Calculated risks

I've been away, I went somewhere to do things, and that's meant I've eaten at a few new places...and took some risks in the process.

Maybe not all that risky I guess considering I was in a good and very popular location full of excellent eating establishments...it's just unfamiliar I suppose. The risky part is that one never truly knows what one get unless one goes there first...and then it's too late, money has to change hands.

There's often risk in making choices around where to eat or drink coffee: The quality, cleanliness or service could be sub-standard but not at first apparent, the atmosphere terrible or maybe the place just lacks value for money. How does one know unless one goes there first though? Furthermore, having travelled the world, I have often found myself in places where I don't speak the language, or if I do it's only at a rudimentary level, and that's when things can become a train wreck very fast.

I've been lucky though, I've rarely eaten at a place where I've said, nope, I'll never go back there, and surprisingly it's been very rare that that's happened overseas, just a few times here in Australia. (Maybe I take things for granted here, am less vigilant.)

Everywhere I've eaten or bought coffee has been new to me recently and I can't complain too much. I've listened to recommendations, used my powers of observation and taken calculated risks of course...I've managed to get it mostly right too. For instance, I went to one place and saw a lot of people in there which indicated the place might be popular because it's good; I took the risk and was rewarded. It's been costly though and no matter where I went the value hasn't really been there; representative of the location I guess.

Like most, I tend to be a creature of habit when I'm home; there's cafés and restaurants I keep returning to for various reasons, quality, service, the food, value, personalities and atmosphere and so on. I also like to try new things, which leads me to new places which may turn out to be good or bad. I do a little research, ask friends or look at reviews, but a lot of the time I take a punt on it, a calculated risk, walk in and see for myself. I've been caught out a few times, but not too often.

How have your experiences been in respect of eating out in your own location or when travelling? Are you very cautious or do you take a calculated risk or two like me?

Have you found somewhere amazing, a place that surprised you in a good way, or one that was heinous? How do you judge value when you eat out and does the atmosphere of an establishment matter to the overall experience? Feel free to comment about these things, or anything else around the topic of eating out, down below in the comments.