Culinary Backstreets website

I picked up on this website, which provides quite a lot of information on eating in various international cities, from a brief mention in the New York Times travel section: http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/ The particular service that caught my attention was that, for $100, they prepare a custom suggested eating itinerary in one of the cities they cover. Since we are going to Mexico City, which they cover, I ordered one of the itineraries. They ask a series of questions (survey style; not a telephone conversation) such as where you'll be staying and what kinds of places you like. While we have not been yet done the trip, the end product we received seems quite nice. I'll be happy to have it when we're there. They include all meals, market places, as well as some general information. What particularly impressed me is we'll be going between Christmas and New Years Eve when, as we found out, most of the fine dining restaurants are closed for vacation. Since the fine dining restaurant they recommended was closed, they conducted a search for me, based on what we were interested it, and found one that was open. They also made the reservation there.

I'm sure many people here, as I normally do, enjoy the food research we conduct before going to an international destination. However, given what we're spending on the trip, I was happy to spend the extra $100 for some local advice. I'll report back on how their recommendations work.

I love Culinary Backstreets! We took their food tour in Mexico City in August (the new itinerary program hadn't been introduced yet), and it was the highlight of our trip. We also took their Istanbul (old city) tour three years ago and, again, was the favorite part of our vacation. Not only are they guided by the same ethos that LTH is, everyone we met was really friendly and down-to-earth.

And do not miss Aquí Está “Pit" for simply wonderful roasted goat. Learned about it from this post on Culinary Backstreets: http://www.culinarybackstreets.com/mexi ... es-2013-5/

Have a great trip!

We did one of the Istanbul tours a year ago, and it was fabulous! We never in a million years would have been able to arrange an itinerary like that ourselves, even if we spoke Turkish - and we don't. And I'm not generally a fan of guided tours, but the guide's local knowledge was invaluable.

The Culinary Backstreets team includes Kyle Long and Jamie Barys in China. If you happen to visit Shanghai, I can recommend their Noodle, Breakfast Street Food and Night Market tours - chronicled here and here.

Another valuable resource - their articles on Culinary Backstreets' blog. When we visited Xian we found Jamie's article on RouJiaMo (aka Chinese Hamburger) most helpful.

In the Shanghai thread, look for the my night market post, based on a tour with Kyle. Also in that thread is Dmnkly's post on some Shanghai restaurants he visited based on Culinary Backstreets recommendations. The team is helpful not only in terms of finding street food, but also in looking for established restaurants - Western food included. (Within Shanghai and Beijing, there are many many restaurants devoted to provincial food, and especially in Shanghai, international food. Western food is certainly on trend in the provincial cities that are doing lots of business with the West. And it can be comforting to find a good waffle in a place like Chengdu after a long trip.)

But I digress. Definitely would use the resources of Culinary Backstreets on my next trip to China.

To follow up on my original post about the $100 eating itinerary ("eatinerary") Culinary Backstreets provided for our trip to Mexico City. We found the quality of the recommendations excellent. The only problem we encountered is that several of the recommended spots were closed (many restaurants, as we found out, close between Christmas and New Years), but one can't reasonably expect them to telephone every place and check.

Just as an example of what you get, we went to a suggested breakfast spot and, on their recommendation, ordered the corn muffin. Not only was it outstanding, but we saw that at least 2/3 of the other tables ordering that, as well. So you really get the inside scoop on where to go and what to order when you get there.