Gourmet Tour - Historic Kochi & Vibrant Culinary Experience

OVERVIEW

Explore the most iconic landmarks in Kochi and enjoy a lunch featuring bonito, a locally caught fish with an extraordinarily distinct taste. The city’s most well-known historical attraction is Kochi Castle, one of only a dozen Japanese castles with its original keep and palace. You will also browse a botanical garden built to honor the Father of Japanese Botany and Hirome Food Market, where you will see traditional Kochi foods such as mackerel sushi, gyoza dumplings and takoyaki, a fried dough ball snack typically stuffed with octopus. Walking through the market will likely whet your appetite for the meal that follows, the main course being Katsuo no Tataki. Its main ingredient is bonito, a fish whose deep-red meat is leaner than tuna. The bonito is typically seared around the edges over a fire topped with rice straw to impart a signature smokiness. Grated ginger, green onions and garlic chips will be served as condiments to enhance the bonito’s flavor.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Visit Kochi Castle, the seat of the powerful Yamauchi lords during the Edo Period.
• Stroll through a botanical garden of more than 3,000 indigenous and exotic plants.
• Browse the stalls of Hirome Market, where the bounty of the sea will be on display.
• Feast on a multi-course lunch featuring local bonito fire-seared to perfection.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.