A guy running a fruit stand in Bangkok showed me his 'secret menu' and it saved me $7 a day
I was buying mangoes from him every morning near Khao San Road and on day three he waved me past the pile out front and pointed to the bruised ones in a crate behind him that were a third of the price and just as sweet. He said the tourists never ask, so he never offers, and I ate like a king for the rest of that trip on maybe 80 baht a day. Does anyone else have a story about a local hooking them up with the cheap stuff that wasn't actually on display?
Man, that is the real traveler's tip right there. Same thing happened to me in Mexico City with a tamale lady who kept the good ones in a cooler under the table for the locals. The stuff out front was fine but the hidden batch had way more filling and cost half as much. You just have to pay attention and be cool, they'll show you eventually.