A $10-a-day food budget is genuinely achievable in most budget-travel destinations without resorting to instant noodles for every meal, as long as you structure the day rather than winging each meal separately.
Structure the day around one splurge, two simple meals
Pick one meal to actually enjoy — a proper sit-down local dish, roughly $4–6 — and keep the other two simple and cheap: a market breakfast (fruit, bread, or a local pastry, $1–2) and a street-food or self-cooked dinner ($2–4). That structure alone gets most destinations under $10 without feeling deprived.
Markets beat grocery stores for produce
Local markets are almost always cheaper and fresher than supermarkets for fruit, vegetables, and bread, and browsing one is genuinely enjoyable travel time, not just a cost-saving errand.
Cooking one meal a day, even simply
If your hostel has a kitchen, cooking even one simple meal a day (eggs, pasta, a market-bought salad) saves real money compared to eating out three times, and it's a fast way to meet other travelers doing the same.
Takeaway: Structure each day around one meal you actually look forward to, and keep the other two simple — a rigid "cheapest possible" approach to every single meal is what actually makes a food budget feel miserable.