Travel food is just that, food consumed when you are travelling. Either out on vacation or on work travel and away from home.
The dynamics can be substantial if you are travelling overseas. There are however differences in how we decide what to consume when travelling. Some are adventurous, others curious about cultural food variations but I suspect most aim for a country’s signature dishes. Examplea are Spanish Paella in Valencia, Duck Confit in Paris or Tacos in Mexico. And why not.
I realised that my approach to travel food has evolved over time. Especially when I travel for work. My approach to choosing food and cuisine however while on holidays has somewhat remained the same.
Food when on holidays
Inevitably it starts early with buffet breakfast at the hotel. Buffet breakfast allows sampling various dishes and loading up on carbs for the day.
Bali’s buffet breakfast at hotels comes to mind. They are varied and covers western, local and health conscious cuisines and excellent. After 30 years, it still comes up tops across the countries and continents that I have visited.
Lunch on holidays is whatever is convenient or maybe a skip after the hefty breakfast. Dinner is usually close to the accommodation at a nearby cafe or restaurant. Dinner is spent winding down from the hectic day of sightseeing, talking about what we did and what impressed or did not impress us. Planning for the events for the next day will follow.
If we are in city or country noted for a particular cuisine, we will scout for the nearest cafe or restaurants that has it. Again the focus remains on sightseeing, photos and videos.
Food on work travel
The very first time I travelled overseas for work I realised something unexpected. I had the whole evening to myself. I had not planned anything and just went for dinner in one of the hotel’s restaurants. Things had to change. I had to fill the evening void after work.
My approach to work travel food took a new turn. I would do research on what the classic fare was at the destination.
Typically iconic and culturally signature dishes were in the frame. Nothing ostentatious or expensive. It was kind of a bucket list just in case I did not have another opportunity to return to that country.
The African continent was the biggest challenge. I had to rely on my local colleagues to guide me and they also became my dining mates. That added to the atmosphere. Food in the continent was very affordable including in South Africa in highly urbanised places like Sandton and Rosebank.
The Western Cuisine World
New York was the best. Lots of well known food and all over the place. I covered Katz’s Deli to Peter Luger’s steakhouse over many years. In between some of the best known Italian places for pizzas, pasta and calzones as well as Nathan’s hotdogs.
New York, like the rest of the country had one negative. The omni present tip culture. Sadly little pride in the food they served. Mechanical would be a fair description of service staff. This despite the food being good. To a foreigner it was obvious.
London is a wonderful city and has so much to offer but food was not one of them. I was looking for heritage and signature dishes of the country. Even the quintessential English fish and chips and Sunday Roast varied widely in taste and texture. Ethnic street food mentioned earlier however is growing in popularity with Indian coming to mind.
Glen Coe to the rescue
The exception was Glen Coe in Scotland. What a wonderful local fare of wild boar and venison in sausages, burgers, steaks plus other mainstream UK fare done well. It was kind of funny to see the food still alive all over the hillside as you hiked during the day.
Continental Europe was much better. The French and the Italians are outstanding. The food range is also extensive and you worry that you cannot cover them all and we never did.
Even small cafes served excellent food and the staff were proud of their cuisine. Cafes were all over the place and they were very affordable. The ambience at night with street lamps coming thru the windows on a winter’s night is magical.
Spain and Portugal are also great. So different from their neighbours up North in the type of cuisine.
Seafood is excellent. Paellas and chorizos are a standout. I would look forward to dinner every night I was there. They too had small and good cafes all around. They too took pride in the food they served.
South East Asia
Capital cities of South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Djakarta and Manila are in a class of their own.
Very convenient as their heritage and signature dishes are found within the hotels. The locals are proud of their food heritage and want to showcase it. Authentic with high standards.
Djakarta and Kuala Lumpur had their satays, nasi lemak and gado gado with their national twist. Singapore had Laksa Noodles and Chicken Rice, Bangkok had Prawn Tom Yum and Pad Thai. Manila had Adobo and Lechon, their spit roasted suckling pig.
Staff service standards are big in South East Asia. Polite, ready to serve and with a genuine smile. No stoic tip culture although many guest tipped well as they were looked after. Staff are also proud that their native popular food was ordered.
The Far East
The Far East was an eye opener then as they generally did not have a prominent signature dish but many signature dishes. It did not matter if it was chicken, pork, lamb or beef . Each meat dish had a signature dish.
Some food highlights I enjoyed are Hong Kong’s Yum Cha, Japan’s teppanyaki and Korean Bulgogi. These have to be done in their respective countries to get the original taste. They too like New York was all over the city, in cafes and restaurants.
The Indian Subcontinent
The cuisine is extensive and changes from city. to city. And variations are wide. It was the last discovery amongst cuisines. A veritable explosion of spice and colours.
Their 5 star hotels had them and it was also safer and more convenient. One thing you had to do is pick the food first and then the hotel.
Frontier cuisine at the Bukhara, located the ITC Maurya Hotel in Delhi is a stand-out. Highly memorable and recommended.
India also has a comprehensive vegan cuisine and clearly the best tasting. I have covered their vegan cuisine to some extent in this earlier post. I could go full vegan for a week and attempt each and every dish and still felt great. Yet I would have not touched tip of the vegan iceberg.
The later work year travels
Time became precious as the number of countries to cover increased. In many cases, it was a two day- turnaround. In the early work decades I had already covered a number of countries and their food. So for repeat country visits, my approach changed.
For repeat country visits, food was something light. Because I was limiting my presence in the country and to complete my work, it meant room service or a meal at the Hotel’s cafe. The mood and mind due to work was no longer conducive to fine dining.
The juicy burger for dinner
This was my go-to dinner choice and always room service. Burgers typically come with chips and it allowed me to snack leisurely while working on the lap top.
Good hotels serve excellent burgers as the patties are freshly made with good quality ingredients. They are not fast food. And every hotel has its unique style and taste. Clearly hotel chefs flexing their skills. And I enjoyed the quality and variations.
The exception is when I am in South East Asia. As I did like the local fare and I could not get the same authentic stuff back home in Australia. It too was room service. So Nasi Lemak in Malaysia, Laksa in Singapore and Pad Thai and Tom Yum in Thailand and so on. No burgers.
Airline lounges and airports
Travel food when it comes to airlines and airport vary greatly. It is also not something of a focus. It is treated as an incidental. If you travel often, airline lounges are good for snacks before the flight especially it is a late flight.
Emirates, Cathay Pacific , Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines are World class when it comes to lounge food preparation, range and taste. Naturally the best travel food spreads are in their home country airports. You did not have to leave their airline lounge and scout for good food within the airports’ many eateries.
So plan a little ahead and enjoy the experience. And don’t forget to take photos.