the surviving Mormon couple: The “Beginner” Tourist Series: Restaurants

Restaurants

One of the best things about traveling is eating all kinds of different Food! At every port, I have my heart set on something delicious and memorable! And, as a matter of purpose, I always ‘do as the locals do.’ So, if I see a large line of locals waiting at a stand for food, I take a spot and wait. That’s how I got this interesting Potato Sandwich in Marsala, Sicily for 1.30 Euro. Quite Delicious Actually..

Here are a few “signs” I look for in a good restaurant.

First, it’s always a good sign to see if other people are eating at this restaurant. In other countries, it is popular for only men to go to restaurants. I have walked into restaurants or cafes in Morocco, Tunisia or Crete where there are ONLY men. Not quite sure what that means culturally, but the men are usually just sitting around smoking and drinking coffee. Be aware, that sitting outside is sitting in the smoking section, and some European’s smoke all during their meal.

Next, I like to walk through the street of restaurants and see if I can spot anyone else eating and then see what their plate of food looks fresh, and, frankly, good enough to eat! Also, something typical in other countries is for waiters or even managers to stand outside their restaurants and ‘advertise’ for their restaurant, by showing you a menu and telling you how delicious their food is, etc. When the waiter is too aggressive, I always bypass their restaurant.

Next, I look for a restaurant with a nice atmosphere and a practically priced menu. Things differ in European Countries. Greece is one of the cheapest countries to get a meal and to buy most everything really. I am falling more and more in love with Greek food.

The other day, Ivan and I got all this: A Greek Salad: Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Olives, Onions, Green Bell Peppers, Feta and Olive Oil and Oregano. Serves 4 & A Pork Gyro Platter with 8 slices of Pita bread and a large helping of Tsatziki Sauce, for 13.60, with tip only 15 EURO

On the other hand, we once paid 27 EURO for only this plate of Shrimp.

The Greek food was about 3x more food, for almost half the price. However, both meals were very memorable. We ate the “Garlic Tiger Prawns” in Funchal, Portugal, one night with friends. They gave us Garlic Bread and Bottled water, and one of our friends and Ivan started playing the guitar and everyone in the restaurant applauded, so it was quite a night. There was SO MUCH GARLIC on the shrimp, I loved it and in the end, I thought it was worth it. BUT, if you’re looking for a meal to fill you up, that wasn’t it.

In Italy, the cheapest city generally is Naples, because it is more of an industrial port and doesn’t take advantage of tourists.

Lunch times are always cheaper and you can always get a plain Cheese- or Margarita pizza for much less, sometimes as low as 5 EURO, such as this one, in Pisa, Italy.