Eating better than we can here in Ottawa, Canada is a large part of our reason for traveling. And we don't like to pay a huge price, so a little prep is required.

Who can be indifferent, when on holiday, about eating a bad meal and being charged for it? Not I.

I always have a few leads before we travel. I would only reserve if I'd read online that reservations are a must.

Sure, I could wing it. Just as I could likely wing the hotel, since we mostly travel in the off season. But I wouldn't put myself at that disadvantage.

Food is an important aspect of travel for us. And researching restaurants and other food sellers is a lot of fun for me. So yes, we have lists and often make reservations in advance of our departure if we know a particular restaurant must be reserved in advance.

An excellent meal can be a trip highlight just as a bad meal can be a disappointment. I'm not fond of the word "foodie" but I love good food and interesting meals.

I'm from Ottawa too. Thanks to my research we knew lamb was big in Iceland. But once we got there we ate hamburgers.

No, couldn't care less. Just eat whatever we come across.

Usually. Sometimes we look for sushi restaurants in new places because they're thin on the ground in Switzerland. If we find one that's well reated in the place we plan to visit, we're likely to reserve a table. Generally, while traveling, we like nice bistro/brasserie type restaurants, wine bars and cafes. So we will check ahead to see if there is anything particularly appealing in those categories. However, we like to stay in destinations long enough to also do some exploring with the hopes that we'll chance upon someplace good.

Some friends of ours just did a guided tour of Switzerland. They are foodies and wine-os. Since they had a free night in Lugano, we suggested they try Bottegone del Vino. They loved it. Others on their tour winged it and had not-so-great meals. Not bad, but...

When they came to visit us in Basel, we had prebooked the restaurants for them -- the Brasserie at Les Trois Rois, lunch at the Brauerei (and dinner at our house). The last night they spent in Zurich, so I booked a table at Bindella.

Sometimes I ask some general questions in advance such as my thread elsewhere here regarding food in Vienna, Austria.

In general, a place to eat can have a number of appealing factors besides the quality of the food but I realize not everyone agrees with that point of view.

I always research restaurants - I've had my best dining experiences that way.

The chances that you are going to just accidentally stumble across the best food in town by staggering down a blind alley is pretty slim. And there's no easier way to spoil a pleasant evening than wandering around, not knowing where to go, not being able to get into anywhere that looks decent and ending up in some local chain. I wouldn't chance it at home, so why would I when I'm in a strange place?

I don't wing hotels either.

I always compile a list of restaurants from guidebooks and websites such as menupages. I like to check the menus as I am on WW and want to make sure there is something I'm willing to eat. We also don't like fancy, expensive restaurants, so I like to know the prices in advance.

For lunch, we don't obsess about picking someplace from my list--if the menu posted outside the restaurant looks good, the place appeals to us, and it's convenient, we'll eat there.

We never research restaurants before we leave, partially because no review really ever covers the wine lists very well and without the wine list how can you chose what to eat and partially because we like to ask the locals where to eat.

We usually research and book ahead. We really do not enjoy walking along reading menus outside of restaurants as we find it hard to agree on one. We frequently say let's try the next one to see if it appeals more and waste a lot of time before making a choice.

bunn33--I often have dedicated entire trips to our food, and yet I often have chosen to leave it to local recommendations once we get there.

One of the funniest comments I've read lately is on the Vienna thread where a poster said, "Cowboy, shhh. Restaurant xxxxx is too good to share with "visitors."

I will admit that I feel that way about some of my favorite hometown restaurants.

Not a foodie so never book restaurants ahead. Who knows where I might be in sightseeing or wandering, when I will feel hungry or not, where or when I might find something that looks delicious, who I might run into?

I really want to know how "foodies" self-define. I know I don't want to eat rubbish on a cracker, but do foodies define themselves by importance of restos, Michelin stars, price per plate, or what?

@irishface. Yes it's clear that some folk plan their sightseeing around their choice of restaurant rather than the other way round. That is their prerogative of course and I'm not criticising.
As I said in my previous post, I take it as it comes and as I don't drink wine that's another consideration less.

Hubby and I travel and socialise based on food and wine - eating good food (both cheap and pricey) is an important part of our lives at home or on a vacation.

I hate wasting money and a meal eating crap or overpriced food! So I plan ahead!

We don't spend money on lots of material things, we spend it on eating quality food at home or away, cooking classes, eating out with friends, wine tasting etc.

Just what interests us. Some love art, we love food :)

We do other stuff of course, don't want you to think all we do is eat ALL the time haha!

On visiting NYC the restaurants and shopping are the main attractions for us. Doesn't have to be expensive, we look for the kind of restaurants we don't have at home. So a good Mexican, a steak house. Definitely not French, which we have plenty of here.

I just have to stop my husband from booking lunch and dinner every day - one big meal a day is enough!

We research it in advance, sometimes making a list of what restaurants look interesting. But the reservations are usually done at the last minute, often the same day.

What a great question: what constitutes a foodie and are you one? Russ, I think you should start a new thread. I'd be interested in the responses.

Both. We generally pick out at least one special restaurant in each city and have a list of others we are interested in. And will often ask hotel concierge for reservations. But that's for dinner.

For lunch we usually just stop some place casuale wherever we are when we're hungry (cafe or brasseries or sandwich shop or whatever).