Ask any of my friends and they’ll tell you that I’m probably the worst foodie traveler on the planet. I stood by while my companions ate horse sashimi in Tokyo, politely declined the boiling hot oyster balls in Osaka, ordered the steak instead of the borscht in Russia, and definitely skipped the chicken feet in Hong Kong. Andrew Zimmern makes me uncomfortable, my first tuna roll was in Bangkok last year and even with a Vietnamese mother, I’ll admit that I don’t like phở.
It’s true that gastronomic exploration is an excellent way to experience a culture, eat like a local and try something exotic, but there are more significant components to foodie travel then competing to see who can eat the most outlandish viscera. Food brings people and cultures to a communal table, a place where stories are exchanged, traditions are observed and friends are made. And this can happen at the dive bar in the red light district or at the 4 star Michelin rated restaurant at the top of the finest hotel in the city.
Enjoying food on the road can thus come in many forms, some in plain sight in a guide book and others, more subtle, in a host’s kitchen or at a marketplace vendor. Today at Gadling we’ll be covering all points on the spectrum, from some of our favorite hotspots to strategies for making your meal worth it’s buck. We hope you enjoy it.