Really a 3.5 in rating.....
This was a hard review to write because I set pretty high standards for this tour. It was the one I was most excited out, and if the tour guide Michelle, wasn't as great as she was, it would have been even more of a let down.
Michelle & the food stop owners: 5 stars
The food & actual stops on the tour: 3 stars
If you are familiar with yelp at all, there is a 95% chance that you have already discovered the stops that they take you to on the North Shore Tour. 3 out of the 4 stops we visited (there is a farmers' market at the end makes 5 stops), I had already bookmarked as places of interest. These aren't going to really be "hidden gems". Maybe we can blame Yelp for that... in the sense that if one yelper knows about it, they are going to tell 10+ others - so nothing is truly hidden anymore. There isn't a cooking demonstration like on the South Shore tour. Although they added the North Shore after the South, I would have hoped for more of the same quality.
Had this tour cost $85, then I wouldn't have felt cheapen. But for $125 and having to use our own vehicle and 1/3rd portions, it was hard to swallow. I added up the actual cost of the food and it comes to $35 (and that is being conservative on my end).
Fancy Tea - $6
Mai Tai - $11 (and I got a virgin, so it would have been less than that)
Ribs (2) - $4
burger (1/4) - $2.50
pizza (1/16) - $2.50
LauLau - $5
Half ice cream waffle - $4
So yes, it may sound like I am being a nit-picker. Just know, that if you go on the North Shore tour (assuming they don't change the stops) you are paying for a sort-of-VIP experience, not unforgettable-blow-you-mind food.
All that negative stuff being said, Michelle and the food stop owners really do make the tour worth it. Michelle is very knowledge of Kauai and its' owners. The owners of the restaurants/food trucks all came out to visit with us and tell us alittle about themselves and their business. All were very "green-conscious", trying to keep their products as organic & local as possible.
It ends with a trip to the farmers' market in Waipa. Which was nice, because Michelle took us around to a few of the stalls and we tried some samples (which isn't to say that they don't give samples out to everyone anyways).