The Picky Eater’s Guide To A New City

27/6/2018

Street food in Manhattan, New York (Image source)

When you’re travelling the world, going between cities, and soaking up the sights of a foreign culture, you’ll want to try as much as you can. From the traditional activities performed by the locals, to visiting all of the historical venues to be found, there will be plenty to get your teeth stuck into. It’s a shame, then, that so many people find themselves struggling when it comes to actually getting their teeth stuck into something.

Food is never easy when you’re a picky eater, and this gets even harder on vacation, but this post is going to be showing you some of the best ways to get around this, so you should be able to turn this around for your next trip.

What To Avoid?

There are plenty of things to avoid when you’re worried about food on holiday. For the most part, this work will be done to ensure that you don’t have the chance to skip out on trying to new things, as you won’t have any other options when it comes to it. It can be surprisingly easy to opt for a fast food place which you recognise when the other options you have are making you feel daunted.

ALL-INCLUSIVE: While they give you the chance to save some money on drinks by the pool, all-inclusive vacations can be very damaging when it comes to exploring a place. Providing all of your food for you, an option like this will make you feel bad for going out for dinner, limiting you to the options which the hotel serves. Of course, while this might be nice, it will mean that you are stuck with the same options each night and won’t have the chance to explore anything new.

POOR PLANNING: In cities like London, Paris, and New York, the most popular restaurants are always fully-booked long in advance of a night. Poor planning can leave travellers unable to try the places they want, simply because they are too busy, and this is a shame. To avoid this, you should try to book your meals before you even set off. While this may seem extreme, it has an additional benefit, as it will also add a certain level of commitment when it comes to the food you’re going to eat.
TEMPTATION: Avoiding temptation can be hard, especially with most cities being littered with food places which you will recognise. When mealtime rolls around, though, you will have the chance to simply not go near them, and this will make it much easier to keep on the right track. Along with this, in some cases, you may be able to figure out where the fast food joints are before you choose your hotel. This will give you the opportunity to book into somewhere which is far away from any restaurants which you will find it hard to resist.

The Picky Eater’s Guide To A New City - Street food in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam.

Street food in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam (Image source)

What To Look For?

Food contributes a lot towards the culture of a place, with the traditional foods in each part of the world varying wildly depending on the natural resources available. Entire nations are known throughout the world for their affinity for a certain type of food. Of course, though, finding the best examples will be hard without some background research, and you may need to do some work to find meals which appeal.

The first part of this will involve doing some basic background research surrounding the place you’ll be going to, giving yourself an idea of the foods which they are known for. For places like Italy which are well known for their cuisine, it should be nice and easy to figure this out, but others could be harder. There are loads of articles around the web which can help with this. In most cases, though, you will be able to get the best information through Wikipedia, as food is a default section in pages about settlements. Some people would argue that you have to try a place’s traditional dishes before you can ever pretend to know their culture.

Of course, in a lot of cases, it isn’t just the type of food which you should be thinking about, but also the people making it. There are loads of restaurants around the world which are built with fine dining in mind. If you’re interested in food, you’ve probably heard of one or two of them, and will probably have an idea of where you’d like to go. Corica Pastries, for example, are well known for creating some of the best sweet treats in Australia, and this doesn’t have to stop with those who are big. You can find loads of local food places wherever you decide to go.

Finally, as the last part of this, it’s time to think about yourself a little bit, looking for the things which make food into a struggle for you. Picky eaters will almost always be able to spot the qualities of the food which they find the hardest to eat. For example, a lot of people love the taste of mushrooms, but hate the texture, and won’t want to have anything to do with it. It’s a real shame to miss out on meals which you may never get the chance to try again because of something like this, though. To get past this sort of issue, it will be worth adopting a certain level of detachment while you’re away, working hard to ignore the components which often see things being left on your plate.

The Picky Eater’s Guide To A New City - Street food in Osaka, Japan.

Street food in Osaka, Japan (Image source)

The world has loads to offer when it comes to food, with each country, city, and town having its own unique set of dishes calling them home. When you’re trying to see as much as possible, food will always be a big part of your trip, and this makes it important to ensure that you’ll be in the best position to try it. It’s a shame to see people spend entire vacations eating from the same place. This is very common, though, and is something you may have to fight against if you want to succeed.