If you have read any of our blogs you will see that Food and Drink are a major part of any trip we do. I am a keen cook and we both love exploring new tastes and cooking styles.     We also both enjoy photography, hence the picture accompaniments!

We both enjoy finding local, traditional places to eat, as well as cooking in Boris with fresh local ingredients. In addition we try to have a ‘treat’ in each region we go to, finding a special meal in a well recommended local restaurant.

We are often asked how we find places to eat.
Firstly we ask local people, or if we are passing places to eat we look for ones which are busy, with customers who look local and who are obviously enjoying the experience! Often the best places are not on the main streets.

Menus…. a huge choice is often Not a sign of quality as it cannot possibly all be prepared freshly.
Newspaper and magazine articles can be helpful, but often strongly reflect the views of just one person, which may not be your taste.

I am a fan of review sites like Tripadvisor, and I am a frequent contributor. However, please use caution. Keep an eye on when reviews are written – a place may have a high total score, but if all the good and excellent ones are some time ago it may mean a change of ownership has happened, and standards have fallen.

Some tips for spotting fake reviews are:

• A lot of reviews all written in the same style, or using similar vocabulary may indicate fake reviews
• A lot of reviews where the reviewer only has a total of 1 or 2 posts
• A lot of widely differing reviews – 35 Excellent and 30 Poor may indicate 2 people  – one boosting up his cafe, the other – possibly a competitor, trying to discredit it.

These are only suggestions! Also, try and find reviews where you think the writer has similar needs to you…it helps.  If they are rating it excellent on the enormous portions of chips, that may be not the sort of meal you are looking for, and not your idea of excellent. Or it might be! Each to their own!

We hope to use the blog to add information about places we have enjoyed eating, good shops and markets etc. Although please remember that the review is only our opinion, and is only current when written!

Bon Appetit