How I Learned to Spend Money on Food

I like to eat but am by no means a foodie. I grew up a culinarily unadventurous kid, scorning such things as guacamole because it was mashed and mixed with other… things. Most seafood still grosses me out and I can’t understand why anyone would eat dairy that has soured or molded. Give me a block of finely aged cheddar and I’ll be happy.

This lack of culinary curiosity extended into my travel life, not just because of taste but also because of necessity. When you’re scrimping and saving just to buy that transatlantic plane ticket, the food budget was the first to shrink. I would always prioritize experience over food quality. Traveling in London with friends, I couldn’t understand why they would want to sit down for lunch when we could grab a pretzel and keep exploring.

All that changed during this most recent trip to Greece and Turkey (recently! This has been a alarmingly recent realization). Here are four things I was doing wrong while eating abroad:

1. Not dishing out some money.

Common – and wise – advice for the budget traveler is to watch how much money you’re putting in your mouth. When in Prague eight years ago, I went to the grocery store and bought two peaches and a bag of mini-cinnamon rolls because I wanted enough money to go into a least one church. Leisurely, multi-course meals were always in the realm of luxury travel for me. When you come from a place like New York, adding an appetizer shoots your bill up $15 so I carry some wariness with me when I go to any restaurant.

However, some of my favorite travel memories have been two, three hour meals that left us stuffed at the end – appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts, and wine, always wine. These meals were more than noshing down on a lacking sandwich on the street corner, but they also didn’t stop me from hitting up Topkapi Palace the next day. Have I overpaid for a good meal and a smooth bottle of wine? Sure. Have I also gotten an equal or better meal for a fraction of the cost of a New York dinner? Absolutely. During our trip to Turkey and Greece, Boyfriend and I had three marvelous, leisurely, stomach-bursting meals that were under 40 Euro – for both of us.

2. However, it’s going to be difficult to have these fabulous affordable local restaurants if you don’t do your research.

Lonely Planet has turned out to be a great resource for finding delicious food in neighborhoods we never would have known to explore. We would cross-reference their suggestions with TripAdvisor and Yelp to see current ratings and reviews (and check to see if the restaurant was still open!). Yelp was especially helpful in Istanbul, where it suggested two of my favorite dining experiences.

3. Give yourself time to enjoy your meal.

I have travelled with several tour groups and frequently they’ll give you forty-five minutes for lunch in a hot-spot tourist area. It’s difficult to make smart and informed decisions in that time frame (though it can be done – especially if you get suggestions from your guide or bus driver. We had exceptional Romanian ćevapi at a restaurant that was basically a truck stop). Sometimes you don’t have time and that’s ok, but I’ve learned to enjoy evenings where dinner is the main event – no rushing through that never-ending litre of wine.

4. Put down the menu and ask for recommendations.

If you have strong instincts, go with them. But it’s always good to hear what the staff suggests. They’ve probably tried it all. When we ate in Kadıköy, the menu was so overwhelming we just ordered our waiter’s favorites. Best meal we had in Istanbul – and if you’re lucky it endears you to the staff too. We got complimentary lemonade and dessert at that restaurant. (Though one time this didn’t work out so well – when we asked a waiter what he’d recommend he shrugged and said, “I eat at home.”)

I’m still not going to become an adventurous foodie anytime soon. You’re not going to see pictures of raw octopus or fried grasshoppers on my Instagram. But I have reprioritized food in travel. Because travel isn’t just about the doing and the seeing. It’s also about the simple being in a different place. And what better place to BE than at the dinner table?

Do you prioritize food in your travel budget? What have been some of your favorite meals while traveling?