Now a lot of people tend to think the more expensive something is the better it is. In some cases it might be, but with regards to food its not necessarily the case. Spending say for example $170 for a steak doesn’t mean that it would taste better than a steak that would cost you $30-$40. It may be bigger, but that may just be it and as they say too much of something isn’t always good.
The other week I was offered a Tomahawk 2kg Steak and thought to myself as cool as it would have been to attempt to eat it, it would definitely have been sickening and I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it.
All over the world there are a lot of smaller and hidden restaurants that provide some of the finest tasting dishes and the only way to find these places is to either accidentally bump into them or if you’re lucky you get to find out from the locals. In Melbourne there are plenty of these little hidden restaurants just the same as there are hidden little bars in the little alleyways Melbourne has to offer, but when your visiting an unfamiliar country its not as easy to find. These places always tend to be cheaper, but most of the times they aren’t as well presented as most of the bigger fancier restaurants.
A couple of months ago I was in Fiji, now if you have been to Fiji then you would know how expensive the resort foods are and most often than not the quality of the food isn’t that great. Now I don’t mind paying an arm and a leg for food if it satisfies my taste buds and cures my craving. I think we paid more for the convenience than the quality of food at the resort I was staying and I was somewhat unsatisfied.
However, by asking some locals, my taxi driver and doing some homework on where to eat I was able to find a small little restaurant tucked away in a small town just 5 minutes drive away from my resort. For less money the food was great, service was great and the selection wasn’t too shabby either.
It wasn’t the best presented restaurant as it was tucked away in a small town, but it was clean. The reputation for this place being the best place to eat around the area kind of gave me high expectations I must admit, but it didn’t disappoint. So rather than spending $75 Fijian on a tasteless burger or steak at the resort I would rather go to that little bit more effort to go out of the resort and eat.
Now don’t get me wrong there are a lot of fine dining restaurants that serve great food and some do deserve for you to go out and experience it even at $700 per head. As a motto I have always lived by ” you need to try and experience everything at least once in your lifetime”.
Everyones taste buds are different and what people think is tasty and great may not be the same for you but sometimes you need to be adventurous and try different things in order to be able to really appreciate the finer foods in life. So to answer the question “Does the price of the dish make it taste any better?” The simple answer is No.
Next time you decide to eat out or are on holidays in another country don’t just settle be adventurous, do a little research (these days it’s easier with the internet search engines such as google). You may just find a little gem of your own that you can tell your family and friends about. If you have any little gem’s you would like to share please mention them in the comments so we all get to share and appreciate the greater food’s in life.
– Polo
