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Gourmet Tech: The top five mobile apps for tasty local food on your travels

By Sue Tidy   |  

When travelling it has never been easier to access the best of local food, due to a plethora of up to date and easy to use apps designed to help you.

Each of the apps below are from trusted established companies who have developed apps using years of experience and local knowledge.

Whether you are looking for a Michelin starred restaurant, a friendly breakfast stop, or want to order a takeaway to enjoy at your leisure, it only takes a few clicks to treat your tastebuds!

TripAdvisor

This is my go to app when visiting anywhere new, it covers just about anywhere in the world and has an easy to use and clear navigation.

Just type in your destination and find hotels, attractions and restaurants. The level of detail with local eateries is excellent, you can filter by cuisine, price or dietary requirements.

Each location shows a list of the top restaurants using a 5 star grading system and each listing has a rating, contact details, location and map, and images of the food and restaurant.

Reviews from previous visitors are arranged with the most recent first and you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of food, ambience and service.

ios/android – free

food panda
Food Panda is the global online food delivery service that has a presence in over 20 countries with a focus on emerging markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East

Where Chefs Eat

Based on the popular foodie bible, this is much easier to access when travelling than the hefty 714 page book! With recommendations from over 400 leading chefs , it covers over 3,000 restaurants worldwide.

The home screen is quite busy with sections on “Where”, “Chefs”, “Eat” ( with a random selection of restaurants ) and “Tipped For”, which is great for browsing through.

The easiest way to navigate is to use the “Where” function to drill down through continent, country and city to find the area you require.

Click on a restaurant listing and it reveals basic info such as contact details, a map, reservation policy and dress code. There is also a list of other nearby recommended places to eat.

ios – £14.99

Food Panda

This global online food delivery service has a presence in over 20 countries with a focus on emerging markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

One of their biggest success stories to date is Pakistan based foodpanda pk which has become one of the fastest growing e-commerce businesses in the country.

Now in it’s 5th year it has a customer base of over half a million, helped by last years impressive 100% spike in app downloads.

Covering ten major cities, you can order anything from biryanis to burgers, pizzas to pastries with the fast and easy to use app.

Enter your postcode and browse the list of local restaurants and takeaways, then select your choices from the menu, place your order and pay in a few easy clicks.

foodpanda cutting edge technology enables the app to get the customers order directly into the restaurant’s kitchen in less than 20 seconds, and you will be sent a text to confirm the order and give an estimated delivery time of your tasty treats!

ios/android – free

Michelin Guide Europe 2017
The Michelin Guide Europe 2017 is one of the most downloaded food apps this year

Michelin Guide Europe 2017

This gathers all the details from the individual guides on European countries ( Italy, France, UK and Ireland etc ) and also their Main Cities of Europe guide ( e,g Athens, Budapest, Prague ).

Covering everything from small gourmet bistros to the ultimate in fine dining, you can filter by GPS, name of town or restaurant, Michelin rating, price or cuisine type.

Each listing has it’s star rating, views of a Michelin inspector, images, prices and map and details of booking procedure. With many restaurants you are able to book online.

If you are having trouble with your phone connection, it can be used offline to search for restaurants and view relevant information.

ios – £11.99

Grubhub

If you are visiting the U.S, then this popular home delivery app can put you in touch with local takeaway restaurants in over 1,000 cities from Philadelphia to Phoenix.

Type in your location to bring up a list of local eateries and browse by cuisine or specific menu item. Choose your food, place your order and pay online. Easy!

There is a Track Your Grub feature that gives real time delivery information and Express Reorder brings up a previously ordered meal to the checkout ready to go.

ios/ android – free