Sharing Meals
#16
Moderator: UK and Ireland & Europe
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Biggleswade
Programs: SK*G, Lots of Blue Elsewhere
Posts: 13,611
Also, in the UK at least, look for chains specialising in lunchtime food (particularly sandwiches, sushi, etc) selling off their food half price from 3-4pm onwards.
You can also find some very decent best-before-end-the-same-day food and pre-prepared meals (aka "salmonella corner") significantly marked down - some great bargains to be had at the higher-end supermarkets, particularly on Sundays when they need to close at about 4-5pm.
If it's a nice day - get a disposable barbecue! You can find one for 3 or less, and pick a spot to use it (just make sure it's allowed, plenty parks ban them as they damage the grass...)
You can also find some very decent best-before-end-the-same-day food and pre-prepared meals (aka "salmonella corner") significantly marked down - some great bargains to be had at the higher-end supermarkets, particularly on Sundays when they need to close at about 4-5pm.
If it's a nice day - get a disposable barbecue! You can find one for 3 or less, and pick a spot to use it (just make sure it's allowed, plenty parks ban them as they damage the grass...)
#18
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: UK
Posts: 8
Depending on where you are travelling to...it would definitely be more exciting to visit local grocery stores and buy things from the deli and sit in a park and watch the people go by! In my experience, there are a lot of horrible restaurants out there that lure tourists in only to be overpriced, poor service and lousy food. If you don't have good recommendations, it can be hit and miss and very disappointing. We wince paid 70 EUR for 2 burgers and a salad in Paris and when I scoffed at the bill the waiter said 'it's not mcdonald's!! Just make sure you know how to say "cooked" in the local language This summer I actually had to 'oink' to find out if what I was pointing to was pork in Prague! It's all part of the fun of budget travel!!
#19
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 5
Continuing the low cost food tips ....
Wipe off and stick in your carry-on the set of plastic utensils from your last airplane meal, or bring a set from home.
Better yet, buy yourself a titanium "spork" and bring it along. Amazon has them, and yes, TSA has let me through with mine several times. The less expensive plastic ones won't last quite as long, but are very serviceable also.
Pack several zip-lock bags of various sizes. Handy for any excess food in those airline meals.
It took me a while to figure out, but European big city grocery stores are often in the basements of department stores. And they do carry lots of individual-serving items. When I haven't been able to find one, I've stopped little old ladies clearly carrying bags of groceries and asked where the store is.
Romelle
Wipe off and stick in your carry-on the set of plastic utensils from your last airplane meal, or bring a set from home.
Better yet, buy yourself a titanium "spork" and bring it along. Amazon has them, and yes, TSA has let me through with mine several times. The less expensive plastic ones won't last quite as long, but are very serviceable also.
Pack several zip-lock bags of various sizes. Handy for any excess food in those airline meals.
It took me a while to figure out, but European big city grocery stores are often in the basements of department stores. And they do carry lots of individual-serving items. When I haven't been able to find one, I've stopped little old ladies clearly carrying bags of groceries and asked where the store is.
Romelle
#20
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: OSL
Programs: SK Diamond, LH SEN, KL Ivory, AY Basic, OZ silver
Posts: 1,103
Try hawker and street food stalls for dinner after having discounted lunch at some places (for example: fries with snacks in Holland and Belgium, sausage on a bun in Germany and Czech Republic, etc.). Usually just a few euro should get you something fresh and warm that'll keep you going until the next morning. Or try to visit central and eastern Europe. Lots to see and do and a grand meal in a normal restaurant doesn't cost much. For those 70 euro ccuk paid for 2 hamburgers in Paris I can easily live for a week in Poland or Czech Republic.
Oh, and avoid any places where tourists eat, especially in cities like Rome, Paris and Barcelona. One side street further may literally make a 75% difference on your bill. And the food usually gets much better, too.
Not sure if still applied, but restaurants in Paris used to have 2 menu's: one for eating inside and one for eating outside at their terrace. Guess which one was most expensive...
Oh, and avoid any places where tourists eat, especially in cities like Rome, Paris and Barcelona. One side street further may literally make a 75% difference on your bill. And the food usually gets much better, too.
Not sure if still applied, but restaurants in Paris used to have 2 menu's: one for eating inside and one for eating outside at their terrace. Guess which one was most expensive...
#21
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,442
"Lunch deals", well, probably a few countries don't have them (where food would generally be very cheap), but I've found them in pretty much any country in the world, be it in China, Australia, Singapore, the UAE, Brazil... (and yeah, obviously in Europe)
So yes, if you want to travel on a budget (what seems to be the case here, given it's the budget forum) yet still enjoy dinner in restaurants once a day, take lunch meals. In Germany, you can often get great deals at surprisingly good restaurants for less than 10€ (soup, salad, main, soft drink) - and slightly less "nice" places often have deals for <6€. Other countries can be even cheaper.
In fact, if you're going to Switzerland, lunch deals are probably the only way not to break your budget if you fancy restaurant food sometimes.
The only problem about going to non-touristic places is that, well, they don't tend to cater for tourists, ie they won't have English menus, and depending on the staff, they might not be very interested in explaining you "how it works".
But if you come just AFTER lunch rush hour (but still within the lunch seat meal time), your chances will be better. At 12 pm, when the restaurant is full, they have little to no time for you. But at 1.30 pm, when most guests left, there is a good chance they'll have more time. And the % of Europeans to speak English is much higher than the % of Americans speaking another language than American English
One more thing, many non-touristic restaurants will often be closed (or having no hot food) from 2-6pm (in Spain more like 4-9/10pm) so check what to expect.
Last edited by EmailKid; Aug 9, 2015 at 7:57 am Reason: Minor point, but 12 a.m. is midnight, not Noon
#22
Moderator: Budget Travel forum & Credit Card Programs, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYJ/YVR and back on Van Isle ....... for now
Programs: UA lifetime MM / *A Gold
Posts: 14,413
For my morning cappuccino there was the lowest price for drinking (and eating if so inclined) while standing at the counter, middle price for sitting indoors, and of course the highest price seated outdoors.
#23
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: MEL
Programs: Flying Blue ; Qatar Privilege Club, KrisFlyer
Posts: 68
You can get these groovy little kitchen knives with a rigid plastic blade cover. Put one in your check-in suitcase and you're ready to cut up anything (fruit/sausage/bread-rolls etc).
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 26,278
We actually did not find this to be the case when in France (mostly Provence and Champagne) this summer. Surprised me; meals seemed much larger than when we visited a couple years ago.
Drinks at McDonalds are a lot smaller in France, though.
Drinks at McDonalds are a lot smaller in France, though.
#25
Formerly known as Stephenk19
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Munich, Germany
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 409
In general I would say splitting meals in Europe is not common from my experiences.
#26
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: OSL
Programs: SK Diamond, LH SEN, KL Ivory, AY Basic, OZ silver
Posts: 1,103
Oh, and talking about coffee and French speaking parts of the world. I remember the menu stating 'un cafe' 7 euro, 'un cafe s'il vous plait' 4,5 euro and 'bonjour, un cafe s'il vous plait' being 1,8 euro or so. Even politeness can make your trip cheaper.