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Level 9

Travel to another country just for food?

Have you ever travelled to another country just to get something specific? I find many Local Guides love to travel and eat, so there must be some people that go to specific destinations just to eat.

 

I am based in Vancouver, Canada at the moment and this is already food heaven for many people. We have a ton of Instagram-famous foodies who go and try out all kinds of different cuisines and because of our mixed culture that is already present here, there are a ton of options. And given that we're on the west coast, right by the water, endless amount of seafood, if you're into that! But nonetheless, we still want to see what other food options are out there and of course, you want what you can't always have right?

 

So let me tell you about one Sunday afternoon...

I had been seeing these posts pop up about acai bowls, some may call it the best or most healthy breakfast and I haven't been able to find them easily in Vancouver. There are a few, but not many. But these posts, were coming from the US and guess what, at Costco! For those who don't know, Costco is a warehouse like shop that has everything from groceries to furniture to home supplies to car tires, practically everything. It is generally discounted and everything comes in bulk but you have to be a member to shop there. However, they also have a food court in all of their warehouses and you DON'T need to be a member to eat there! So, after seeing all these photos of acai bowls at Costco in the US, my friend and I decided we would drive to the US just to eat one! 

 

The trip is about an hour by car. Thankfully, we are both part of a frequent traveler program so we didn't really need to wait at the border at all. Thankfully we both quirky like this and wanted to drive down just to give this a try. We did manage to do a few other things in the process, but this was our main reason for crossing an international border! And when we got to the warehouse, it was really exciting.

There it is!!!!There it is!!!!

It even comes with the berries, granola and banana bits! 

The acai bowls for my friend and I.The acai bowls for my friend and I.

You can see my excitement!

 

And how did it taste? The berries were fresh and the acai part was really tasty! It had texture that was similar to a soft serve ice cream and that was pretty cool. I loved how it seemed like I was having a junk food but still know that it is relatively healthy! And these bowls were massive, especially given the price. We were really full after enjoying this! 

I'm ready to dig in!I'm ready to dig in!

I know we didn't have to drive very far to be in another country but they weren't serving this in Costco Canada! We made it into a fun afternoon for us girls and had a great time!

 

What about you guys? What's as place you've gone to just to try their cuisine or dishes? Where did you go and what did you try? 

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United States
17 comments
Googler

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

You know I was shocked when I saw you went across the border for this, @Shirley. I can't say I've ever gone to a country specifically for the food but I'm sure that like other Local Guides, I create a food list when I visit a new country!

 

For example, when I went to Japan last week, I knew I had to have tonkatsu, a burger and yakitori. I crossed all off my list with Butagumi (tonkatsu), burgers from Mos Burger (a chain that was just OK) and room service at the Grand Hyatt and Jinya for yakitori/skewers.


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Googler

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

Shirley, you sound just like me! I mostly choose my travel destinations based on the food, and have made special trips to try certain dishes. I love the food in Italy, Japan, and Canada too - though I've only been to Montreal & Quebec so far. I often hunt down the best sweets too. My husband calls me the Pastry Beagle because I lead us on long walks (and sometimes in circles 🙂 to find something that I heard about, like when I had to try the baklava at Rumeli Tatlı ve Börek Evi in Istanbul. I've gone on similar hikes for Paris pastries at Du Pain et Des Idees & cakes from Le Petit Mitrons, green tea soft serve in Hong Kong the time I met Sampson (I essentially chose to visit HK for the dim sum), and this weekend when I plan to try to try the Japanese shaved ice treats at The Little One way downtown in NYC. I also used to have the frozen yogurt at Costco growing up so I'm familiar with the portions hehe. Enjoy your next culinary voyage trip!

Connect Moderator

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

Hey @Shirley this is a really good question, and the answer is yes, of course.

Well, living in Italy, we normally don't use to talk about "Italian Food", we are used to say "Regional Food" as the food change from a region to another.

Living in a place that is two hours driving to the Croatian border, and two hours to the Austrian border, for me is quite normal to say "tomorrow I want to eat seafood", so let's move to Rovinj for lunch.

I love to eat "local food", because history and culture of a country is always deeply connected to the food, so that the food experience is for me one of the most enjoyable part of traveling. You will never understand a place, if you don't test local food.

Level 9

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

@TraciC: You know how I like to eat... haha this was under an hour by car, so it wasn't too bad of an excursion for me. It sounds like you had some amazing food over in Japan!! Share some photos when you get a chance!! Glad you got to cross off items on your list!

 

@AlexVee: Wooo another food lover!! Oooo and you got a sweet tooth kind of like me! Oh, if you like dimsum, you really need to come to Vancouver! Believe it or not, some of the top dim sum chefs in the world actually reside in Vancouver, many of them immigrated to Vancouver during the immigration wave from the early 1990s. Let me know how the Japanese shave ice treats are as well! Will add that to my list for the next time I venture to NYC! 🙂

 

@ErmesT: I fully agree with your last statement there! I think so much of any culture is surrounded by food and it really helps understand a bit of the way of life in any place. Oh, you're just like me with the US and crossing borders for food! It is so convenient that way! I love how you guys don't actually have to go through a physical crossing in the EU, we still do, so it can be a hassle! What's your favourite seafood disease from Rovinj?

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Connect Moderator

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

grilled seabass is indeed my favourite in Rovinj, @Shirley

But I start always with spaghetti with mussel

I love fish and seafood, so this is something that I always search.

My best experience was in Izmir (Turkey) where every Sunday I was seated in a bar, along the sea, eating fried squid and drinking a cold local beer

Level 9

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

Oh seafood along the sea sounds amazing. I love the sound of that @ErmesT!

That's the life!!! 

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Level 10

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

year 2-3 times visit India just for taste food and shopping @Shirley

Mahabub Hasan
Connect Moderator

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

Hi @Shirley doing a adventure like this would be unusual for an Australian. Australia is basically a massive island and is 14 -20 hours from America (south or north), 14 - 20 hours from Europe. Our nearest neighbours are 4 - 8 hours way depending on where you live. When we go to another country the food adventure is usually a part of some other adventure.

 

On the way to Connect Live I'll be stopping off in the home town of @TraciC that friendly little country town known as New York. I've got three food goals for that city: a burger, a proper bagel and a proper deli sandwich. Maybe if I'm really lucky I might have a lunch a Google :).

 

In San Francisco there are some food goals for there too - a chowder in bread on Embarcadero, In-n-Out and  over in Oakland a Super Burrito.

Level 9

Re: Travel to another country just for food?

Oh yes @PaulPavlinovich: Australia would be difficult to just go to another country just for food! 

 

Tons of good eats over in NYC, I hope you get to try tons of different things when you're there. And yes, SF Bay area too! Is Super Duper Burger on your list? 😄

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