Subject: Re: choosing a restaurant
We like street food. Something authentic about the experience. We've eaten street food in Ghent (food truck waffles), Seoul, Tokyo, Manila, Bankok, and Keelung...off the top of my head. As long as they cook it in from of me. I agree about chafing dishes and buffets (germ-fests).

I have seen places that have feathers mounted on a rotary device spinning over the food (to keep the flies away). No, I'm not touching that. The one time I ever got food poisoning was in a fast food place in Manila. It was a major chain in the Philippines, and you can see them in CA and NV, too. To this day, I won't eat there.

I avoid western foods when I'm traveling, or at least American foods. The food is part of the culture. So, if I'm not Napoli, I'm not likely getting a pizza (but when I was in Napoli, I did order a pizza). I want local fare, even if I end up not liking some of it. One of the most interesting experiences was in Bangkok. A block or two from the hotel was an open-air food court. My Thai is about 10 words, and most of their English wasn't any better. 1poorlady was walking from table to table "hot? not hot? OK...that one". No idea what we ate that night. She liked the look of it, and it was "not hot", that was the only criteria. (and "not hot" to Thai people is still a little zippy)

I just thought it was interesting that Feynman worked out the 'best' approach to dining. Experiment the first part of the trip, and then return to the one you liked the best during the last part.