Originally Posted by
magiciansampras
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. I don't think there are right or wrong answers to the questions we're asking in this thread. I lived in France for a year and a half (does that make me an "expert"?) and I can guarantee you that there are plenty of bad restaurants in Paris. And plenty of bad servers/waitstaff/etc. Put another way, it is quite possible his understanding would not change with an increased number of observations.
I think within reason there is no correct answer, the problem is that the
OP is so far off the mark.
I could name you countless places in London where you can get a great curry for GBP5. Or one of my favourites used to be a Lebanese place that did the best schwarma in the world for GBP3. I'm sure with your time living in France you would have similar experience.
I have family in Salerno (south of Naples) there is a hole in the wall pizzeria in town, only locals no tourists, EUR5 you get what I think is the best pizza in the world and I've had plenty
and definately better than anything I have had in NY or Chicago (although I have had some pretty decent pizza there too).
Most first time tourists will usually fall for the tourist traps (Angus Steakhouse anyone???), too often people for an opinion based around this and so make statements like the
OP's.
Travel is a learning experience though, the more you do it the better you become at sniffing out things locals do and where they eat. But a lot does come down to personal preference, and some people have less adventurous palates than others, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Over on the Oz forum we often get people complaining about the high cost of food in Sydney, but generally they have not looked much further than the Rocks (tourist central).