Japan Restaurant Booking Apps for Visitors: Tabelog, TableCheck, OMAKASE

Use the booking service the restaurant’s own website links to. If you’re choosing one yourself:

• Tabelog and TableCheck work in English. Tabelog adds ¥440 per person; TableCheck’s charges depend on the restaurant.
• OMAKASE, in English and Japanese, covers high-end restaurants, takes credit cards only and charges ¥390 per seat.
• Hot Pepper Gourmet and Ikyu Restaurant are in Japanese only.
• Google Maps works only where a restaurant’s listing offers booking.
• Many highly rated restaurants take no online bookings at all; the last section covers calling them.

The six services compared

Facts come from each service’s official help pages, listed at the end and checked October 5, 2026. Your booking screen shows the charges and cancellation policy that apply to you. For late arrival, cancellation fees and no-shows across these services, see running late or cancelling a restaurant booking in Japan.

Tabelog: English pages and a ¥440-per-person fee

• Book on tabelog.com/en or in Tabelog’s multilingual app. Only restaurants with an Online reservation label take online bookings, and those bookings are instant.
• The ¥440 system usage fee is charged when the booking is confirmed and is generally kept if you cancel. You pay for the meal at the restaurant.
• Every booking needs a credit, debit or prepaid card in your name.

Step-by-step instructions, the phone field and changes are in how to book a restaurant on Tabelog in English.

TableCheck: know what the card charge is

• There’s no single fee. Depending on the restaurant, you pay nothing at booking, give a card for a temporary hold, prepay the course or pay a reservation fee. The Payment Method section of your confirmation email says which.
• A hold isn’t a payment. It can be the full course price, ¥50 or ¥200, and you still pay the bill at the restaurant. With a debit card, the hold may come straight out of your balance and be refunded after your visit.
• FastPass, used by some busy ramen and udon shops, sells a time slot so you can skip the queue. The fee starts at ¥390 and isn’t refunded, even for a booking mistake.
• If a booking from abroad fails at the card step, your card issuer may have held the payment. TableCheck suggests asking the issuer to approve it, then trying again.
• Some restaurants leave new bookings Pending until staff accept them; you get an email or SMS when they do.

OMAKASE: high-end restaurants with strict rules

• You need an account. Sign-up includes phone verification, and OMAKASE’s help describes a 4-digit SMS code, which landlines can’t receive.
• It takes Visa, Mastercard, Amex, JCB and Diners credit cards; debit and prepaid cards are refused.
• The ¥390-per-seat fee is charged when the booking completes and isn’t refunded. Cancel and book again, and you pay it again.
• You can’t change the date or time: you cancel, under the restaurant’s policy, and book again. The person who booked must attend, with the number of people booked; transfers and resale aren’t allowed.
• Some restaurants run a raffle about a week before bookings open. Winners can book first, usually a few hours before everyone else.

Hot Pepper Gourmet and Ikyu Restaurant: Japanese only

• Hot Pepper Gourmet has instant bookings, confirmed on the spot, which need a Recruit ID. Request bookings don’t need an ID, but they only count once the restaurant accepts by email or phone. A restaurant page without the 空席(くうせき)確認(かくにん)・予約(よやく)する (kūseki kakunin ･ yoyaku suru) button takes no online bookings.
• Ikyu Restaurant’s site and customer support are in Japanese only. You pay at the restaurant; on some plans, the card you register is charged only if a cancellation fee applies. Overseas mobile numbers may be accepted with the country code, and a first booking or a booking without an account may need a code sent by SMS or email.

Google Maps: only where booking is offered

• Look the restaurant up in Google Maps. If its listing has no booking option, it isn’t set up for bookings through Google.
• Some bookings finish on a partner’s booking page, and some need prepayment or a deposit.
• A request isn’t a booking until Reserve with Google emails you a confirmation.
• Changes and cancellations follow the restaurant’s policy. Google suggests calling the restaurant if the booking is one or two days away.

No online booking? Calling a phone-only restaurant

On October 5, 2026, 19 of the first 20 Kyoto restaurants on Tabelog’s English site, sorted by rating, had no online booking. Most listed a phone number instead.

Before you call, check the restaurant’s official website for a booking channel, its business hours and closing days. Have your date, time, party size, name, a backup time and a phone number where you can be reached. If a restaurant that uses TableCheck takes your booking by phone, it may send you a link to pay in advance.

Hotel concierges and booking services are other routes; our comparison of ways to book covers their costs and limits.

Official sources

• Tabelog: costs when booking, card payment at booking, card registration, cancellation fees, changing a booking, multilingual app and reservation terms; language versions from the English site; phone listings from the Kyoto list sorted by rating.
• TableCheck: payment methods, FastPass, accepted cards, customer information, booking errors, pending bookings and cancellation fees; languages from the TableCheck site.
• OMAKASE (help in Japanese and English): what OMAKASE is, reservation fee, accepted cards, card required, no debit cards, phone codes, changes, when the policy applies, transfers, party size and raffles; languages and country codes from the English sign-up page.
• Hot Pepper Gourmet (Japanese): instant booking guide, request booking guide and terms.
• Google: make a booking, pay for a booking and manage a booking.
• Ikyu Restaurant (Japanese): languages, payment, cancelling, registration and overseas mobiles and identity checks.

Checked October 5, 2026. Prices and steps change; the booking screen for your restaurant takes precedence.