Did I spot aji in the background, there? In Quito, it’s not the hills, but hills at 13,000 feet high. You get winded. Ecuador has excellent food sources. Never seen potatoes like that. Every meat/seafood item was on the nuts. Hell, I even enjoyed the cui. I want to take my kids down there and catch that damn anaconda. If you ever go to Cuyabeno, bring Ivory soap. If you want to get clean, you’ll be bathing with piranhas and all. You’ll see them wiz past you as you tread. Ivory floats, though. Bring Ivory soap! Make sure you don’t have any fresh cuts before jumping in. 
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We also bring a Dozen back to the BA when we visit Parents on the East Coast.
Split, wrapped and frozen might not be as good as fresh but still better than the best Bagels here at less than half the cost!
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Maybe split off the Quito tangent to a separate thread? Looks like folks have a LOT to share & discuss.
And remind me again what question you are responding to 
; I think when might going out to eat cost less in the US?
Surely not even HO denizens choose where they will live based soley on the cost of eating out! I often say I couldn’t afford to eat in San Francisco if I actually lived in San Francisco.
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No, of course not. A fat cat, wonderful friends & many other things await, but time flies… and I will miss the affordability of many items that I either can’t get back home, or for twice as much money. I realize, of course, that I am incredibly privileged to begin with 
Of course. I just went outside and was reminded that on a day to day basis, it is more important to me what food I can grow, than what food I can eat out.
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I want to visit the country in Japan. I regret that I couldn’t see more of it. I visited an orchard in Nagano. That’s about it.
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I think I forgot one of THE main factors: the 20% tip I am NOT required to add to any meal out. Not even close. Not even 10%, and that actually makes a huge difference.
Honestly can’t believe I missed that. Duh.
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If you mean factoring in not adding a tip to the cost of eating out, I thought you referred to it here;
Thanks. My short term memory sure ain’t what it used to be 
(also I didn’t feel like scrolling through the entire thread ).
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Definitely aji for the seafood at Capitan! That … stuff goes with everything! LOL!
I got to swim with the penguins in the Galapagos, so swimming with piranhas would complete the arc, kind of the alpha and omega of swim buddies.
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Another factor adding to the value in Germany, Switzerland and Austria is the free biscuit or chocolate that accompanies a cup of coffee.
I really missing travel right now.
I’m drinking iced coffee made with German Instant coffee, to take me away 
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I’d love to go to that restaurant! Sounds really interesting! In Boston, similar restaurants would charge some to a lot more for dishes with ingredients like that, so the prices look low to reasonable from my microeconomic section of the globe.
a Euro is close to $1, it seems, I just checked. $3 for 3 ounces of high quality cheese so approximately $1 an ounce, that would be $16 a pound. Prices in Boston area for high quality cheese, including cheese from New England, can easily exceed $20 for 16 ounces.
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*Upward of 3€. I just bought a chunk that was more like 3.60€/100g.
The magic of PPP. It explains everything, everywhere, all at once
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Last night’s dinner total was 92€ for a big platter of sashimi/ceviche/tartar (47€), 1 side of rice & 2 orders of spinach, 2 cocktails, 2 carafes of bubbly water. With tip 100€ for two.
This is the full menu.
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With cheese prices, I suspect the price has something to do with the tax system in Germany vs the States.
Americans, in general, have pretty cheap cheese compared to the price of cheese in Canada and Western Europe. Cheese in Canada tends to cost the same as it’s costing in Germany.
I think it depends, as @Madrid indicated. There are some expensive (and delicious cheeses) like Rogue Creamery’s Smokey Blue that runs ya $20 for 6.5oz. I was lucky to have a variety of their blues gifted to me in the spring by dear friends <3
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It was a giant sandwich indeed (I was the one who posted it).
And here are two other larger-than-life portions:
damn, that’s a lot of water. Not that it’s unwelcome, but wow. Even at that stature, I’d still prefer it to the thimbles of water the average restaurant offers in Japan.
Mmm, banana pancakes with coconut syrup. There are more carbs in this photo than
in a Van Gogh painting.
To get back to the topic, eating out in the U.S. is another risible attribute of the country. The combo of tips + tax not being included in the price is a double tap on my patience to bother trying out new restaurants. Besides, it’s mostly just food from more delicious (be it through indigenous ingredients or locally-grown products) parts of the world … that’s part of why I try to spend so much time out of the U.S.
Without a doubt, I frequently crave pizza, any southern BBQ, or yes, even a massive, caloric cheeseburger. But I also think it’s pretty nice – and worth the extra flight bucks – to go to a restaurant in Valladolid, Mexico, Antakya, Türkiye or Chino, Japan wherein the waitstaff mention that the food all comes from within 50 miles of the kitchen.
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I realize fancy cheeses in the States can run that much.
I’m always amazed by how cheap dairy is in the States relative to Canada, even in a high rent location like NYC.
