Jul 25, 2007
The remaining six of the suggested rules for smart eating (while traveling) -- second of a two-part series
6) Eat picnic-style once a day: Instead of going to restaurants three times a day, and devouring one after another of those overly-rich, overly-sauced hot meals, alternate the routine; make one of those meals a cold, light snack, like a sandwich lunch at home. Go to the local equivalent of a delicatessen or to the food section of a department store. Order a slab of paté, some cheese, two rolls, two tomatoes, a pickle and wine, and then take the lot to a park bench or a river bank, and eat healthily, cheerfully -- and for pennies. Oh, happy days!
7) Look before leaping: Never order any dish without first knowing its cost. Never patronize a restaurant that does not openly display its menu outside. Order nothing listed at "today's market price" or "s.g." (selon grosseur, according to weight). Give that latitude to a restaurant, and you'll pay a hideous price.
8) Beware of waiters bearing gifts: Eat nothing that's been placed on the table in advance of your arrival (like a jar of paté); it's priced at princely levels. Refuse anything (other than bread, butter, radishes, and the like) brought to your table unbidden in the midst of the meal unless it's explicitly described as free.
9) Avoid the "household words:" If the name of a restaurant immediately springs to mind in an unfamiliar city, it's because you've subliminally heard of it for decades. And that means: you're twenty years too late. The "household words" are too often riding on their reputations, careless and blasé, and hideously overpriced. They can afford to be.
10) Never eat at airports: Stick sandwiches in your suitcase, pastries in your purse. Conceal a banana in the magazine you're carrying. Do anything, but don't place yourself in the position of ever having to eat at an airport. Need I explain why?
11) Patronize the marketplaces: And finally, when in doubt over where to eat in a strange foreign city, head for the big marketplace, the stalls under canvas or in a warehouse-like building where all the ingredients of meals are sold. Wherever there's a marketplace, there's a nearby restaurant with especially good prices for fresh food; that's because those marketplace eateries buy the makings for their meals from people they deal with throughout the day, at the very best rates.
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7) Look before leaping: Never order any dish without first knowing its cost. Never patronize a restaurant that does not openly display its menu outside. Order nothing listed at "today's market price" or "s.g." (selon grosseur, according to weight). Give that latitude to a restaurant, and you'll pay a hideous price.
8) Beware of waiters bearing gifts: Eat nothing that's been placed on the table in advance of your arrival (like a jar of paté); it's priced at princely levels. Refuse anything (other than bread, butter, radishes, and the like) brought to your table unbidden in the midst of the meal unless it's explicitly described as free.
9) Avoid the "household words:" If the name of a restaurant immediately springs to mind in an unfamiliar city, it's because you've subliminally heard of it for decades. And that means: you're twenty years too late. The "household words" are too often riding on their reputations, careless and blasé, and hideously overpriced. They can afford to be.
10) Never eat at airports: Stick sandwiches in your suitcase, pastries in your purse. Conceal a banana in the magazine you're carrying. Do anything, but don't place yourself in the position of ever having to eat at an airport. Need I explain why?
11) Patronize the marketplaces: And finally, when in doubt over where to eat in a strange foreign city, head for the big marketplace, the stalls under canvas or in a warehouse-like building where all the ingredients of meals are sold. Wherever there's a marketplace, there's a nearby restaurant with especially good prices for fresh food; that's because those marketplace eateries buy the makings for their meals from people they deal with throughout the day, at the very best rates.
Write and read comments about this post.
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
