I get a fair bit of expert advice from friends, but the secret to finding a good place to eat is to turn off your cell phone, take it easy, and watch the men and women who wear suits and come to work. For the past 20 years, I’ve had great success by following the crowd, specifically the business lunch crowd.
On a recent visit to Seoul, I wandered through the financial district, away from the tourist-heavy Myeongdong and Gangseo-gu areas where major retailers and chains dominate the streets. I weaved between the buildings, following men and women in business suits rushing to lunch.
Even though I had been in the city for a week already, I was surprised at the number of bars and restaurants in the alleyways that I hadn’t noticed when I was touring the area on my own with a guide. My suited guide and I had a fantastic bowl of handmade noodles with a mountain of fresh seafood for under $10. Another day, he took me to a little restaurant that served a delicious broth made from pork bones to a 130-year-old recipe, accompanied by a “sundae” (blood sausage). I’m itching to go back and have it pinned for me.
When I went out to another lunch, Cold noodlecold noodle soup, and even found a little bakery making sweet red bean buns for under a dollar, which I would have missed if I’d been glued to my phone.
In Stockholm, the same experience of chasing men and women in suits also yields some great discoveries at night. In the Swedish capital, nightfall sees city workers leaving their offices and heading straight for the subway, but if they’re lucky, many of them will head to their favorite watering hole for a drink after work.
The key is to follow a small group of threesomes and observe their body language: if they are friendly with each other, it means they are not going out for a business dinner, but rather going out to have a night out. If you go out for a business dinner, you are going to a fine dining restaurant.
That’s how I found the coziest wine bars, which are slowly replacing Michelin-starred restaurants, typical of the upscale New Nordic trend. On a recent visit, I discovered some highly ambitious Swedish chefs who cut their teeth in Scandinavia’s finest restaurants and are slowly making a name for themselves with their own establishments.
Bord, Brutalisten and Triton were just a few of the restaurants I discovered where I chatted with friendly locals while sipping Swedish west coast shucked oysters and sipping Swedish Solaris. They shared secrets of the city’s food scene while giving me the same great experience, including a bargain Michelin-starred lunch at Petri instead of dinner.”
Keeping up with the business crowd comes with a few tricks: You need to know your city’s culinary scene to avoid straying into chain restaurants or fast food joints (unless you want to sample local flavors).
It must be remembered that in cities such as Seoul, Tokyo and Zurich, lunchtimes are short and work is tough and demanding, leading many people to choose cheap and fun eateries over high-quality meals.
If you enjoy traveling without a guide and the joy of discovery, you won’t be disappointed with what you find – after all, discovery is the best part of travel.
Michelle Chea is a travel and food writer based in Europe. LinkedIn.
