Travel is all about new experiences, whether in a museum, a castle, or a restaurant. In Dublin’s pubs, fish and chips always please, although it’s nothing new. But, behold brown sauce! It’s tangy, very Irish, and can be found in little packets… for free!

Bring home a saucy surprise

The “Chef” brand of brown sauce hit the commercial Irish market in 1921 and has accompanied meat and potato dishes ever since. Much like Americans use ketchup, the Irish pair brown sauce with all kinds of dishes: baked ham, potato cakes, soda farl, and so forth. Brown sauce sports a unique and zesty flavor. Americans might describe it as a tangier A1 Steak Sauce, while Brits might find it similar to their HP Sauce.

Brown sauce is commonly found in single-use serving packets on the tables of restaurants and pubs. Dress up your meal with some special sauce at the bar, and then stash away a couple extra packets for the diners back home. 

While you’re at it…

As long as you’re grabbing things off the table, be on the lookout for sugar or vinegar packets sporting interesting quotes, illustrations, or depictions of local sights. After all, nothing is sweeter than a sugar packet stamped with a quote from Oscar Wilde or James Joyce. (For inspiration, check out this collection of Irish and British sugar packets.)

Also see: Our list of recommended budget hotels in Dublin.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Photo by Bootsintheoven.com

Florentines love their Viniai, and consider them among the city’s most authentic and beloved spots for a bite. And man, are these wine bars cheap!

Though viniai are technically wine vendors, they’ve adapted to changing times and appetites, including the sandwich and snack craze. These days, a couple of Euros gets you a glass of wine, though a couple more will buy you a focaccia sandwich with your choice of ingredients. It’s one tasty deal. 

You’ll notice immediately that these are not large shops. In fact, they can be amusingly cramped. But they are packed, from floor to ceiling, with fabulous local and national wines (and usually a character or two!).

Recommended by tour guides and taxi drivers alike (and endorsed by the crowd almost always outside), I Fratellini (Via dei Cimatori, 38/r) is the city favorite.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Photo by Annie Shapero

Those in search of a sit-down meal deal in Florence—or at the very least something requiring a fork—lunch is the way to go. Loads of restaurants knock down prices to as little as €5 for a plate of pasta, and around €6 or €7 for meat and fish dishes.

Fiaschetteria-Trattoria Mario (Via Rosina, 2r. Tel. 055218550) is only open for lunch. Go early and be prepared to eat on your feet—or squeeze in at the first available seat with groups of hungry locals.

On the other side of town, at Trattoria Accadi (Via Borgo Pinti, 56r. Tel. 0552478410; see above), a Japanese head chef turns out some darn good Tuscan Italian specialties at rock bottom prices. You can actually have two hefty courses for around €12 total.

Who said you can’t eat cheap in this most touristed of cities?

Popularity: 9% [?]

photograph courtesy of plumilla

In Berlin’s hip Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, sometimes it seems a sight easier to pick up cheap Asian food than to actually find a traditional German restaurant. But when the result is great sushi for half the price, who are we to complain?

Tabeyo Sushi-Bar, close to café- and bar-lined Lychenerstrasse and the Kulturbrauerei entertainment complex, offers 50 percent off sushi all the time, and what that means to raw-fish lovers is basic sushi rolls (6 pieces) for less than €2, inside-out and special rolls for less than €6 and nigiri for a measly €1. You might well ask if there is something fishy going on here, but the quality at Tabeyo is anything but cut-rate, with dishes expertly prepared using the freshest ingredients.

We started with pots of warming green tea and delicious miso soup, thick with green onions, seaweed and silky-smooth chunks of tofu, before moving on to the main event of spicy tuna and salmon rolls. We washed it all down with cold Sapporos and were delighted when the bill came to just over €10 per person.

The ambiance comes for free. The small restaurant was recently renovated, and the low-lit, black-and-red interior offers a warm, quiet retreat; even the random fake palm trees and a giant plastic fish on the wall don’t disrupt the mood.

Tabeyo is located at Danziger Strasse 14 and stays open until midnight every night.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Museum restaurants tend to be overpriced and lacklustre. “Le Moucharabieh,” the self-service restaurant at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, is a refreshing exception to the rule.

A plate of excellent mezze—hommous, aubergine dip, and vegetable salad with a crunchy walnut yogurt dressing—is €4. A plate of couscous with chicken, merghez sausages, and vegetables is €11.

It’s a lively scene, with Arab music blaring in the background and museum-goers mingling with the staff at shared tables. Get an espresso from the machine for €1 and stroll onto the rooftop terrace to enjoy one of the finest views of Paris anywhere.

The restaurant is open for lunch every day except Sunday and Monday.

Popularity: 2% [?]