From the yakitori joints of Tokyo to tapas bars in Barcelona, the best places to travel for food offer a window into another culture. Eating well around the globe is an adventure, with meals that linger in memory long after you return home.
To create a comprehensive list of every great spot to dine would be impossible, but think of this as an inspired start to your gastronomic journey. Here are some of the best places to travel for food in the world.
Tokyo, Japan
Japanese food
Ask most chefs in just about any country where they’d most like to eat and there’s a good chance they’ll say Tokyo. This city excels in both highbrow and lowbrow dining. At the upper end of the spectrum, you’ll find artful kaiseki menus and omakases. Here, each Japanese dish is plated with the utmost precision and care.
As dazzling as these are, you’re just as likely to be blown away by a perfect bowl of ramen or soba. From izakayas to yakitori joints, Tokyo has plenty of top-tier wallet-friendly eats. Even the konbini, or convenience stores, train stations, and vending machines stock solid food options.
When you’re looking for a bite on the go, head to one of the city’s famous depachikas. These sprawling food courts under shopping centers stock a vast array of dining options.
Paris, France
Restaurant in Paris, France
Paris may conjure visions of boef bourguignon and bouillabaisse, but these days, dining in the French capital is very much a choose-your-own-adventure deal. From Vietnamese to Algerian, just about any cuisine can be enjoyed in this cosmopolitan metropolis.
If you’re craving classically French dishes, head to a bouillon. Some of these classic workhorse restaurants have served affordably priced, unfussy fare for over a century. Expect to find dishes like escargots, confit of duck, and crème caramel on the menu.
Paris is famous for its bakeries—and with good reason. In recent years, Parisians have been savagely critical of subpar, mass-produced pastries marring their reputation. The best patisseries and boulangeries are worth seeking out for their life-altering works. Once you’ve had a really great croissant with a café au lait here, you may never want to leave.
Bologna, Italy
Bologna, Italy
There’s a reason that Bologna was historically known as “La rossa, la dotta, la grassa” or “the red, the learned, the fat.” The former two titles refer to the city’s red rooftops and thousand-year-long history as a university town. The latter is a reference to Bologna’s luxuriously rich, delicious cuisine.
Dining here is an indulgent experience, with Bolognese dishes rich in cream, butter, cheese, and cured pork. This city was once home to an ancient, powerful guild of mortadella-makers and its restaurants overflow with exceptional charcuterie.
Fresh pasta is definitely king around these parts. Bologna claims to be where the tortellini was invented, along with lasagne bolognese, layered with bechamel and ragu.
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
From street food to Michelin-starred tasting menus, dining out is arguably the favorite pastime of the Thai capital. Many of the best street food carts and stands in Bangkok have been passed down through multiple generations and have fiercely devoted followings.
From khao mun gai, which is Hainanese chicken rice, to hoy tod, oyster omelet, the variety of Thai dishes can be almost overwhelming.
On the other end of the spectrum, Thai chefs are turning heads with innovative takes on the cuisine. Head to Le Du and 80/20 for sophisticated tasting menus often featuring foraged ingredients and artful presentations. At 100 Mahaseth, you’ll find fiery contemporary interpretations of Isaan dishes.
Barcelona, Spain
Gothic Quarter in Barcelona, Spain
Ever since Ferran Adrià dazzled the world with his molecular gastronomy at the now-shuttered El Bulli restaurant, Barcelona has been a hotbed of innovative fine dining.
While excitement over foams has faded, the city remains a thrilling place to eat. Luckily, there’s plenty of exceptional food in Barcelona to be found even outside of the city’s fine dining temples.
Wander around the streets of Barceloneta near the old port and you’ll find a wealth of tapas bars serving seafood, croquetas, patatas bravas, and fish bowl-sized goblets of G&Ts. It’s easy to make a full meal out of an assortment of pintxos, bite-sized morsels often served on toothpicks.
New York City, USA
New York City, USA
The restaurant scene of New York is relentless, forever evolving, and one of the most gastronomically diverse on the planet. While some glitzy, practically-impossible-to-get into new hotspot opens on a near-weekly basis, New Yorkers remain fiercely devoted to the nostalgic stalwarts.
The pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s Delicatessen are still immense. The latkes and smoked sable at Barney Greengrass hold up. Dim sum at Nom Wah Tea Parlor, which has been serving siu mai in Manhattan’s Chinatown for more than a century, are worth the wait. And of course, you can still get a killer slice at Joe’s Pizza.
But to even scratch the surface of New York’s dining scene, you’ll want to get out of Manhattan. Hop on the Staten Island Ferry for incredible Sri Lankan food or head to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx for Italian, Albanian, and Puerto Rican eats. More than 600 languages are spoken in Jackson Heights, Queens and the breadth of cuisines represented here is staggering.
Singapore
Singapore
Few places live to eat with quite so much gusto as the Lion City. Singaporeans treat dining out like a competitive sport and it’s easy to see where the enthusiasm comes from here.
Your first stop in Singapore should be a hawker center, essentially a well-regulated food court. Here you’ll find some of the cleanest—and tastiest—street food anywhere.
Staples to look out for include chili crab, a wonderfully messy Singaporean dish typically consisting of a whole crab with mantou—steamed or fried buns—for mopping up the sauce.
There’s also Hainanese chicken rice, made with poached Wenchang chicken and chicken-fat-slicked rice. Don’t miss ordering a bowl of laksa, a noodle soup with a rich coconut broth and seafood.
Naples, Italy
Naples, Italy
Several of Italy’s most famous culinary exports were born in Naples. Admittedly, the story of how a 19th-century pizzaiolo invented pizza margarita for Queen Margaret of Savoy is false. That doesn’t make biting into the steaming cornicione of a Neapolitan pie any less satisfying. Almost as renowned are the humble pasta puttanesca, pasta pomodoro, and polpette, or meatballs.
As Neapolitans are quick to tell visitors, their cooking emerged from la cucina povera, a throwback to the time when money and resources were scarce in the region. Thrifty home cooks had to be clever with what they did have. Toasted breadcrumbs might stand in for cheese or cheaper cuts of meat could be stretched to flavor an Italian dish.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Bún chả
Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city also happens to be the inventor of the country’s most internationally famous dish: pho. Unlike in Ho Chi Minh City, this dish here is served almost unadorned, with nary an herb or garnish to distract from the soulful, slow-simmered beef broth. Traditionally, pho is eaten for breakfast or sometimes lunch here, although some restaurants also serve it later.
Pho is far from the only specialty to try while in town. Be sure to try bún chả, made with rice noodles, grilled pork and pork patties, and a bundle of fresh herbs. This was the Vietnamese dish President Barack Obama famously dined on with Anthony Bourdain while in town. Or grab a Vietnamese egg coffee, a rich, sweet, almost custardy concoction.
New Orleans, USA
Crawfish
The Big Easy has both an irrepressible joie de vivre and a culinary heritage unlike any other in the world. French, West African, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Vietnamese, and German immigrants have all impacted the city’s food culture.
Both Cajun and Creole food dishes err on the maximalist side when it comes to flavor with precisely balanced seasonings, fresh Gulf seafood, and plenty of butter to bring it together.
Keep an eye out for gumbo, jambalaya, and crawfish etouffee, a trifecta of dishes all but synonymous with New Orleans. Fierce debate persists over who makes the best rendition of each and no two cooks tend to follow exactly the same recipe.
When crawfish are in season, be sure to pounce on an order. These scarlet “mud bugs” can either be boiled in classic Cajun fashion, or served in the increasingly popular “Viet-jun” style. The latter is a reference to Vietnamese refugees who settled near the Gulf and put their own twist on the classic by tossing the crustaceans with warm garlic butter.
Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen, Denmark
Noma may have put Copenhagen’s New Nordic dining scene on the global map, but these days, it’s just one component of a thriving restaurant ecosystem.
Chefs from René Redzepi’s juggernaut have left to form pizzerias, taco stands, bakeries, and natural wine bars of their own. Thankfully, none have attempted to become copycats of their famous forebear, even if they’ve carried on Redzepi’s spirit of innovation and passion for hyper-local ingredients.
While in Copenhagen, be sure to try the smørrebrød, Denmark’s open-faced sandwiches often served with elaborate toppings. The Danes also have a soft spot for both sweet and salty licorice, which appears all over the place here.
There’s also terrific seafood of all kinds here—keep an eye out for fresh and pickled herring when in season.
Read: The Ultimate Copenhagen Food Guide
Athens, Greece
Greek salad
Dining in Athens is a leisurely affair, with wine-fueled meals at tavernas often stretching on for hours. Athenian food is almost impossibly fresh, with seemingly endless plates of seafood, lamb chops, legumes, and fresh produce all drizzled with olive oil and lemon. Order up a luscious bowl of fava bean purée and salata horiatiki, the classic cucumber, tomato, and feta salad.
While the old-school tavernas are still going strong, in recent years, Athens has developed a formidable contemporary dining scene. Thanks to the city’s affordable rents and burgeoning galleries, the Greek capital has seen an influx of new arrivals, including chefs.
Hong Kong
Dim sum
With restaurants running the gamut from humble dai pai dongs to Michelin-starred menus, Hong Kong is a food-lover’s paradise. Just about every cuisine from Lebanese to Peruvian to regional Indian is well-represented in Central’s glitzy restaurant scene.
Even though the international options may be downright dizzying, make a point of seeking out Cantonese classics here. Order round after round of dim sum at Luk Yu Tea House or a sophisticated lunch at The Chairman. For crisp-skinned goose and other Cantonese roasted meats, check out Kam’s Roast Goose.
Lima, Peru
Ceviche
Lima’s cuisine is a culinary melting pot that draws on traditions from around the globe. Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and West African immigrants have all left their gastronomic mark here. Meanwhile, Incan and other Indigenous traditions continue to impact the cuisine.
Ceviche, or raw fish briefly “cooked” in a citrusy marinade, is the national dish of Peru and comes in countless variations. In more recent decades, tiradito, a Nikkei, or Japanese-Peruvian variation, has become extremely popular. Be sure to look out for causas, a savory Quechua dish made with mashed potatoes, and anticuchos, grilled meat skewers often made with beef heart.
Tapas tasting in Spain
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