Now is a good time as any to pull out your foodie bucketlist and mark off where to find the best cuisine in the world. Because the world is big and wide and there is just so much to see. I mean travel bucketists basically litter the internet and one can feel easily overwhelmed. But if you are a true foodie, the most important landmarks you will be looking out for are foodie parlours and outstanding restaurants, cafes and bars. So why not make your next trip into a full-blown foodie vacation?
[su_box title=”All in One – Click to jump to section” box_color=”#ef7583″ title_color=”#ffffff” radius=”4″]Tokyo | Bangkok | Athens | New York City | Athens | Barcelona | London | New Orleans | Hong Kong | Cape Town | Cape Town [/su_box]
Tokyo, Japan
You don’t need to like sushi. Heck, you don’t even need to like fish or seafood and still find plenty to eat in Tokyo. Being a vegetarian or vegan isn’t so hard either as a lot of restaurants now have adjusted menus. (Also, the egg sushi is absolutely out of this world!) You will get to taste diverse Japanese cuisine with a big focus on seasonal products. Most importantly, you’ll be hard pressed to find anything that doesn’t taste good.
If you like to splurge on food in a big way, you will be delighted to hear that Tokyo has more Michelin star restaurants in world. Still, if you are on a budget, you’ll also be fine. You can get cheap eats in local izakayas, get fresh food from the markets and you can get a lot of samples in the many giant food courts in the malls.
Melbourne, Australia
The first big thing that made me leave my blog cocoon after I had arrived in Melbourne was cheesecake. I had been scrolling through instagram and all of a sudden this vision of a chocolate raspberry sprinkled, layered cake popped up. In that moment I wished I could travel to where it was and it turned out, it was in town! So I took to my heels and went on a scavenger hunt. It really was delicious!
But that was not the only time Melbourne’s sweet tooth blew my mind. Huge juicy burgers, rainbow coloured Chinese sponge cakes, there is a whole foodie world out there waiting to be explored in Victoria’s capital city. And if you love food photography, most of it is totally instagrammable. Also, Melbourne is truly multicultural and as a result, you can find the best cuisine in the world served here. Try Chinatown, the Italian District, Richmond, … you name it!
Bangkok, Thailand
Thai cuisine is often mentioned when it comes to best cuisine in the world. After all, it is very flavourful, diverse, pleasing and affordable. Bangkok probably even has the best street food scene in the world. Just head out anywhere, especially in the late afternoon, and you will find soup kitchens popping up like mushrooms. Freshly prepared soups, stir fries, rice bowls and as much (or little) seafood as your heart desires.
With Bangkok, you can go full on classy restaurants, well stocked food court or super affordable street food. From warm meals to cold sweets and icy smoothies, teas aGreek saladznd fruit shakes, your palate will simply love you for putting this destination on your foodie bucketlist. Being a vegan is slightly harder here but it is possible nonetheless.
Athens, Greece
Greek food is well loved around the world. I mean, Tzatziki, Greek salad, gyros, the staples are a classic around the world. There are a lot of meat based dishes but likewise enough choice for vegetarians as well. Especially the starters never fail to put enough flavour to whet your appetite. How about Lachanoriz (cabbage with rice) and Greek Dolmades (stuffed Vine leaves)?
When you head to Greece for one of your foodie vacations, you should know the difference between its types of Greek restaurants. For freshly grilled foods, have a table set at an estiatorio or psistaria. Evening meals can be had at a taverna or, for fish based meals, at a psaro-tavernas. For gyros and kebab, try a souvlaki shop. Smaller snacks accompanied by ouzo are ouzeries, mezedopoulions and Tsipuradiko. If you love sweets (like I do), put local fournos (bakeries), cafeterias and cafeneons (cafes) on your foodie bucketlist.
New York City, USA
Every neighbourhood has its own specialties to offer. After all, NYC is a metropolis, a giant melting pot forged by a multitude of cultures from all over the world. Classical Italian food in Little Italy, fresh food markets and high quality dining in the Meatpacking District, delectable ice cream variations in East Village, I could go on and on.
NYC staples are of course very US American: hot dogs, pizza, donuts and the famous cronut. But you can get so many more delectable dishes. With the capital of New York alone, you can easily fill a foodie bucketlist. (I even made a video about a handful of NYC desserts.) My personal favourite are always the giant, crazily decorated milkshakes. There even is an ice cream museum!
Barcelona, Spain
For the love of Spanish tapas, you GOTTA visit Barcelona. A good start into the city’s foodie world is a stroll down La Rambla. Just so you know, this is where most tourists will be found as well, so if you want a truly authentic foodie experience, you gotta stray. Check out local tapas restaurants, especially around Plaça Reial. For a light snack, fresh, juicy fruit and one of the best juices you’ll ever drink, step into the market La Boqueria.
Besides tapas, one thing you absolutely have to try (if you like seafood) is paella and fish with allioli (garlic sauce). For a light snack, opt for the fresh tomato bread and for sweets, Crema Catalana is simply delectable. The latter is very comparable to crème brûlée, pudding covered with caramelised sugar.
London, England
IF you still think England has only bland food on offer, you are so wrong! London is slowly turning heads in the foodie world. Don’t just think about fish and chips or pub food, but the capital’s sheer diversity of ethnic and fusion food. And then it’s markets! What I’ve found out is that England has even become a serious competition to French cheese. There are tons of local farmers producing all sorts of award winning cheese.
To get an idea of what I mean, make sure to add Borough Market to your London foodie bucketlist, then check out Camden Market and Shoreditch. In Shoreditch, for instance, you can fill your bags with flavourful Indian sweets, go to a Korean BBQ or sit back at your laptop in a hipster cafe.
New Orleans, USA
Feasting on warm beignets to the jazzy tunes of a live band? Dig into jambalaya. The city has so much rich Louisiana cuisine to offer and everything is heavily influenced by its creole heritage, by Cajun cuisine and typical Southern soul food. Seafood and fish lovers will get enough on their plate as well. This is not surprising as Mississippi is located where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Truly original dishes can also be sampled as New Orleans was the birth place of po’boy and muffuletta sandwiches as well as oysters Rockefeller and oysters Bienville, pompano en papillote, and bananas Foster, to name a few.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Hong Kong will not only serve you typical Cantonese cuisine, but also by Japanese and Southeast Asian dishes. As a former British colony and international business center, it is also highly influenced by British dishes as well as Western foods.
There are so many local markets to stock up on fresh food, such as fish, vegetables, 1000 year-old-eggs and street snacks, but you can also pop into one of the many local tea houses for your daily fix of dim sum. This is where you can sit alongside locals and enjoy the truly Hong Kong experience. For dessert, add egg tarts to your foodie bucketlist.
Cape Town, South Africa
Diverse food at affordable prices, local markets galore as well as local and international food, Cape Town will easily dish you the best cuisine in the world. For freshly caught seafood sit down at Victoria Harbour. To sample the best local wines, drive over to Stellenbosch.
Ranging from Cape Malay food over typical South African dishes to street food, it is quite impossible not to go crazy on food on the daily in Cape Town. I ate out every single day because there was so much on offer in this foodie world and it was so inexpensive.
Where have you experienced the Best Cuisine in The World?
Everyone has a different taste, so these were my personal favourites that have appeared on a lot of different “best cuisine in the world” ranking lists, such as these:
The Telegraph’s Top 5 Places for Any Foodie Bucketlist
- Tokyo, Japan
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- London, England
- Jaipur, India
- New York City, USA
Lonely Planet’s Top 5 Places for Any Foodie Bucketlist
- Hong Kong
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Tokyo, Japan
- Athens, Greece
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Travel and Leisure’s Top 5 Places for Any Foodie Bucketlist
- San Francisco
- Barcelona
- Oaxaca, Mexico
- Singapore
- Maine, USA
What are your thoughts? What place MUST will rock any foodie world?
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