I enjoy traveling. It is a great way to discover incredible sights, excellent music, unique smells, and exceptional food and drinks. Comparing and contrasting your own experiences with what other cultures are doing is also a learning exercise.
But not all experiences, places, activities, or people are equal. You can observe an extensive spectrum of quality even in a small area. I've had my share of stories when traveling and may share them in the future. Still, I want to share some principles for discovering great food - especially cuisine I'm not used to.
The finding is an art
It is essential to provide funding to restaurants that make good decisions to improve the quality of available restaurants in the long run. By "good decisions," I mean the entire hospitality experience, from finding information about the restaurant to making a reservation, being served, and paying for the service.
Good restaurants usually cluster together in a particular geographic area. If there is only one restaurant that represents a specific cuisine, it often fails to meet the expectations of customers. Competition leads to better quality food and lower prices. When there are many restaurants of a particular kind in an area, it results in a pool of knowledgeable consumers, trained workers, skilled chefs, and a ready supply of ingredients. All these are signs of economies of scale at work.
Usually, lower space rent enables restaurants to experiment more and also have smaller prices for their products. So yes, sometimes you can get a good restaurant recommendation by checking the average rent in neighborhoods. This is also why street food is so good; food trucks should have the cheapest rent.
Ordering food is an art that requires some finesse. When dining at fancy restaurants, avoid asking the waiter, "What should I get?" Instead, ask, "What's best?" This prompts the waiter to recommend their most exceptional dishes and also helps you gauge how knowledgeable the staff is. If the waiter responds with "everything," it is likely that they are uninformed or uninterested in assisting you in making a choice, and it may be best to leave the restaurant. On the other hand, when dining at ethnic restaurants, asking what's best may not always get you the most authentic or flavorful dishes. In such cases, observing what the locals eat and ordering those dishes is best.
