Also the biases really show up when you travel to foreign countries. I’m currently in Vietnam eating based on recommendations from friends I trust, recommendations from guides and staff, recomendaciones from our travel guide book, and Google reviews.

We use Google reviews to remove obviously touristy places and pick a place if it has at least two or three dishes we want to try based on photos. Most places Google recommends are tourist or expat friendly and that’s not why we travel around the world to eat. Often international foods, mostly euro-centric. This is especially sad cause there are many other Asian foods in Vietnam like Japanese, Thai, Cambodian, Indian, or Chinese that can be good but just aren’t desired by European travelers. Finally, “sponsored” places get a negative. Often they’re chains or more about presentation than good food. I have yet to be proven wrong.

So far, our masseuse gave the best recommendation. Then our family friend is a good second place. Finally Google Maps but limited to just a few blocks and I clicked around the map looking at photos.