Robot Restaurant Show in Shinjuku ロボットレストラン - Tokyo, Japan

The Robot Restaurant Show in Shinjuku - TokyoJapan is just a downright hoot. It’s one of the first things my friends and I experienced, and it was seriously WILD.

I’ve seen the show featured on tv shows and vlogs, and had also read mixed reviews, but because there was so much hype about the show, my friends and I had to see it for ourselves. We had an absolute blast, it’s a FUN and over the top way to see digital art, Japanese culture and fun robot floats, dancers, lasers, lights and music all in one place. It was so insane with the variety of performances, that I found myself picking up my jaw off the floor. So much to see that you just have to sit back and enjoy it for what it is. A very HIGH energy, wacky, bizarre and ultra stimulating time.

You’ll either enjoy it, or like some people I noticed around the room, not get it because they’re thinking about it too much. Just take in what you see and don’t try to interpret it - it’s meant to be entertaining.
We opted to not have dinner at the show (9:30pm showing) and instead feasted on yakitori & beer at a nearby restaurant in Shinjuku - we did get reasonably priced drinks for it being a tourist destination.

The Robot Restaurant is located in Kabukicho, the red light district, but walking through the area is not deterring from the overall experience (just don’t be rowdy)- it is busy and crowded though. You will notice that there may be dodgy looking people outside certain establishments - you just don’t really make eye contact with them. We arrived to the ticket counter (which is located across the street from the entrance to the robot restaurant) about 2 hours prior to exchange our vouchers for tix and ended up getting front row seats!

Previous guests have commented that front row is too close ( there are 3 rows), and you typically have to pay more, we luckily didn’t have to and actually enjoyed being in the front. I think the ideal location to sit is definitely anywhere at the center of the room whether it be the front, middle or back row. If you are seated too close to the entrance where the performers come out, there are some scenes where your view will be obstructed due to the stage sets. The audience gets a whole run down before the show starts including a quick safety briefing about how close the floats will get to the seating.

You will definitely want to check in at least 1 hour prior to show time and there is an area within the venue that guests can hang out in before. The show is suitable for children, but I recommend taking kids during an earlier showing. It’s very loud, and most of our group wore ear plugs (which we brought ourselves), and the show runs 90 min with 2 breaks for restroom or to get drinks/snacks. There are canned beers, chuhai, and fun beverages (like cocktails in light up light bulb cups) as well as snacks like popcorn and chips for a reasonable price sold before and during the 2 breaks of the show. If you ordered dinner then you’re given a dinner ticket that you give to staff and they distribute the meals.
We got our tickets off of TripAdvisor for $61.28 per person, and are given a voucher that I showed on my phone to the ticket counter to exchange for physical tickets. Overall, I think it’s worth it to go if you’re with a fun group of people - might not be as fun as a couple activity unless you’re both into weird, wacky things. I definitely could have watched the show with just my husband, because we are straight up weirdos like that.