Choji

The Travel Specialist

  • I live in Lima
  • I speak English, Español, Português
  • Verified Local host
  • Response time less than 23 hours

Hi there! Nice to meet you

I would tell you some of my passions in life, and hobbies. I worked as a Sushi and Peruvian chef in different parts of the world such as Melbourne, Sydney, and Tokyo, but Lima, my hometown has always call my name due to its history and food culture. I also was a surf instructor back in my early years and now I am working as a travel coordinator for over a decade for private companies and government entities in the tourist sector. My tour will be full of fun and interesting facts about my city and I can't wait to show it to everyone.

  • I live in Lima
  • I speak English, Español, Português
  • Verified Local host
  • Response time less than 23 hours

Book one of my offers in Lima

Let's explore Lima together! As your local guide, I'll show you the best of Lima on a private & personalized tour for you.

Did you know that I can personalize your experience?

All Withlocals tours are completely customisable to your needs. Just let me know your preferences for a private and personalized experience!

Reviews

Yanida
6 March 2025
• Punctuality • Historical background • Multi-generational attention • Religious Respect • Hidden Flavor Treasures I booked Choji to discover Lima from the historical and food perspective. My husband kids, 18 and 14 years old and myself, had a blast with him at the 10 tasting of Lima and visiting the Convent of Saint Domingo. First, I dreamed of visiting Saint Martin de Porres, my favorite saint. And my husband wanted to try the flavors of the world-famous Peruvian food. My kids, teenagers, just wanted to have a good time, take pictures and a memorable trip. Fortunately, we´ve got everything! Choji´s punctuality was a 100% Started not with food, but with some geographical history that helped us to contextualize the tasting of Peru. Then, walking through downtown Lima, enjoying architecture and start tasting sweets and salties, amazing! My dreamed visit to Saint Martin de Porres and having the chance to talk to my family and Choji about the reasons for my esteem to that incredible human being, get to know this incredible convent with that impressive architecture that took our breath away, for me was the peak of the tour. I highly appreciate how respectful Choji was with my religion and beliefs. But my family peaks varied: Ana (18 years old) enjoyed trying tamales, very different from our country tamales. David (14 years old) loved the experience of being in a century restaurant and entering to the kitchen to salute the team. My husband loved the municipal market and talking about football with Choji. The places to taste Peru flavours were really hidden treasures of downtown Lima. Wouldn´t be possible to get there with google maps 😊 A wonderful downtown Lima day with Choji
Jonathan
15 February 2025
Choji was an awesome tour guide. He was full of information about Lima and walked us around to neighborhoods, streets, restaurants, and areas that we would have never been able to do on our own. His historic knowledge was impressive and was the perfect way to start our Lima vacation. We loved visiting the alleys of Chinatown - we would have never found this and the food was delicious! He even spent an extra half hour with us above and beyond the three hour tour. Time went fast, we were never bored. It was awesome. Awesome Tour of Lima!
Matt
14 February 2025
Choji provided an excellent tour of Lima - we hit the historical center as well as the central markets and Chinatown. Excellent stops along the way to experience a bit of Lima’s food samplings and great explanation of what I was seeing. Highly recommended picking Choji as your guide in Lima!!Excellent Intro to Lima!
Jana
13 February 2025
Choji was an incredibly knowledgeable and informative tour guide! He brought Lima’s history to life through the food and venues we visited. He went above and beyond to deliver an incredible immersion. He was quick to reply to questions prior to our tour and sent photos after! He’s awesome! Muchas gracias!!!Sampling of Lima
Kari
6 February 2025
Choji was awesome. His food tour was one of the highlights for us whilst in Peru. He is an extremely kind person apparent on how he treated those that were less fortunate that we came in contact with. His knowledge regarding our stops and the food we sampled was so interesting. Highly Highly recommend this tour with ChojiGreat time!
Sychuang
26 January 2025
My wife and I booked a tasting tour with Choji and cannot be happier. We were able to communicate before the tour using WhatsApp and that made coordinating our meeting time and location easier. Choji is the perfect tour guide for the 10 tastings of Lima. He is a Peruvian with Japanese roots which provides very interesting insights. Choji has also travelled extensively so he is able to add his experience in other places to contrast with Peru. On top of that, his grandmother had a bakery right in the city center and he grew up in that area. As a result, you get an inside look with his deep connections. The tour covers a lot of the "daily" food of typical Peruvians and also multiple districts (new, old, Chinatown, and the market). We walked for nearly 3 hours and ate a lot of food! At each stop, Choji doesn't just explain what the food is, he talked about the history of the store and the owners. He took us into the kitchen of the oldest bar in Lima and explained how they are all descendants of the workers that took over when the owners left. At each stop, he introduced each owner and you just feel like he is sharing his relationships with you. You can sense the pride he has in sharing his insights but also in ensuring that we had a good tour. Unlike some of the other tours, Choji will also participate in eating the food at certain stops and you just see how much he enjoys the food! Choji also shared his experience growing up in Peru as a Okinawan which was very interesting to me. With the Japanese having such a big influence in the cuisine of Peru and Choji having culinary experience, it was a great opportunity to learn. This tour is a good way to learn the local foods of Lima. Choji doesn't just provide the food but adds his fun and immersive personality throughout the tour. I enjoyed our 3 hours with Choji! Choji is the local expert!
Paola
22 January 2025
I purchased 2 food tours with Choji. Of the 10 “bites” to try 8 of them were sweets. On top of that each place we visited he ordered one piece of food that me and the other person I was with had to share, even though we both spent money on it. As if the portions weren’t small enough he proceeded to taste all of our food. Where it crossed the line was when he ordered our one shared plate of ceviche and tasted it then double dipped with out asking and ate nearly half the plate. The price is not worth it for the quantity nor quality of food. The total price of the food consumed could not be more than $20 since every place we went to was one dish or bite for the both of us and him apparently. We were informed that our only complaint would be that we would be “so full” after the tour which was not the case at all. That being said, he was overall very friendly, knowledgeable and entertaining but not suitable for our taste. Mixed review
Edward
19 January 2025
Choji was a fabulous guide. The history, hidden treasures, and stories were great.Love Lima
Gregory
6 January 2025
Our family had a great time with Choji as he showed us some hidden gems in the Centro Historico we never would have found on our own. Choji is so well known in this neighborhood, it's like he's the unofficial mayor. Because of those relationships he was able to take us deep into the markets, giving us the history of the families that run the food stalls and a better understanding of the role each dish plays in Peruvian culture. We couldn't have asked for a better host or more fun packed into in three hours of eating and exploring. Choji is a great host.
Sumati
4 January 2025
Wonderful experience and at the right pace

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  3. Choji , The Travel Specialist