¹ ⁷ Amitatsu, which runs the cruise this site sells, says its course centres on freshly fried tempura and fresh sashimi, with other dishes from seasonal ingredients.⁸

The style is the Tokyo one. The Ministry of Agriculture notes that Edo tempura coats seafood in batter and fries it in sesame oil until golden, while Kansai cooks traditionally deep-fried fish paste.⁹ Funasei, the operator of the Shinagawa bay cruise, says it cooks its signature tempura on board as well.⁶

Eat the tempura as it lands. Fried food goes soft quickly on a humid evening on the river, and the crew brings it in rounds while the boat is moving. Dip lightly, add salt if there is salt on the table, and leave room, because rice, soup and something sweet still follow. If you are unsure what a piece is, ask; the crew is used to curious guests.

Menus side by side

What the operators list for dinner

Operator	Cold dishes	Hot dishes	To finish
Amitatsu	Appetisers, sashimi platter	Tempura, seasonal pot	Rice, soup, fruit
Funasei	Starters, sashimi on a boat	Tempura cooked on board	Noodles, dessert
Harumiya	Sashimi, shabu-shabu salad	Tempura or sukiyaki	Mochi rice cakes

From each operator's own menu page and Tokyo Updates; dishes change with the season.⁵ ² ⁶ ¹⁰ ¹¹

Pick a meal

Long course, sukiyaki pot or tea and sweets

Sumida River: Japanese Traditional Yakatabune Dinner Cruise

Full course

Sumida River dinner

From Asakusa

Meal: About 14 dishes
Drinks: Free-flow
Price: from $102

See this cruise

Tokyo Yakatabune Cruise: Sukiyaki,Show & Tokyo Tower Option

One hot pot

Sukiyaki and a show

From Etchujima

Meal: Sukiyaki
Drinks: Soft drinks
Price: from $63

See this cruise

Tokyo Cruise：Yakatabune Tea Ceremony,Sweets & Shamisen

No dinner

Tea ceremony cruise

From Etchujima

Meal: Japanese sweets
Drinks: Tea, soft drinks
Price: from $63

See this cruise

Decision helper

Which meal suits your group?

Choose by appetite and by diet

I want the full tempura course I am vegetarian I eat anything and want 3 hours I want something lighter I do not want dinner at all

Sumida River dinner

About 14 dishes with free-flow drinks in the fare.

Sumida River dinner

Meal changes can be requested two days before by message.

Shinagawa bay dinner

A multi-dish dinner with all-you-can-drink included.

A sukiyaki cruise

One hot pot and unlimited soft drinks on a shorter trip.

The tea ceremony cruise

Japanese sweets, tea and soft drinks by day instead.

tempura in Edo is prepared by first coating seafood in a batter before deep-frying it in sesame oil until it is golden brown in color.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and FisheriesSource 9

Sashimi and the small dishes

Before the fried course comes the cold food. Amitatsu's sample banquet course reads like a classic Japanese menu: one starter, three appetisers, four small dishes, a sashimi platter, freshly fried tempura, a rice dish, a bowl of soup and seasonal fruit.⁵ It adds that dishes change with the season and with what the market supplies.⁵

Funasei lists a similar order: appetiser, starters, a small bowl, sashimi served on a boat-shaped platter, tempura, seasonal rice, salad, noodles and dessert, with the menu changing through the year.⁶ Harumiya's menu described by Tokyo Updates includes sashimi, beef shabu-shabu salad, seasonal vegetables and mochi rice cakes for dessert.¹⁰

The pattern is what to expect, not a fixed list. The operator sets the dishes on the day from what the season and the market bring. If you are curious, ask the crew the name of each dish as it arrives; it is part of the fun of a long meal, and a good way to learn what to order later in a Tokyo restaurant.

Checklist

Food and drink before you board

Two days before

Send any diet change by message
Say how many need a special meal

At the table

Eat tempura while it is hot
Pace the free-flow drinks
Keep bags small; no cloakroom on some boats

Cost calculator

Price a meal on the water for your group

Enter how many are eating to compare four cruises.

Tempura course2.5 hoursfrom $102 Bay dinner3 hoursfrom $119 Sukiyaki pot1.5 hoursfrom $63 Tea and sweets1.5 hoursfrom $63

People 2

Total from$204

per head from $102

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Every total takes the cheapest GetYourGuide price of that cruise times the number of guests, converted at the ECB's daily rate; the booking page holds the final figure.

Video

Dining while cruising in Tokyo

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Sukiyaki, steak and the seasons

The main dish can change with the calendar. Tokyo Updates reports that on Harumiya's boats the dinner's main dish is tempura or sukiyaki depending on the season.¹¹ Amitatsu adds a hot sukiyaki pot to its course in winter and a steak grilled on a ceramic plate in summer.²

The short Etchujima cruises are built around sukiyaki all year at night. One listing sells a 90-minute night cruise with sukiyaki and unlimited soft drinks, and lets you swap beef for pork or a non-strict vegetarian meal if you ask at least 3 days in advance. The Odaiba-route cruise makes the same offer with the same notice.

A sukiyaki dinner is a different evening from a tempura course: one pot, cooked at the table, and a shorter cruise. If you want the long sequence of small dishes, choose one of the 2.5 to 3 hour dinner cruises instead.

What is in your glass

On the cruise this site sells, drinks are free-flow, alcoholic and not: beer, sake, whiskey, wine, plum wine, tea and soft drinks are all listed. The operator, Amitatsu, states on its own site that drinks are all-you-can-drink and included in the fare.¹²

Other operators list similar bars. Funasei's drink list runs to beer, shochu, sake, whiskey, wine, umeshu and soft drinks.¹³ Harumiya's free drinks include beer, sake, whisky, wine, Japanese plum wine, shochu, juice, cola and oolong tea.¹⁴ On the shorter Etchujima cruises, the night option includes unlimited soft drinks, with a free-flow alcohol package sold as a summer option.

Two practical notes. Japanese law forbids selling alcohol to anyone under 20, which one of the tea ceremony listings repeats. And check before you bring your own bottle: Harumiya, for one, does not allow food or drinks from outside on its boats.¹⁵

Vegetarian, halal and allergy requests

Diet requests need planning, because the kitchen works from a set course. On the cruise this site sells, any dietary or meal change must be requested at least two days before, by message; nothing can be changed on the day, and a handling fee per guest applies. Amitatsu says on its own site that it offers a vegetarian menu when it is booked in advance.¹⁶

Amitatsu is also clear about limits: it cannot promise a fully allergen-free menu, because dishes share one kitchen and the same tableware.¹⁷ Harumiya can cook vegetarian meals if you give numbers when booking, but cannot prepare halal food.¹⁸

The Shinagawa bay cruise is the strict one. Its listing says the dinner cannot be adapted to dietary requirements, although it offers a special meal for children aged 3 to 5. If you or someone in your group has a firm diet, the Asakusa cruise, with its two-day request window, is the safer choice of the long dinners.

Eating well on a moving boat

A few habits make the meal better. Eat steadily rather than fast, because the courses arrive across the whole cruise and the deck stops pause the meal. On the cruise this site sells, there are two such stops: one where guests can go up on the roof for the view and photos, and one at Tokyo Skytree.

Tables are low and shared. Tokyo Updates describes the classic layout as tatami mats and low tables with sunken floors underneath, so you can stretch your legs.¹⁹ Keep bags small and out of the gangway; Harumiya warns there is no cloakroom on its boats.²⁰

Finally, pace the drinks. Free-flow means the glass will be refilled, and the stop means climbing up to the roof. A clear head makes the climb up, and the photos of Rainbow Bridge and Skytree, a lot easier, and leaves you awake for the river lights on the way back.

Your night on the river