Have you ever tried food in the local restaurants as well as a costly / fancy restaurant. Me being a foodie, I have been to a lot of restaurants (except 5 star restaurants). The one thing that I personally noticed is that most local restaurants are best in terms of money, taste and quantity but on the other hand the fancy / costly restaurants are usually high priced, less quantity compared to the local restaurants and average on the taste. There are a few exceptions where the local restaurants also have average / bad taste, less quantity, little high price which is not worth and fancy restaurant do also have good quantity, value for money, good taste.
But the thing is I feel Identifying places where there is value for money is the best thing to do.
I also had some terrible experience at a costly restaurant when i went with my friends where the food was highly priced but disappointed over the quantity where I could have had 3 plate of same food at a local restaurant.
At the end of day I am not worried about spending money on food but there should be a value for money we pay. Some food are just overpriced when it dont meet our expectations we are disappointed.