The eternal question of "live to eat or eat to live?" is a pretty easy one for us - we absolutely live to eat (and travel to eat too!). We LOVE food and really go out of our way to try the local cuisine no matter where we are. Since we love food so much, we do have a bit of a hard time staying healthy and not gaining a ton of weight on vacation but for what it's worth - here are our tips:
- Try the Local Specialties
No matter where you go (and it doesn't have to be far) every region, city or area has a few special, local dishes that you should try if you can! It usually just takes a quick google search to figure out what they are and where to find it. We're one of those "try anything once" people, so as long as I'm not allergic (sorry Maryland's blue crab shacks!) I'm willing to give it a go. I don't always love everything I try, but I have been pleasantly surprised on a few occasions : )
- Visit off-the-beaten-path Cafes and Eateries
If you're on one of our surprise vacations, we try to recommend a few local places where you can try the regional fare but that by no means is the only place to go! Your hotel concierge or front desk will more likely than not have a few favorite places where they'd take their own family and friends - after all, don't you have your local hangouts back home? So if you're looking for truly authentic - just ask! You can also just wander into a place that looks really busy and fun and see how it goes!
- "I'll Have What She's Having!"
Okay, so now you've found a local joint - take a look around, what is everyone else eating and drinking? Chances are it's the best thing on the menu or at least the house specialty - just go for it and try it! You also can ask the waiter or person behind the counter what they recommend or what their favorite thing on the menu is and just go for that. If you're worried about not being able to communicate in a foreign language you can try using a translation app like Google Translate or simply just pointing and smiling always works!