When you travel you notice that there are a lot of similarities and sometimes some differences too. Here we go through some of the main similarities and differences of eating out when you travel so that you can have the best trip possible.
Filmed in York, England
Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFr3sz2t3bDp6Cux08B93KQ/join
#foodtravel #eatingtrip #culturaldifferences
Copyright Mark Wolters 2023
Learn how to plan your travels like we do with our Travel Planning 101 Course: https://www.brighttrip.com/woltersworld
Grab some Wolters World travel gear http://www.woltersworld.store
Help Us Keep Make More Honest Travel Videos: https://www.patreon.com/woltersworld
Hey There Fellow Travelers! Thank you for watching our honest travel vlogs from all over this wonderful world. If you would like to get in contact with us please follow us & send us a message via our social media channels below. Also, if you like our travel videos please feel free to share them with other fellow travelers.
You can find us all over the internet:
Travel Advice & Destinations: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworld
Food Travel Videos: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworldeats
Travel Tips: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworldshorts
Business Education: https://www.youtube.com/professorwolters
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@woltersworld
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woltersworld
Jocelyn’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jocelynwoltersworld
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woltersworld
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/woltersworld
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wolters-world-travel-culture/
43 Comments
The most challenging thing when going out to eat abroad is… How to pay! How can this be different everywhere you go?
Sometimes they bring you the bill right away, sometimes you have to ask for it, sometimes you have to go to the bar, sometimes you have to pay beforehand, sometimes you can pay directly at the table, sometimes you get a booklet with the bill which is either collected again by a server or you have to bring it to the cash register and sometimes they take your creditcard to the back 😱
You never know what the custom is beforehand, so at some point after you've finished your meal you're just sitting there watching how others pay 😂
I'am Dutch, so no free refill of coke . I know that the USA has a policy to refill even without asking. My father in law didn't. He learned it on his first day when he traveled with us. We had made more travels to the USA before that. He had a little bit in his glass. The waiteress took it, came back with a full glass. He was going bananas that he didn't order a new glass and did he just wanted to finish it after he was done with his too big meal. Portionsize was another thing he needed to learn. We told him that it was fine. And then he learned the tippolicy. Travelling is fun, just learn and addept.
in hong kong they shove you to a table with a bunch of strangers if you're eating alone lol
LOVE York, England!
That expensive eating place on that famous square in the city old centre which a lot of tourists.. you know the place.. is usually not the best place to eat.
beer halls in germany… i thought the pretzels were free
Dr. Wolters, you’re approaching 1 million subscribers soon! We can’t wait to see you get there ❤ Cheers 🎉
Whoa… meals are like 15 minutes for me max
My middle school humor made me lol at the thumbnail. But great video! Very useful info…
In Iraq, the meals are absolutely gigantic, even for me as a Canadian. I made the mistake of ordering 2 servings at my hotel since I was really hungry after my flight, and when those 2 massive meals arrived at my table, I knew I goofed up. Also many places will bring several appetizers along with the meal, so be prepared for that.
Now in Toronto Canada, Asian restaurants charge for tea…and rice. Or naan at an Indian establishment. Never had to before. Chips and salsa are no longer complementary.
Hi Mark in other countries why are they putting food on your table that isn't free without saying anything that alone should make it a gift if you didn't know and they didn't tell you there's a cost just refuse to pay for it they can't charge you for food you didn't order they way they do it is a disguised scam
Yes it is supper ❤
Also don't wolf down the first course because you might have to wait quite a while for the main
I just got back from Las Vegas and I ate at 9 or 10 pm every night.
I'm all for cultural diversity and I've lived abroad myself back in my twenties. However, you stick your fork in my plate without my permission and you will have a problem. I remember my boss tried that once back when I worked on Wall Street. She never did it again afterwards. Just saying, don't mess with a man's food!
I found that more often than not when you order fish abroad it is the whole fish with the head. It doesn't bother me but my colleague was not overly fond of the presentation.
happy to share if asked but if someone eating meat sticks their fork in my plate, they are getting my fork in their eyes
How was Joe's Stone Crab on Miami Beach?
Don't forget the Lomotil
If you are from the USA traveling outside of the USA It is important to understand that the level of custimer service is MUCH less and they are not expected tp do any chsnges to the order, np refills, no or little ice, one napkin, the server does not keep returning to your table and they are not going to care as much if you are happy with your meal. Especially in Europe.
More on freebies – at the Autogrill in Italy (and maybe other places) you get charged for the little ketchup/mayo/mustard packets that are usually all free here in the US.
I just made our dinner reservations for Italy. The earliest time available is 730pm!
This is fascinating. In Malta we have brunch but no intermezzo…
Hi Mark, do you guys have any plans to visit southeast asia or the gold coast?
in the usa sort of like europe our food cultures change by region but mostly in the flavors and content of the meal itself
Also be aware that it's becoming much more prevalent in the UK for the tip to be already included on the bill regardless the size of the party, so don't forget to check if service is already on it before adding more tip. You can ask for it to be removed, but it makes it much easier for expense claims to have it done like that.
You might wanna change the title to this video 😁
Another thing is that not every country is vegetarian friendly. Spain for example was very difficult for me to find something to eat.
When i was traveling. How late they ate dinner in Barcelona and how in some areas in Europe u have to find the waitress they are in no hurry to get to the next person which I liked. U can relax and enjoy the atmosphere.
A BIG difference, related to your discussion of the length of meals, is the relaxed serving. I was in a Roman Tratorria when an American couple got visibly and loudly upset when they didn’t get their food in a timely manner. They ruined their dinner, and the dinner of everyone in the place.
The table manners are also very different from place to place
In Brazil when you order Chinese food rice is not included, you have to order it separately
What I have found different and a bit off putting was the way many outdoor food vendors “ operate or cook”. I’ve worked in the food service industry and was very leery of eating at this one set up down in Tulum Mexico. We ordered some fish tacos and they taste was weird. I’m not at all a picky eater but my tacos went in the trash.. out of sight of the person running the set up. My Hubby eat his. Neither of us got sick. I later found out it was just they type of marinade they used. But still.. If it tastes weird or off putting.. Don’t eat it. Again, I’m not a picky eater.. I will eat damn near anything that doesn’t eat me first 😂😂😂❤️✌🏻
Don't think that just because the food is new to you, that it's going to be exotic weird body parts with lots of spicy stuff. There is that, but a lot of local cuisine is whatever they can farm there, like rice and beans, chicken/fish/pork/etc, types of breads and cheeses, and even their own versions of worldwide classics, like burgers, pizzas, tacos, curries, etc. Food is so good
No free things here in Australia (to us the free refills in the US are very odd). And please stop tipping — it’s not necessary as wages are higher, and it just raises an expectation.
One to add here is also the style of service. As the US is tip based, the majority of servers are very attentive while in different countries they may not be as fast to serve you and constantly coming to check everything. It’s not that the service is bad, just the expectations from serving staff are different :))
we were in new york in the 90s and only ate out twice during that time. it was not a pleasant experience for us either time. in germany, going out to eat is the evening activity and you don't have anything else planned. the service person was at our table every few minutes asking if we needed anything and as soon as we had finished eating, they brought us the bill. for us this was very unpleasant and we had the feeling that they wanted to get rid of us as quickly as possible. we asked ourselves all the time what we did wrong to be treated like this. after the second attempt we bought the food in the small new york stores that also sold ready-made food.
Nah, at least in NYC, eating dinner at 8PM would be pretty standard as well as eating lunch no earlier than 1PM.
Wow! So you say a person is being stingy and don't want to share if they don't want people taking food off their plate?? Could be they feel it's rude and has nothing to do with stinginess. You say the portion sizes are small in restaurants in some countries. Well, if your food is considered "fair game" for everyone you're eating with then I would be really ticked off paying big bucks for a meal and then leaving hungry because everyone was eating off my plate.
❤️❤️❤️
great
It's weird how many times i've heard Europeans complain about being surprised by sales tax appearing on bills in the US, when they like to toss all sorts of unasked-for food on the table for foreigners to guess the price of, types of food that may very well be free in other countries. yall got your own hidden fees that you've learned to see that are as invisible as American sales tax to outsiders.