Don’t get too excited. Believe me I did. I was very pumped to try some local wine on our tour. But while, sampling some wine is an option, for those of us on the tour it was mostly a restaurant with a gift shop. And the food on our tour…was definitely not what I was expecting.
Our first course was fondue in a bread bowl. Cool, but not really something I get excited about going all the way to Hokkaido for. BUT, Hokkaido is famous for it’s dairy products, so maybe it was local cheeses and vegetables. It was good. I ate all of it.
And a hamburger in sauce with a side salad and a side of rice. Something else I don’t go out of my way for when traveling. Not bad, but again not what I was expecting as we were traversing a very famous farming part of Japan known for it’s local freshly grown produce. And our choice of tea or coffee.
Or at least that’s what our tour audio had said. Instead…it was just coffee. Everyone was automatically given coffee. I don’t like coffee. I can enjoy a Korean style mocha occasionally but that’s about as deep into the coffee pool as I swim.
So I flagged someone down and asked for tea. I felt bad, but I also didn’t want to leave a full cup of coffee at my seat. And that was lunch. I was disappointed. We didn’t have a lot of time left, to look and try some wine or learn about the winery’s in Furano let alone make it through the line to go to the bathroom.
Also note that there are two bathrooms, some inside and one outside near the parking lot. While there may be a huge line for the one inside on the second floor (the floor the restaurant is on) it might be more worth it. Unless you don’t care about no soap or dead bugs everywhere. (the life of an outdoor bathroom) Also if you’re on the tour I don’t think you can easily ask for wine with your meal because it’s a prepaid set course, but there is a gift shop on the first floor where you can buy some.
Since I was by myself I was sat with other people who were traveling on their own. And no one was particularly chatty. So we all ate in silence. Not the most fun, but it’s fine. I think though, if you went on your own and got to explore more of the menu try the wine and explore the area the Furano Wine Factory would be much more enjoyable. The food was good, just not what I was hoping for. They are open from 9:00-4:30 from September-May, and 9:00-6:00 from June-August. And depending on where you sit they have beautiful windows looking out over the vineyard and at the mountains.