How To Find The Best Food In Any City
Food is about more than sustenance. Whether you’re traveling or want to explore more of your own city’s food scene, food is about the experience too. Don’t just go into the nearest restaurant when you’re hungry. Instead, make a plan based on the dishes, produce, and restaurants that a city has to offer for casual dinners, date nights, or special occasions.
Move Away From Tourist Attractions
If a restaurant is too close to a tourist attraction, avoid it. The prices will be higher, and the food is often worse. Even just going a block or two away along a side street will immediately improve your options.
For example, if you’re in Venice, you can buy excellent coffee in any side street but will triple the price for the same quality cup in a cafe in St Mark’s Square. If you’re at home and want to eat the best crepes in the city, stay well away from any touristy areas.
Apply The Two-Block Rule
A recommended travel hack is the two-block rule. Every city has a food distract of some kind, such as Soho in London.
Book your hotel in the middle of a food precinct, and you will only have to move in a two-block radius to find something good to eat, good coffee, interesting food stores, and great restaurants. The East Village in New York is a great example of this. Stay here and you will be surrounded by food from many different cultures, craft beer, local dishes, and interesting places to hang out.
If you’re not sure where to pick, choose an area that has a dedicated food tour. This shows you that the district has a thriving food scene.
Hit Up Facebook Groups
Join a food-related Facebook group to get some ideas before you travel anywhere, and find the ones in your area.
These groups are great resources to find where the locals hang out, so you can avoid the tourist traps, overpriced meals, and disappointing eateries.
To find these groups, you can google the name of the town alongside terms like ‘foodies’ or ‘food lovers’. Join these groups and ask questions like ‘where has the best happy hour?’ or ‘where has the best outdoor dining at this time of year?’
Know Your Food
It helps to have an idea of what you’re looking for. Know the names of some local dishes so you can track them down. For example, if you’re visiting Indonesia, you will then be able to ask where to get good Gudeg, which is a local dish of steamed jackfruit with coconut milk, palm, sugar, lemongrass. If you aren’t sure of pronunciation, write it down phonetically, or write the dish down so you can show it to people when you ask for suggestions. If you’re willing to ask around, you never know what hidden gems you might be able to find. This is another great way to get recommendations from the locals. Make a hit list of dishes you want to try and ask the locals where to get it.
