In an earlier post, I mentioned that I’d eaten crackers for lunch and dinner to save money on some trips. The editor left me a nasty note – reminding me that not everyone wants to carry around a luggage full of Austin’s Cheddar Cheese crackers just to save money on meals in other countries. First, I only did that a couple of times. I consider myself a budget traveler; however, I’m not starving myself to see the world. Neither should you! In fact, I encourage you to spend money on delicious cuisines and delicacies around the world. You’ll quickly realize that a lot of meals are extremely cheap.
Here are some examples. In Vietnam, I was paying less than $2 for meals. Side note: Everybody always talk about the pho, but those Vietnamese spring rolls and the Bahn Mi sandwiches are the real winners! That’s another blog. In Singapore, the first meal I ate cost me $43 and it wasn’t even that good! After I went local, I was paying less than $5 a meal for better tasting food. I have similar stories during my travels in Latin America.
Please don’t go on a crackers and water diet during your trip to Costa Rica. Trying new foods is one of the best parts of traveling! Since I don’t want to waste a post discussing crackers, I’ll leave you with some tips on choosing a good local spot.
Tip #1 Sanitary Trick
In high school, my culinary arts teacher used to say, “If you want to know how clean a restaurant is, go to its restroom.” The idea behind this is that if the staff is maintaining the cleanliness of what’s supposed to be the most disgusting part of the restaurant, then most likely they’re keeping the kitchen clean as well (and vice versa). Out of habit, I check the restroom before I order – no matter where I’m eating.
Sometimes this gets tricky, especially when the restaurant doesn’t have a restroom or you move to bigger and better things like street food.
Tip #2 A Long Line is Reassuring
Go to the places with the most customers. If you see a bunch of people dining at a restaurant or waiting in line to order, most likely it’s for a good reason. That reason is customers trust the place. Since we’re taking prices into consideration: generally, the more locals you see, the cheaper the restaurant. An exception is if you’re in a big city or downtown area. A little more research goes into this.
Tip #3 Use the Internet
Websites like TripAdvisor or Yelp are perfect for finding restaurants with great food for reasonable prices. These days, everything has a review, from the fancy restaurant on the top floor of the Grand Hotel to the food stand next to the big tree. Use your hotel’s or hostel’s wifi to see what’s near, and go grub! Even better than that, talk to the hotel’s staff and see what they recommend.
Tip #4 Use Common Sense
These tips are about keeping you healthy and safe. Avoid food that looks like it’s been sitting out for a while. If you don’t trust that a place is clean, don’t risk it!
