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[kitkatgo]

I love experiencing local food wherever I go. It's always a big part of our travels. My husband and kids enjoy it as much as I do.

As a couple people have mentioned, the food in New Orleans can't be beat. I've never tasted such delicious, FRESH seafood in my life.

One of my most memorable experiences was going out with new friends we had met on the train from Berlin...we drank local wine at this little outdoor cafe UNDER the Charles Bridge in Prague watching the river go by, with twinkle lights overhead and candles as our only source of light. It was magical.

I couldn't recount all the amazing meals I've had though...I think it's part of being "away", being with family and sometimes friends, eating different than "normal" foods...

On the other side of the coin, I've had a couple of instances where we couldn't for the life of us FIND a local restaurant:

1) In Ponce, Puerto Rico, we searched for an hour to find something, but were so hungry we finally just ate at a Chili's. We were amazed at how many fast food restaurants and other "American" crap restaurants PR had all over! It was quite sad.

2) Last November, Thanksgiving Day (US), we were driving around the Languedoc region of France. We didn't stop for lunch until mid-afternoon. BIG mistake! We found that the cafes/restaurants just don't serve food in the middle of the afternoon. We had to eat lunch at McDonalds! EEEEeeeekkk! I don't even eat at McDo's HERE in the states. We had a good chuckle out of it though, even though we were disappointed at missing out on that delicious French food. (Thankfully, we did find a local restaurant for our "Thanksgiving Dinner" that night.)

[stereobread]

As a few others have said I don't make a point of traveling somewhere just for the food but the food is a big part of the experience. I don't think you can really get into the spirit of a place unless you try to eat as the locals eat. This means no American style fast food for me, though admittedly I don't eat much of that in the States either, but it also means I avoid the fancy, upscale restaurants in favor of cheap little hole in the wall, family owned neighborhood places, or just street or market stalls. I think my most memorable good experience with trying odd local foods was in Puebla, Mexico where I had a bowl of sopa de sesos, brain soup. It was pretty good, brains have an unusual texture, they're very smooth. I haven't had too many bad experiences and when I don't know the language very well or don't know the names of dishes I generally just point at something that looks good or, barring that, something completely random on the menu. One unfortunate thing that stands out from my time studying abroad in Hungary involved what looked a lot like lasagna but turned out to be made from cabbage and liver. I like organ meats, including liver in small portions, but that was just terrible. I've also been eating Korean blood sausage soup about once a week since I discovered that there is an awesome place that specializes in it just a block from the hagwon I work at.

Actually my weirdest travel/food experience had nothing to do with the food I was eating and everything to do with one of the people I was traveling with. I went to Japan a few months ago with three other people, two of whom were completely with me on the idea of eating as much Japanese food as possible and one who, despite the fact that he has moved to Korea, absolutely hates Asian food in general whether Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, whatever. Because of this situation pretty much every time we ate we had to make two stops, one at amazing little local places where three of us would fill up on sushi, udon, okonomiyaki or whatever else was on offer, and one at at McDonald's so our friend could get a big mac and fries. It was pretty sad.

[starlagurl]

Do you know what I find funny (not that it's a bad thing) about this whole "eat as the locals eat" mentality...it's that, a lot of times the locals only eat McDonald's... so really, you are eating what only some of the locals are eating...

Of course, it's usually better for you and made out of local ingredients...but this idea that it's what "the locals" eat isn't always true!

Just a funny little thing that occurred to me today.

[ScottWoz]

What d'you mean: 'Of course, it's usually better for you'?

[starlagurl]

What d'you mean: 'Of course, it's usually better for you'?

What's thought to be "local" food.

[stereobread]

Do you know what I find funny (not that it's a bad thing) about this whole "eat as the locals eat" mentality...it's that, a lot of times the locals only eat McDonald's... so really, you are eating what only some of the locals are eating...

Of course, it's usually better for you and made out of local ingredients...but this idea that it's what "the locals" eat isn't always true!

Just a funny little thing that occurred to me today.

That's true. Judging from the tastes of a lot of my friends in Prague the average Czech's favorite restaurants are McDonald's and Chili's. To be honest though I don't eat that stuff in the States either unless I'm dragged there by someone else who absolutely insists on it.

[big_red_truck]

Louise has a point...

I saw in China especially, going out for "American" food was a big deal for a lot of Chinese. I've never felt so underdressed at a KFC before! And Pizza Hut was a fancy sit-down restaraunt that the Chinese would go to, to celebrate.

But there is a difference, most of the people in the American restaurants are younger, the older Chinese still prefer traditional Chinese fare.

[tripledot]

@huckabmm, that picture of the Crater Lake Lodge was just incredible. Thanks for sharing.

About the "eat like the locals do" pointed out by Louise. I've observed that city folks are often too oblivious with this. Here in the Philippines, especially in the city, "American" fast food chains and foreign restaurants are really normal fares. But once you get to the provinces, things changes a lot. It's funny how 2-3 hours away from the city you can start to see the real local customs and traditions. The thing is, I've observed that foreign tourists are actually easier to persuade to eat local foods and in local scenarios (or ways) than the local tourists. Often times, you can see a lot of the younger local tourists who are just as ignorant as foreign tourists with the local foods and customs. But of course, they grew up on McDonald's, Jollibee (local fastfood chain, which is more popular than McDo), KFC, Kenny Rogers, Pizza Hut and others. These fast food chains have basically invaded the provinces too. You can actually do a land tour of the Philippines by visiting Jollibee branches.

Filipino food is also very diversed. Despite living here for so long here and had been to several places, I can still say that there are still a lot of Filipino foods that I have yet to taste. One thing about the Philippines is that when you travel far enough, you cease to understand what they are talking about. Despite being a relatively small country, we have dozens of dialects. And the food variety can change between dialects and even within the same dialect.

[huckabmm]

@huckabmm, that picture of the Crater Lake Lodge was just incredible. Thanks for sharing.

My pleasure.

[travelmonster]

Do you know what I find funny (not that it's a bad thing) about this whole "eat as the locals eat" mentality...it's that, a lot of times the locals only eat McDonald's... so really, you are eating what only some of the locals are eating...

Of course, it's usually better for you and made out of local ingredients...but this idea that it's what "the locals" eat isn't always true!

Just a funny little thing that occurred to me today.

That really depends on where you go though. There are loads and loads of places I have been where there isn't a McDonalds - and so much the better!! Of course, head to most major city and you will find one, but out in the rural parts - forget it - thankfully.

[ScottWoz]

I know we all travel for different reasons and some of the biggest are to meet new people and see wonderful sights. Well those are all well and good, but how many of us travel to delight our taste buds? Anyone have any horror stories from eating the local fare? Anything in particular stick out in your mind as especially delicious? Aside from all you crazy Canadians and you poutine

I'm definitely a foodie traveller, that's a big part of it. You can't beat living and eating with the locals.

The most recent memory that sticks out is in Laos a few months back. We ended up bartering for a piece of snake found at the side of the road, which we took back to the village and cooked it up for the family I was staying with. Priceless memories.

As for McD*&#$d's(??!!!), they've never heard of it. As it should be..

[wakingdream]

I'm definitely a foodie traveller, that's a big part of it. You can't beat living and eating with the locals.

Me too. Food, food, food. I head straight for wherever the locals eat, no matter how long it takes to find. That's usually where the best tasting goods are. Yum.

As for an absolute fave, only two very. important. words. Hot. Pot. YUM!!

Of course there are many, many, many highlights when it comes to eating on the road. Way too many to mention.

[big_red_truck]

As for an absolute fave, only two very. important. words. Hot. Pot. YUM!!

For me...Brasilian picahna at a churrascaria!!