Travel Tip: Know What You Order

Words of wisdom: when out at a restaurant, and you do not know what the menu says, make sure you clarify what you are ordering before you place the order.

Rob and I have been very blessed to have free meals during the week from two restaurants; Hotell Hoagland and Matlyckan. We have a plan of action at both places so we know what we are ordering. But I am proof that it doesn't always work when you decide to ignore the unknown!

At Matlyckan it is extremely simple. A waitress will ask us... meat and potatoes or chinese food. We give our pick and we are surprised by the specifics, but at least we know we aren't getting fish. It is almost always delicious, and I have to say the service is so friendly. All the waitresses know to bring Rob a Pepsi and me a Sprite right when we walk in!

At the hotel we will usually take a chance at the beginning of the week and Rob tends to be able to determine if a meal is good or not based on the familiarity of the lunch descriptions. Following that meal I will take a picture of the menu and take that home to be Google translated. Google translate is amazing and I highly recommend that if you are in a foreign country that you bookmark the page!

Well today, I didn't love the options because I knew what they were by translating. The back up meal was a baked potato with one word that didn't quite translate. I chanced it, and guessed it'd just be like butter, cheese, and maybe sour cream. Ugh, let me tell you, I was wrong! Baked potato with a million little shrimp in a mayonnaise like sauce with chives. For those of you who know me, you know I can't even stand the smell of shrimp! I wanted to puke, but of course I just pushed the shrimp aside and ate as much potato as I could.

Rob and I laugh about it because it is only our own fault when we don't know what we order. The people are more than happy to explain and I recommend you don't guess, you ask! When traveling, you want to enjoy the food and not waste a perfectly good meal.