Many global cities have food steeped in their DNA. This is why the places feature on the list of top food destinations in the world. We assure you that a trip to any of these destinations will make the foodie in you completely satiated.
If you are a devoted food lover who wants to explore the best exotic and scrumptious food destinations, here’s the list for you! You can experience the culture of the destination you’re in by adding culinary activities to your vacation itinerary. Each place has its own diversity in terms of food and dishes that sets it apart from the rest!
Top Foodie Destinations in the World
Paris, France
People often forget that Paris is a food lover’s paradise when they plan their trips to the city. There are so many fun-filled things you can do in Paris that enhance your sightseeing. You can create an exciting itinerary and help build eternal memories. You can find Croque Monsieurs and Croissants alongside the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre-Coeur. Your vacation to the French capital is incomplete if you haven’t tried out the food that makes it so great and unique. There are different ways to taste and enjoy Paris. You can go on a full-day food tour or a one-stop off many street food markets in Paris. Or you can check out the products at a local crepe stand!
The best places to eat in Paris include:
- Astair
- Loustic
- Claus
- Holy Belly
- Cafe St Regis
- Le Colimacon
Tokyo, Japan
Did you know Japan consistently makes it to the list of the ten best global food destinations every year? The reason for this is the uniqueness of the food culture the country has to offer. The traditional Japanese cuisine, known as “washoku”, was added by UNESCO to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013. That made it the second cuisine to be conferred this honour. For the Japanese, food means establishing bonds and connecting with family and friends for Japanese people.
The Japanese view food as one of the pillars of society, which is evident in the sheer variety of cuisine. They have mind-boggling dishes. Some are sushi, Yakitori (grilled chicken skewers), ramen, Japanese Wagyu beef and sticky rice. Japan should be on your list of top food destinations to visit. It is because Tokyo alone has more places to eat than New York or any other city in the world for that matter.
The best places to eat in Tokyo include:
- Tapas Molecular Bar
- Ise Sueyoshi
- Gyukatsu Motomura Harajuku
- Asakusa Imahan
- Taiyaki Wakaba
- Shin Udon
Mumbai, India
Mumbai is known as the ‘city of dreams’. It is often credited for bringing people together from across the entire country. Mumbai’s cuisine is a beautiful amalgamation of numerous influences. The influences range from the food of Koli fishermen’s food (the original inhabitants of the city), to the Christian East Indian community, who have food influenced by the Portuguese. The Bombay duck fry is the most iconic dish in the city, and the most popular dish is the vada pav. A deep-fried potato dumpling, crammed in a bun and slathered in spicy sauce, is everyone’s favourite, especially office goers.
The best places to eat in Mumbai include:
- Canon Pav Bhaji
- Britannia & Co.
- Pizza by the Way
- Bademiya
- Cafe Leopold
- Gaylord
Galway, Ireland
Galway is billed as Ireland’s largest-ever cultural programme, with an estimated 1,900 arts and cultural events as a 2020 European Capital of Culture pack. Food plays a significant role in Galway, and the city was awarded the country’s first European Region of Gastronomy in appreciation of its blossoming culinary credentials. So, make sure to save space for treats harvested from the epic landscapes while feasting on the stellar art programme. Galway is the heart of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, from finding heather-grazed lamb to shellfish plucked freshly from the coast and adjacent islands. Similarly, the refined dishes of Michelin-starred Aniar, or the hearty Irish breakfasts at The Quay House, etc., will make your heart melt.
The best places to eat in Galway include:
- Trieste Cafe & Wine Bar
- Dela
- Wa Cafe
- The Dough Bros
- Brasserie on the Corner
- Kai Restaurant
Marrakesh, Morocco
Marrakesh hosted the first African Capital of Culture, a massive roster of arts events in 2020. The city is home to coloured mountains of exotic spices, an abundant choice of boutique riads, exquisite spas, food that takes centre stage, etc. The Royal Hotel Mansour comprises several interconnected riads, attached with terrace cocktail bars overlooking the medina’s rosy rooftops and hosts high-end cookery classes. If you want to experience grandmother-style Moroccan dishes, head to Le Trou Mur.
The best places to eat in Marrakesh include:
- AL Fassia
- The Red House
- La Grande Table Morocaine
- Mes’Lalla
- Nomad
- Le Trou Au Mur
Cádiz, Spain
Tucked away in the southwest corner of Spain, Cadiz, the tiny Andalucian province, is a great place to enrich your taste buds. The Saturday market at Cádiz is a must where you can pick up some preserved almadraba tuna. The hilltop town located in Vejer de la Frontera has whitewashed streets lined up with affordable restaurants and tapas bars. You can get the most out of the town by taking up cooking classes, foodie tours, and producer visits.
The best places to eat in Cadiz include:
- La Candela
- Bar ba Tabernita
- Taperia de Columela
- El Tio de la Tiza
- Recreo Chico
- Osare
Top Food Destinations in the World
Los Cabos, Mexico
Los Cabos shares its border with California. This beach-blessed Mexican peninsula is the place to swim with sea turtles, indulge in locally brewed beers and the freshest fish tacos, etc. And that’s not even the best part. You can enjoy the fruits of over 150 wineries in Los Cabos, where tastings and tours come with fine-dining restaurants for your absolute comfort.
The best places to eat in Los Cabos include:
- Elements Los Cabos
- JM Steakhouse
- AvoCabo Food Tours
- Metate Cabo
- Wachinango’s
- The Sand Bar
Hong Kong, Asia
Hong Kong could stake its claim to being declared Asia’s culinary capital with over 11,000 restaurants. The city’s food has a unique character. It also has several influences from Cantonese and other Chinese cuisines, like the Shanghainese, Peking, Szechuan, British colonial, Korean, Japanese, and other Southeast Asian food traditions.
The city’s most famous dish is its dim sum, savoury and steamed dumplings, which have become eminent as an art form with variations such as black truffle har gau (or shrimp dumplings). The famous Hong Kong-style milk tea and egg tarts are equally popular here, finding their roots in British cuisine. Hong Kong is the ultimate food destination for you if you want to spend a few days exploring the refined dishes of the East-meets-West tradition.
The best places to eat in Hong Kong include:
- Lin Hueng Teahouse
- Sam Hui Yat
- Duen Kee Restaurant
- Yat Lok
- Yung Kee
- Yau Wun Roast Meat
Malta
Recently, Malta successfully created some buzz for its burgeoning restaurant scene and distinctive culinary culture. The small island country in Europe is surrounded by everyone from the Moors, Phoenicians, and British colonialists and draws clear influences from Arabic and Italian cuisines. The sleepy country is also a prototypical Mediterranean melting pot destination with classic dishes like breakfast pastizzi, Lampuki, etc. Valletta has plenty of fine dining options, where ancient rabbit straws and fish get a refined reimagining served with full-bodied wines made exquisitely from indigenous grapes such as Gellewza and Ghirghentina.
The best places to eat in Malta include:
- Guze Bistro
- Medina
- Rampila
- Barracuda
- Ta’ Marija
- Ta’ Frenc
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel Aviv’s culinary tradition is an excellent destination for plant-based food, since vegan dishes are at the heart of this city. The seaside city in Israel is backed by vast agricultural products that serve veggies, travelling farm-to-fork on the very same day. Over the years, Tel Aviv has levelled up its game and became the self-designated vegan capital of the world, with slick vegan restaurants and coffee shops, local chains like Domino’s offering animal product-free pizza and many more. The city has also reintroduced the boutique Bauhaus-style hotel hangouts featuring cool cocktail bars. For stellar street food, you can try out Tel Aviv’s hummus, shakshuka, and falafel served at street stands, hole-in-the-wall joints, and stalls lining up in the local markets.
The best places to eat in Tel Aviv include:
- Claro
- Mashya
- Taizu
- Alena
- Popina
- Dining’s
Hanoi, Vietnam
A perfect way to describe Hanoi’s food is through the simple, filled with spectacular flavours and served in a no-frills ambience. Famous dishes to try in Hanoi include Pho (Noodle Soup), Pho Cun (Rice Noodle Rolls) and Bun Cha (Grilled Pork & Noodles). The cuisine is all about exploration and, at the same time, creating a balance between the five flavours – sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and bitter. The cuisine further south, namely in the capital Ho Chi Minh City, shows solid French influences due to its erstwhile colonial past.
The best places to eat in Hanoi include:
- Duong Dining
- Madam Tran Restaurant
- Ting’s Kitchen
- Mam Com Viet Restaurant
- Poke Hanoi
- Chestnut Central
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok is popular for its street food establishments and attracts tourists worldwide every year. At almost each street corner, you will find multiple rows of stalls with vendors and their large sizzling woks and pans. Churned out includes the recognizable Pad Thai noodles, fragrant Thai curries, fried insects and Baak Bpet (Fried Duck Beaks). At another end of the culinary spectrum, you will find fine dining establishments with globally renowned Gaggan and Suhring serving German dishes and Bunker serving contemporary American food.
The best places to eat in Bangkok include:
- Good Peace Restaurant & Bar
- Buddha & Pals Jazz Cafe & Bar
- The Sixth
- Nami Teppanyakki
- Mezzaluna
- The Local
Top Food Destinations in the World
Tuscany, Italy
Most foodies come to Italy to take up cooking classes and tick it off their bucket list. Others come to make the most of what Italy has to offer-dream of making tender, rich meaty tomato sauce, homemade pasta, pizza, drinking wine in Tuscany, and eating olives and antipasto on the terrace overseeing the vineyards. Since there is no shortage of cooking schools and wine tasting tours in Italy, this experience can be found everywhere.
The best places to eat in Tuscany include:
- Cook in Tuscany
- La Taverna di San Giuseppe
- La Moscadella
- Ristorante Arnolfo
- Ristorante Caino
- Ristorante Pizza da Nasone
New York City, USA
Another world’s culinary capital is New York City. Incredible food is everywhere, starting from street vendors to Michelin-starred restaurants and some outrageous foods you won’t find anywhere else. The high number of exceptionally talented chefs that call it home is one of the most important things that makes NYC so great. Some of the must check out places are Cosme, Eleven Madison Park and Le Bernardin, Katz Delicatessen, Peter Luger steakhouse, Momofuku Noodle Bar etc. Further, thin slices of New York Pizza, Jewish delis, street hot dogs, and extravagant brunches are all waiting for you.
The best places to eat in New York include:
- Black Iron Burger
- Sparta Taverna
- The Modern
- Olmsted
- Upland
- Le Bernardin
London, England
London is a big city that is overlooked as a foodie’s destination. But, London is the world’s food capital because the array of international food choices, foodie activities, and dining experiences is nowhere else to be found. As one of the biggest food cities in the world, London offers all types of cuisine. Travellers can browse in and around London’s many markets, such as the Camden Market and the Borough Market, or stop for a street food break anywhere in Shoreditch.
The best places to eat in London include:
- Bagel Express
- Bar 61 Restaurant
- Padella
- Amrutha Lounge
- 215 Hackney
- All’s Well
Melbourne, Australia
Another great food city, with several great restaurants to check out, is Australia’s Melbourne. Restaurants located on Finders Lane will be an absolute delight, and two of the highly recommended are Lucy Liu and Chin Chin. There are over a dozen wineries to visit in the Yarra Valley. The climate is excellent, so that you can find Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and some sparkling in abundance. Melbourne in Australia is home to the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. The festival features global culinary superstars who host food events, create unique dishes for participants to sample and draws over 250,000 crowds each year.
The best places to eat in Melbourne include:
- Foglia di Fico
- Flower Drum Restaurant
- Hardware Club
- Cafe di Stasio
- Attica
- Vue De Monte
Lima, Peru
Did you know that Peru was named the top South American Food & Drink Destination by Frommer’s? That’s right, and it is all thanks to Peru’s multicultural population consisting of immigrants from China, Japan, Spain, China, and many other world regions. This is a helping hand in creating a thriving food scene in the city with regional variations that were earlier unexplored and unique at the same time. The signature dishes in Lima are ceviche and chicharrones. The dishes are becoming popular around the world.
The best places to eat in Lima include:
- Mara’s Gourmet
- Met
- Red Lobster
- Maido
- Punto Azul
- Ayahuasca
Copenhagen, Denmark
A must-do on a foodie’s list is incomplete if it doesn’t include Copenhagen in Denmark. It is an enthralling experience to eat at Noma, a highly acclaimed restaurant at the top of ‘The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list. Other than Noma, Copenhagen is blessed with chefs who come out to build their restaurants. So, some of the chef speciality restaurants you mustn’t miss are Sanchez, 108, and Amass, 1 Michelin-star Relae (the first all-organic restaurant to make it to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list); and 2 Michelin-starred AOC. You can head straight to the trendy food-filled Reffen, located in the industrial Refshaleøen of Copenhagen, for the laid back food experience. The food trucks and stalls in the area sell high-quality International dishes.
The best places to eat in Copenhagen include:
- Geranium
- Chill-ee
- Maple Casual Dining
- Juno
- Barr
- Baer
Conclusion
Food is a gastronomical delight! It is something everyone loves and likes to explore, no matter who they are or where they are from. Often, many travelers visit countries more to explore the food, cuisines and culture than to visit their tourist hotspots. As such, food destinations or food tourism has become an emerging concept of tourism for all. The tourist plans of every traveler nowadays include plans mostly to indulge in the local culture and the cuisines that set the countries apart from one another.
Above are the top food paradises on earth that every foodie must visit at least once in their life. With these fantastic culinary destinations, you can run out of food-centric vacations to take with family and friends. You will be amazed to see the variety of food across the world is astounding. Local delicacies, specialties and a variety of cuisines, these locations give the perfect high to the taste buds of the ultimate food lover!
You should travel to these places and see which dishes on the list become your favourites!
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