• Home
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • Spain
      • France
      • Portugal
      • Iceland
    • North America
      • Canada
      • USA
        • Delaware
        • Florida
        • Kentucky
        • Louisiana
        • Maryland
        • North Carolina
        • Texas
        • Utah
        • West Virginia
    • Central America
      • Guatemala
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • Panama
    • Asia
      • Thailand
      • Cambodia
    • Israel
    • South America
      • Peru
    • Middle East
      • United Arab Emirates
  • Tips & Articles
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Disney
  • Travel Planning
  • Search
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Fvie-Family-Adventurers-Logo

  • Home
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • Spain
      • France
      • Portugal
      • Iceland
    • North America
      • Canada
      • USA
        • Delaware
        • Florida
        • Kentucky
        • Louisiana
        • Maryland
        • North Carolina
        • Texas
        • Utah
        • West Virginia
    • Central America
      • Guatemala
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • Panama
    • Asia
      • Thailand
      • Cambodia
    • Israel
    • South America
      • Peru
    • Middle East
      • United Arab Emirates
  • Tips & Articles
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Disney
  • Travel Planning
  • Search
Baltimore

The Top Ways We Plan Meals When We Travel

baltimore maryland

April 16, 2018 //  by Five Family Adventurers

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Food is a Meaningful Component to any Travel Experience.

Some of our best travel moments revolve around food: walking through a market, stopping at stands, or bringing in tidbits to eat in our room while we all unwind from a long day of touring. We recont the time our daughter had her first bite of steak tartare in Paris, ate an entire Dungeness crab in Victoria, and when she sucked down gooseneck barnacles in Madrid. In Montreal, eating duck in a can (duck surrounding foie gras) at Au Pied de

Philadelphia
Assortment of Cheese, DiBruno Brothers Philadelphia

Cochon was one of the richest, fattiest, most satisfying meals. Our food memories take us back to our destinations and our experiences we made as a family.

Eat Where Your Itinerary Has You That Day.


As a family we tend to plan our travels around food, we have even chosen destinations based on food–that’s how much food matters to us. We try to find eateries near where we will be touring that morning or afternoon to save wear and tear on the kids with extra shlepping.. Once in a while, we stumble upon a location, but the majority of the time we have planned where we are going to eat. With kids though, things sometimes happen and it doesn’t always go as planned. Be prepared for Plan B. The last thing you want to do is go out for a

Pork Bun, Nom Nom, Philadelphia

wonderful meal with a tired toddler.

Get a Taste for Local Flavors.

Whenever you can, try to go to an outdoor (or indoor) market where vendors will be selling local produce, spices,

Thailand
Open Market Thailand

cheeses, meats, seafood and prepared foods. Most vendors will give tastes to entice shoppers to buy. Our kids get their first and (perhaps) last taste of durian in a market in Bangkok’s Chinatown. Many of the night markets in Thailand offer grilled foods for relatively cheap; a great way to enjoy dinner while walking and exploring the extensive goods of the market.

Some Ways We Plan Where to Eat

 

  1. Where Chefs Eat: This just got a refresh for the third edition this year. Nearly a thousand pages long, it’s an encyclopedic collection of chef recommendations for restaurants across Oceania, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Descriptions are basic, so entries propel some web searches for menu and family-appropriateness.
  2. Eater: It’s admittedly opinionated and not comprehensive, but this website has served us well for several years since the (what I consider) demise of Chowhound. The Eater 38 is a solid way to find places to eat, and the Heatmap also helps out. Larger cities also get lists with maps for more specialized categories, e.g tacos or brunch.
  3. David Chang: we’re suckers for the vision; great food made with passion, with a deemphasis on atmosphere and niceties. It’s also a vision that works when eating out with kids. So when spots are mentioned on Ugly Delicious and on his Instagram account, we take note.
  4. Anthony Bourdain: similar to the thoughts on David Chang above. Sure, we know that everyone feels the same way and that many of the spots mentioned on his shows are now overrun with tourists. But, if nothing else, it’s a way to get started and to get thinking.  Watching the shows with the kids also gives them an overview of a region’s cuisine and gets them excited.  Before we left for Thailand, we watched the Chiang Mai episode on Parts Unknown. The kids got excited. And while we didn’t visit the woman in the cowboy hat, the kids knew about and wanted to try Khao Kha Muu. A conversation at our hotel with
    Thailand
    Night Market, Thailand

    an employee sent us down the street for a big steaming bowl at a local dive.

  5. Ask: We ask everyone for an opinion. Before we leave, we ask anyone we know from the country we’re visiting. That’s the most promising, but not foolproof. Sometimes, locals get different food than toursists, which we discovered in Venice. We ask anyone who’s visited before. The caveat in this case is that many travelers end up on hopeless tourist traps for food (and may not know the difference). We ask locals once w
    Local Burrito Stand, Guatemala

    e’re there.  While that may seem perfect, consider two common scenarios in hotels. The first is that the hotel staff thinks you’re a timid, tourist eater and sends you to “tourist friendly” restaurants. I had this conversation with a concierge in Thailand. I kept asking for simple food for locals and he kept sending me to luxury restaurants. When I asked why, he explained that he wanted tourists to eat in a restaurant where he knew someone spoke English and that the standards were Western. The second scenario is that the hotel or cab driver is getting a kickback from the tourist trap that he or she is sending you to.

  6. Watch: See a restaurant with a line?  That’s worth stopping and taking a look at. A full restaurant? Another good harbinger. See a sign with daily specials, written entirely in the native language?  Check another box.


  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Tweet
Pin11
Share2
Share
13 Shares

Category: Tips & Articles, Uncategorized

Five Family Adventurers

About Five Family Adventurers

I have been an avid traveler since a young child, exploring the world by myself and with my family. I am a mom, wife and individual. When not running after three little dependents and a fat Labrador, you can find me working on our next destination plans. Somehow I also manage to fit in a job. Life is short. Fill it with family travel and adventures. You will not regret it. Embrace what the world has to offer. Oh we are also baseball obsessed, not sure how that snuck into our lives.

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

landing page of language learning app displaying tv shows, movies

Discovering a New, Fun Way to Learn Language

Picture of Salt Lake City Temple, Utah

10 Must-See Salt Lake City Attractions, Utah

Bowls of fresh olives at an open air market

5 Favorite Open-Air Markets You Need to Visit

Previous Post: « You Should Experience Lewes Beach Delaware as a Family
Next Post: Why Traveling with Kids is so Important »

Primary Sidebar

Become An Adventurer!

logo
Food Advertisements by

About Me

Five Family AdventurersI have been an avid traveler since a young child, exploring the world by myself and with my family. I am a mom, wife and individual. When not running after three little dependents and a fat Labrador, you can find me working on our next destination plans. Somehow I also manage to fit in a job. Life is short. Fill it with family travel and adventures. You will not regret it. Embrace what the world has to offer. Oh we are also baseball obsessed, not sure how that snuck into our lives. Read More…



Booking.com

logo
Food Advertisements by

Our Favorite Posts

7 Awesome Family-Friendly Activities to do in Red River Gorge, Kentucky

7 Awesome Family-Friendly Activities to do in Red River Gorge, Kentucky
Cinderella Castle, Disney World

Why Using a Disney Planner is a Great Idea When Planning a Trip to Disney World

Why Using a Disney Planner is a Great Idea When Planning a Trip to Disney World
Briscoe Museum, San Antonio Texas

One Day In San Antonio, Texas; 6 Must-Do Things

One Day In San Antonio, Texas; 6 Must-Do Things
ATM Cave, Belize

The Ultimate, Must-Do ATM Cave Adventure, Belize

The Ultimate, Must-Do ATM Cave Adventure, Belize

From the Blog

landing page of language learning app displaying tv shows, movies

Discovering a New, Fun Way to Learn Language

March 7, 2021

Picture of Salt Lake City Temple, Utah

10 Must-See Salt Lake City Attractions, Utah

February 11, 2021

Bowls of fresh olives at an open air market

5 Favorite Open-Air Markets You Need to Visit

February 7, 2021

two chocolate labs at Sam Knob Trail, Pisgah National Forest

Best Tips for Traveling with Your Pet

January 29, 2021

Sunshine-Blogger-Award
logo
Food Advertisements by

Footer

Inspiration

"Travel is a gift to your children, at every age. We highlight the adventures with our children at all ages. Providing our pearls and (sorta) wisdom gleaned from trips with a family of five."

Be A Better You

Recent Posts

landing page of language learning app displaying tv shows, moviesDiscovering a New, Fun Way to Learn Language
Picture of Salt Lake City Temple, Utah10 Must-See Salt Lake City Attractions, Utah
Bowls of fresh olives at an open air market5 Favorite Open-Air Markets You Need to Visit
two chocolate labs at Sam Knob Trail, Pisgah National ForestBest Tips for Traveling with Your Pet
Hometown Eats: A Guide to Local Cuisine Around the World
Disney packing listThe Essential Disney Packing List
Blog Meets BrandFTA Media Member Circle

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Get Updates
  • Work With Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Disclaimer

Copyright © 2021 Five Family Adventurers · All Rights Reserved