How To Find The Best Food On Your Travels!
1.Do your research
Winging it doesn’t really work when it
comes to good restaurants, except for the odd time where you stumble
upon something great. Chances are you’ll get hungry and sit down at a
place close by that looks ok rather than making your way to another
location. Sites like TripAdvisor are incredible tools for planning
everything from meals to museum visits, excursions and hotel stays. Dive
deep into the reviews and comments people have left & stay away
from restaurants that have what I call the 4:1 or lower ratio, meaning 4
good reviews then 1 bad review and so on. This just means they are
inconsistent and you can’t be guaranteed a fantastic meal. It’s normal
for even the most exceptional places to have one or two slightly
negative reviews because you can’t please everyone, am I right? But
consistent flaws is not a good thing, even though they may show up as
top 10 in a certain city just because of the large number of reviews. A
lot of the truly great restaurants may have far less comments since they
may not be on the main street or next to all the major attractions. The
trek will be worth it though, I promise. I also love reading Lonely
Planet guides & checking out the list of Michelin Star restaurants
in the city I’m visiting.
2.Spotted By Locals & similar apps
A great app to get while visiting a new place is Spotted By Locals,
where locals of that particular place will dish out all their favourite
spots to eat, drink, party & be entertained. Although this app
doesn’t cover every single location on the globe, it still has most of
the large cities. I’ve found some brilliant recommendations ranging from
a delish breakfast to a locals only underground music festival to hole
in the wall bars serving cocktails from your dreams. Triposo is another
such app with fantastic travel guides for destinations around the world,
and an easy to use format covering eat & drink, see & do, and
bookings for hotels & hostels alongside weather, currency, and
practical information for your location.
3.Read travel blogs for amazing off the beaten path tips
There’s a reason the world of travel blogging is thriving, and that’s
because travel bloggers (like me) put in a lot of effort into planning
an unforgettable trip. I always focus on finding a few spots to visit
that aren’t frequented by tourists, and experiences that are truly once
in a lifetime. Travel blogs can give you all sorts of nifty information
you won’t find on commercial travel & tourism websites, and that too
from a real person instead of a magazine thats been paid to write a
positive post about a specific destination, and will discuss useful
things like daily budgets, best ways to get around, places you have to
see, how to dress (if you’re in a conservative place), solo travel tips
and of course, their best meals. Some of my favourite travel bloggers
are Nomadic Matt, Adventurous Kate, Hippie in Heels, Gypsea Lust, The Blonde Abroad & Alex in Wanderland.
4.Stay away from tourists traps
This is a straightforward one. You want to stay away from places that
are smack in the middle of all the hustle bustle as you’ll seriously
overpay for a mind-numbingly average meal. Restaurants that have massive
signs outside promoting “combo meals” or waiters handing you
menus/trying to call you inside should be avoided like the plague. Its
hard to always tell whose who, but places packed with locals is where
you’ll get the best food. Also I’d stay away from ordering complicated
dishes from other parts of the world. You won’t necessarily get a good
Spanish tapas meal on a small island in Thailand, or a great Malaysian
curry in the south of France. Stick to what the locals know how to cook,
unless you’ve previously researched and found an exception.
5.Ask the locals
Ask friends from other cities where they eat in their hometown, quiz
your Airbnb host about their fave meal, start a forum on TripAdvisor to
get insider info, chat with a friendly bartender, the hotel bellboy, or
that sweet lady in the clothing store you’re shopping in. People are
generally very happy to share tips about their city, and that includes
delectable dishes you can’t miss.
6.Check out street stalls, food markets & other unassuming places that have massive lines
Sometimes the tiniest, most basic looking places serve the best grub
known to man. If you see a long line of locals outside a particular shop
or street stall, get in line. Ask people what they’re ordering or
what’s famous from that spot and get it, even if its something you may
not have tried before.
7.Don’t be afraid to walk away from a restaurant even though you sat down already
It’s your money, your mouth and your holiday. Don’t feel obliged to
stay in a restaurant when you’ve looked at the menu and not found it
exciting or something gives you bad vibes about a place. I have walked
into restaurants countless times and decided the menu is underwhelming
or that I’m just not in the mood for that particular food anymore. Go
with your gut when it comes to what you feel like eating (pun intended),
you only have a limited number of meals on any given trip and they
should preferably all be memorable.
8.Try new things!
I cant emphasise this one enough! You gotta be adventurous with your
food choices, the worst that can happen is that you won’t like it, but
everything is worth at least one shot. I sometimes get queasy from
certain kinds of raw seafood or things with a very strong odor/weird
texture, but I always give it a try (sometimes more!) before I make a
decision. This is how I discovered that I enjoy pigs ears, horchata,
cuttlefish & snails even though I may not have tried them just from
the name. Variety is the spice of life, my friend, and that applies to
food more than anything else. You have an opportunity 3-4 times everyday
to try something you’ve never tried before, so throw your previous
ideas out the window, close your eyes, and take a bite!I hope you enjoyed reading my guide about good food & travel. If you have a restaurant in mind that changed your life, or one that you cant wait to go back to then I’d love to hear from you. Write to me on jasleen@jasleengill.com with the subject “Best Meals” and it may end up on my to do list the next time I travel! I’ll be back in a few days with an exciting fashion post, read my other posts about style, beauty & of course travel till then xxx
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