Here’s a real-life travel parable for you. It happened to me in the western Sumatran city of Bukittinggi, when I was hungry and wanted to find a place to have dinner.
Having been in the Bukittinggi area for more than a week, I wanted to try a local specialty. Ever since I’d visited the pacu jawi cow races I’d been hearing about “rendang,” but I had yet to try it. Since I wasn’t 100% sure what rendang was, I decided to hit up Google and learn more.
In the process of researching rendang (a coconut curry typically cooked with beef) I found a TripAdvisor review with a header along the lines of: “Best rendang in Bukittinggi!!!” The restaurant in question, Turret Café, was just a five-minute walk from my guesthouse. I decided to go.
It was a bit early for dinner, and when I arrived at Turret Café I was the only person at the restaurant. The proprietor was working at her sewing machine when I arrived, but she seemed happy to open the kitchen and cook whatever I wanted. As it turned out, Turret Café offered chicken (not beef) rendang, served alongside marinated vegetables. It tasted OK, if a bit dry.
While I was eating, a pushy guy named Rikardo came in and offered his services as a tour guide. I tried to explain that I’d just spent the past week motorcycling to the places he’d mentioned, but out of persistence or boredom he pitched his tour services to me for the entirety of my meal. When I left I was still the only customer in Turret Café.
On the walk home I noticed something I’d overlooked on the way to my TripAdvisor-sanctioned restaurant: Avenue Ahmad Yani, which led to my guesthouse, was lined with food-tents that were _packed_ with local diners.
Somehow, in my haste to get to Turret Café, I hadn’t even noticed these food-tents, which had attracted throngs of Bukittinggi natives at the very hour Turret Café sat empty. Had I simply used my eyes (rather than an online review) and noted where local people were eating, I no doubt would have gotten more enjoyable, less-expensive meal.
The moral of this parable: If you’re going to crowd-source an eating recommendation, it’s better to look for a real-life crowd than the virtual advice of a traveler who ate in the city ten months ago.
Note: “Dispatches” are short vignettes, profiles, and mini-essays written and posted from the road, often in tandem with my Instagram account. For more full-formed writing, check out my book Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, or the Essays or Stories archives on this site. I don’t host a “comments” section, but I’m happy to hear your thoughts via my Contact page.
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