Challenges
Most food discovery platforms recommend restaurants based on general ratings. TopTravelFoods wanted to answer a more practical question: What should I order when I get there?
Scope Of Work
Relia Software provided custom software development, mobile and web development, technical consulting, and DevOps support for the platform.
Dish Discovery: Users could browse recommended dishes instead of searching only by restaurant name.
Advanced Search and Filters: Results could be narrowed by location, district, budget, dietary preference, food category, and other criteria.
Nearby Recommendations: The app used the user’s position to find highly rated dishes available nearby.
List and Map Views: Users could switch between visual food results and a geographic map of restaurants.
Dish and Restaurant Profiles: Each result connected food photography and dish information with the restaurant serving it.
Ratings and Reviews: Food lovers could rate dishes and share their experiences with other users.
Local Expert Content: Curated recommendations gave visitors access to dishes and restaurants selected by people familiar with the local food scene.
Profiles and Following: Users could follow experts and other food lovers to discover what they were eating and recommending.
Web Platform: The web experience made curated food content accessible beyond the mobile application.
DevOps Support: Relia supported the deployment and operational setup needed to manage releases across the platform.
Solution
Dish-Centred Data Model: Relia structured the platform around individual dishes while preserving their relationship with restaurants, locations, categories, pricing, and dietary information.
Geolocation-Based Search: The recommendation flow combined user preferences with geographic proximity, helping users find suitable food without manually checking every restaurant around them.
Synchronized Map and List Experience: The map and list views used the same underlying results, allowing users to explore visually and then navigate directly to a selected restaurant.
Layered Filtering: Budget, district, dietary requirements, and food preferences could be combined to produce more useful results than a single keyword search.
Curated and Community-Driven Discovery: Expert recommendations provided an initial layer of trusted content, while ratings, reviews, profiles, and following features added social proof and continued discovery.
Multi-City Content Structure: The platform was organized to support separate city guides without rebuilding the product for every new location.
Maintainable Delivery Environment: Development and DevOps work supported coordinated updates across the web platform, mobile application, backend services, and content database.
Results & Impact
Complete Product Delivery: Relia supported TopTravelFoods from August 2018 to November 2019 across custom software, mobile, web, consulting, and DevOps services.
Coverage Across Three Destinations: The platform made local food recommendations available for Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Ayutthaya.
