How to find new dishes you'll actually like

The easiest way to find new dishes you'll like is to start from one you already love and work out why you love it. Is it rich, spicy, tangy, smoky or crunchy? Then order a dish from another cuisine that shares those traits. If tonkotsu ramen is your favorite because it's rich and savory, carbonara or xiao long bao give you other rich, savory dishes to compare. They have different ingredients and textures, so ask which feature of the ramen you want to keep. Change one thing at a time so you can tell which new flavor or texture worked for you.

Why do some new dishes land and others don't?

A cuisine label is too broad to describe your preferences. Name the flavors and textures you enjoy in a particular dish. Someone who "doesn't like Thai food" may have only tried very sour, very hot dishes, and might love massaman curry, which is mild, rich and a little sweet.

Compare the specific change after you eat. If you liked the broth but disliked the new topping, keep that distinction in your note. It helps you choose the next variation without ruling out every dish in that cuisine.

How do you figure out what you like about a dish?

Pick three dishes you'd happily order again and rate each one from 0 to 5 on a few traits:

• Rich. Fat, cream, butter, bone broth or cheese.
• Savory. Deep, salty, meaty flavor from soy sauce, fish sauce, parmesan, broth or seared meat.
• Spicy. Chili heat of any kind.
• Tangy. Lime, vinegar, tamarind, tomato or pickles.
• Sweet. Sugar, honey, palm sugar or sweet sauces.
• Fresh. Herbs, raw vegetables and citrus.
• Smoky. Char from a grill, a wok or a smoker.
• Crunch. Fried coatings, crisp bread or crunchy toppings.

Look for the traits that score high on all three. Those are what you're really ordering. A lot of people discover they're chasing one thing, like char or tang, across every cuisine they eat.

What should you order next, based on what you love?

These editorial comparisons suggest dishes to investigate using our dish flavor atlas. They are the same for everyone, not measured chances of enjoyment:

• If you love tonkotsu ramen: try shoyu ramen for a lighter bowl, or cross over to spaghetti carbonara or xiao long bao. Choose which feature matters: richness, broth or the texture of the bite. These dishes do not taste the same.
• If you love pad thai: try nasi goreng or pad see ew. Compare their sweet-savory balance with the feature you liked in the pad thai; preparation varies by kitchen. See all the dishes like pad thai.
• If you love butter chicken: chicken tikka masala is the obvious step, but massaman curry and Japanese curry share the same mild, rich, slightly sweet profile. See dishes like butter chicken.
• If you love Korean BBQ galbi: yakitori, bulgogi and chicken teriyaki all bring that sweet, charred, grilled flavor.
• If you love bright, sour food like larb: try tom yum or ceviche. All three are sour, spicy and full of fresh herbs. See dishes like larb.
• If you love khao soi: consider curry laksa as another rich noodle soup to compare, or dan dan noodles when you want to change the format. Read the preparation and ingredients; these are distinct dishes, not interchangeable versions of khao soi.

Each of these keeps what you like and changes one or two things: the cuisine, the format or the intensity.

How adventurous should your next order be?

Use a simple rule: keep two of your favorite traits and change one thing.

1. Same dish, different kitchen. The lowest-risk step. Order your favorite at a new restaurant to learn what a great version tastes like.
2. Same format, new cuisine. Love noodle soups? Go from ramen to pho, or from pho to laksa.
3. Same flavors, new format. Love rich, spicy noodles like dan dan? Try mapo tofu over rice.
4. One new trait. Add heat, tang or smoke to something familiar. Pad see ew to drunken noodles adds chili and basil to the same wok-charred noodles.

Save the big leaps, like a new cuisine, format and heat level all at once, for when you're sharing plates and can fill up on something safe.

How do you do this at a real restaurant?

A menu doesn't tell you which dishes are rich or tangy, so a little translation helps:

• Scan for your traits in the descriptions. Words like braised, coconut, butter and bone broth mean rich. Lime, tamarind, pickled and vinegar mean tangy. Grilled, charcoal, charred and wok mean smoky.
• Ask the server a better question. Instead of "what's good?", try "I love rich, savory dishes. What would you order?" You'll get a more useful answer.
• Order one familiar dish and one match. Sharing a safe dish and a new one means the meal works even if the experiment doesn't.
• Write down what you thought. A quick note like "too sour, loved the crunch" teaches you more about your taste than any star rating.

For a step-by-step way to choose from any menu, see our guide on how to decide what to order at a restaurant.

How can Palytt help you find dishes you'll like?

Our food matches pages compare flavor profiles between dishes, so they're the same for everyone. The Palytt app goes further. It's a free iPhone and iPad app that learns your taste from onboarding food preferences and the dishes you save, post and rate, and, where it has enough dish and taste evidence, can show a 0–100 match score with a one-line reason. Friends' verdicts appear for dishes they have rated, while an order guide can group picks into get this, add on, popular here and maybe skip when enough dish information is available. Coverage varies by restaurant and dish, and a thin guide may have neither personal matches nor crowd picks. A match score describes taste fit, not a measured probability of enjoyment. To see how you eat before you download anything, take the free Palytt pal quiz. Choose one comparison to try at your next meal, then get Palytt for iPhone or iPad to record the dish, the restaurant and whether you would order it again. The browser quiz supplies a vocabulary for how you eat; taking it does not change dish match scores. Editorial comparisons are the same for everyone, while your food preferences and actual meals supply personal evidence.

FAQ

How do I find foods similar to ones I like?

Name the traits you love in a dish, such as rich, spicy, tangy or smoky, then look for dishes in other cuisines that share them. Changing one feature gives you a clearer comparison after you eat. Record what worked and what you would change before trying another dish.

What should I try if I love ramen?

Try shoyu ramen for a lighter bowl, pho for a fresher noodle soup, or carbonara and xiao long bao for the same rich, savory flavor in a different form.

How can I get less picky about food?

Start from dishes you already like and change one thing at a time: the restaurant, the cuisine or the format. Order new dishes to share, next to something you know you'll enjoy.

Is there an app that recommends dishes based on my taste?

Yes. Where Palytt has enough evidence about your taste and a dish, it can show a 0–100 match score. Friends' verdicts appear when they have rated a dish. It's free on iPhone and iPad.