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How to find "hidden gems" in difficult food markets?

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Old May 8, 2012, 9:47 pm
  #1  
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How to find "hidden gems" in difficult food markets?

When you travel to a place with good food that is difficult to find for outsiders, what kind of tools do you use to find the best stuff out there?

For example, when you go to Vietnam and want the best bowl of Pho or you are trying to find the best Pad Thai in Bangkok, how do you approach the search? I am trying to figure out the most efficient and reliable ways to explore for great food destinations during my travels in general. Maybe we could learn something from each other.

Last edited by DCMN; May 8, 2012 at 10:06 pm Reason: typo
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Old May 8, 2012, 9:57 pm
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I suggest reading some books by Anthony Bourdain.
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Old May 8, 2012, 11:44 pm
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Originally Posted by obscure2k
I suggest reading some books by Anthony Bourdain.
This. In particular, A Cook's Tour although you should read them all -- preferably in the order published.
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Old May 9, 2012, 12:35 pm
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cross researches on google, foodie blogs, reviews, official guides, tripadvisor, etc etc...
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Old May 10, 2012, 3:18 pm
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Originally Posted by ale.penazzi
cross researches on google, foodie blogs, reviews, official guides, tripadvisor, etc etc...
This. Plus, you can often get a good recommendation by striking up a conversation with people at your hotel, cab drivers, friendly people you meet and then cross checking the above. Plus, searches in Flyertalk's own Trip Reports forum will lead to some excellent ideas.
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Old May 10, 2012, 11:59 pm
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When I ask locals for places to eat, I ask people who have no vested interest in where they send me, i.e, I don't ask the hotel, taxi drivers, or souvenir stands.

We were in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and wanted a good seafood restaurant that did not cater to tourists so I went into the Sony store near the hotel and asked one of the employees for a recommendation. His recommendation turned out to be one of the top meals of the trip, and one of the most inexpensive.
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Old May 11, 2012, 4:13 am
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1. when looking for good places to eat ethnic food, look for people of that ethnic group.

2. avoid any restaurant where the average age of the diners appears to be under 25.

3. don't eat at any korean restaurant that has pictures of food on its signs (this is certainly true of LA, but it may work elsewhere).
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Old May 11, 2012, 4:35 am
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Originally Posted by crabbing
3. don't eat at any korean restaurant that has pictures of food on its signs (this is certainly true of LA, but it may work elsewhere).
Corollary: do not eat at any restaurants with menu signs outside with pictures of the food.
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Old May 11, 2012, 5:18 am
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Originally Posted by crabbing
3. don't eat at any korean restaurant that has pictures of food on its signs (this is certainly true of LA, but it may work elsewhere).
Thats pretty terrible advice for here in Korea....
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Old May 11, 2012, 11:12 am
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There are a lot of things to consider when you are going to choose an eating place, like cost, quality of food and comfortable services. The most important thing to be noticed is the style of their representation to impress the guests. After this, you will come about what kind of food is to select.
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