We all do it.

You sit down.

Open the menu.

And announce:

“I’m going to try something different tonight.”

Excellent.

A new era in your eating experiences has begun.

Ten minutes later you order exactly the same thing you always order.

There is nothing wrong with having a favourite.

The problem comes when your favourite becomes so automatic that half the menu may as well be printed in invisible ink.

So here is the challenge.

Next time you eat out, move one step away from the usual.

Not octopus eyeballs fermented for six months in somebody’s shed.

Or a grub that you'd likley see a celebrity in the Australian jungle.

Just one step.

And Peterborough gives us plenty of places to start.

Lithuanian Food: Berneliu Uzeiga (hint you might want to use Google Translate) 

Eastern European food is a real part of Peterborough’s food culture, yet it rarely gets talked about as much as burgers, pizza or curry.

Berneliu Uzeiga is listed locally for traditional Eastern European food, giving us a very good excuse to change that.

If Lithuanian food is completely new to you, that is actually the fun of it.

Do not worry about knowing what everything is before you arrive.

Ask.

Point.

Be curious.

There are few things more depressing than discovering something delicious and realising you could have been eating it for the last ten years.

Middle Eastern-Inspired Grills: XOXO Grill House

XOXO Grill House on King Street takes us in another direction, with Middle Eastern-inspired grilled food in an informal city-centre setting.

This could be the easiest first move for somebody whose idea of culinary adventure currently means ordering a different sauce with the chicken.

You still have the comforting smell of food coming off the grill.

You still recognise what is happening on the plate.

But you have escaped autopilot.

Progress.

Nepalese Food: Gurkha Taste

Then there is Nepalese food.

Gurkha Taste brings Nepalese and wider South Asian flavours into the city.

And this is where the person who says, “I like curry,” can discover that curry is an enormous conversation, not one dish.

We have already talked elsewhere on Taste Trail about Nepalese cooking and why it deserves exploring in its own right.

So if you normally scan a menu looking for the familiar favourite, try doing the opposite.

Look for the thing you don't recognise.

Then ask what it is.

Worst case, you decide it is not for you.

Best case, congratulations.

You now have a new usual.

Indian Food: Jenas

Jenas on Brook Street brings us back towards territory many of us know better: traditional Indian restaurant food, including curries and tandoori dishes.

But familiar territory does not mean you have to make the familiar order.

This may actually be the perfect place to try the experiment.

If you have been ordering the same dish since 2007, tonight is the night.

Ask what the restaurant recommends.

Pick something you cannot pronounce confidently.

Order the dish your friend gets that you always end up stealing a forkful of.

Just don't spend fifteen minutes announcing that you are “really going for it tonight” and then order exactly the same thing again.

We know your type.

One Rule For Your Next Meal

You do not need to become an adventurous eater overnight.

Just move one dish away from normal.

That is enough.

Because one of the best things a local food guide can do isn't keep telling you which restaurant is “best”.

It is introduce you to something you didn't know you liked.

And Peterborough's food map gets considerably more interesting once we start doing that.

So tell us: what cuisine have you never tried — but would genuinely give a go?

And if there is a local place serving it brilliantly, tell us where.

That might decide where Taste Trail goes next.

Just comment below