It appears that I'm the first to review the west side tasting tour, which is the latest in the Tasting Kauai lineup. This is the only walking tour - it seems the others around the island involve jumping into your own cars to caravan to different locations. I liked the walking aspect, not only for the exercise, but also to talk and connect with our guide Katherine and the other visitors.
For our tour, we visited 5 food vendors around Hanapepe town, including a bakery, Japanese restaurant, coffee shop, a salt and seasonings shop, and a frozen dessert vendor (plus an extra bonus stop for a cookie). At each stop we met the owner or chef and learned a bit about their story. Katherine was very friendly and informative, and explained some Kauai and Hanapepe history. We've visited Kauai many times over the years, but I still learned some new things.
I was expecting small tastes, but I was surprised at the generous serving sizes. I was definitely full after the tour - it was like a multi-course meal over a few hours.
The west side tour is on Friday afternoon and ends right when Hanapepe Art Night is just getting started, so it's a nice way to do both on the same evening.
For those who think the price is too high, there are few things to consider. The shops are locally-owned, so you're supporting small businesses on Kauai.
The food is high-quality and uses as many local ingredients as possible, which is important for sustainability on the island as most food is imported. And a portion of their profits goes to local Kauai food banks. Overall I thought the food, education and spreading some aloha was worth it.