Which Country have you had the best food experience in your travels?

[Cass_Se]

I don't think I've had any bad food experiences when traveling abroad. have enjoyed everything I've had in Korea, Japan, the UK, and Italy

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That's what I feel for the most part, though I was very disappointed with food when I was in Cuba. That's obviously due to supply issues, but quality was very hit and miss and after a week it got very repetitive. Not to slam the cuisine itself, but having to rely only on local produce is very limiting.

 

[Pedrito]

Probably Singapore as you get the best cuisines of South-East Asia, China and India in one spot, for quite cheap as well.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

Coming from NYC, I thought I was spoiled by the food we have here.

But Spain, in comparison, is beyond anything I've ever imagined food could be. It absolutely blew my mind. I'd walk into a random Cafe in Seville or Madrid with my gal and have the most exquisite meal with the most incredibly quaint atmosphere for just a few bucks. And that was common place. If I could put a price on such an experience given the atmosphere and sheer quality, it would be $100 per person, but there, it translates to just a 7-8 bucks per person, and exists on just about every single corner of every road and alleyway.

Every meal there is like a high-end organically sourced experience and it's all so cheap and available for every person to enjoy - even those of modest incomes. And the chefs are brilliant there too.

I never really imagined food could be like that.

 

[shnurgleton]

pretty much everyone else beats the pants off of the united states, because the quality of fruits and vegetables in europe and asia is so god damn good

 

[John Dunbar]

pho was so good in vietnam i pretty much ate nothing else.

 

[Morrigan]

Japan

 

[alstrike]

I'm from Spain so everything else is automatically worse but I have a blast every time I go to Italy.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

Mexico hands down. Those fucking El Pastors are something else man.

 

[Cbrun44]

Tokyo and/or Paris. But leaning Tokyo as even the 7-11 food is delicious. I've never had anything bad in Tokyo, but have definitely had a handful of shitty meals in Paris.

 

[SiRatul]

Singapore followed by Japan. Love the variety that's available in Singapore. But I have to say that I didn't travel that much so far. Most countries I visited were in europe.

 

[doublechocochip]

Pakistan

 

[Kaji AF16]

France.
I was born in a country which produces varied, world-class, high quality food (Argentina), but living in Paris for a month was a delight.

 

[Deleted member 9399]

Japan with a bullet

 

[Bruceleeroy]

Basically I just love to eat, I've had great food experiences everywhere I've landed. Thailand and Laos were pretty fab though. Lots of memories just walking down a street and grabbing a bottle of Chang and a bite at every place along the way for like 2 bucks a meal.

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Yup Chiang Mai for me. I think about some of the food I had there weekly

 

[Deleted member 5359]

On God, traveling around the USA has been the source of so many good food experiences, including European and Asian cuisine. The food diversity across America is amazing.

 

[MarioW]

For consistently good food? Singapore.

The US has some of the highest highs I've had, but also some of the lowest lows.

Consistently the worst? Germany.

 

[woodland]

France, by nature of being the main place I've gone to a few times when I've been able to afford good food. Had amazing oysters (right out of the ocean) in Brittany, crazy delicious cakes and pastries towards Kaysersburg (or however it's spelled), and been able to find farmers markets on the coast with the best fruit I've ever had. Had a ton of great things in Japan as well, but was a student at the time that wasn't too into fish (although the sushi I did have was solid), so spent most of my time eating ramen/curry/sushi and was able to try some delicious food down in the Ryukyu's.

 

[motherless]

Italy but I am sure I would love Japan and many other places that I have not been to.

 

[shaneo632]

Had an amazing meat platter in Estonia

Really liked goulash in Prague.

 

[Deleted member 13496]

Honestly, the Netherlands. I can vividly remember drinking the best iced tea I've ever had and a prosciutto/bocconcini bagel that was out of this world. The milk was amazing too.

Also had, weirdly enough, the best Thai food I've ever had in Reykjavik, Iceland. I cannot overstate how amazing it was and I've had a lot of Thai food over the years.

 

[Doc Laserstein]

Taiwan and Mexico (specifically the Yucatan).

 

[jph139]

Probably Mexico. Some really spectacular meals there. Authentic mole sauce can't be beat.

But Quebec City is close behind. One of the best meals I've ever had there at a Lebanese restaurant (La Galette Libanaise if I remember right). Not to mention the sugar shacks... I still dream about that maple butter!

 

[Raguel]

Top for me:

Tokyo, Japan
Penang, Malaysia
Hong Kong
Ho chi Minh, Vietnam
Guangzhou, China

 

[Geoff]

I have spent a lot of time in France and the reputation is deserved but sometimes they go too far and you do need to be watchful. They are not shy to include gristle and connective tissue and stuff in terrines. Horse is not great. And saucisse andouillette is an actual crime. Genuinely disgusting.

 

[Xiao Hu]

Vietnam and China (god, I miss North-Eastern food so much) for sure.

Lol people mentioning Paris Baguette. East Asians can't bake bread. In this sense, the only good thing about French colonialism was the introduction of baguettes in Vietnam...and coffee.

 

[Coinspinner]

I've never had a meal outside the US that didn't get me sick.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

Been to the UK, UAE, China, Japan, and Peru.

China > Japan > UAE > UK > Peru

Absolutely loved China's diversity. I had 180 lunches and dinners there (stayed maximum length on a 90-day Visa), and damnit every single one was amazing. And there was almost always at least one different dish set on the table every time. This is where I grew to love seafood.

Japan, UAE, and the UK were all good as well. Peru is the only place I came away disappointed with the food (I didn't get much opportunity though - most of my time was hiking in the mountains).

 

[Grapezard]

South Korea had some amazing street food, oh my god. I remember visiting Namdaedum Market in Seoul multiple times just to get some mandu dumplings. Runner-up is Honduras.

 

[Satori]

In no order but Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Italy, Spain are God tier for me.

 

[Deleted member 33116]

Japan
Taiwan

Both have amazing food, Taiwan is so cheap and you can get anything.

 

[Deleted member 57378]

The Caribbean

 

[Deleted member 2226]

I don't think I've had any bad food experiences when traveling abroad. have enjoyed everything I've had in Korea, Japan, the UK, and Italy

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Yep. Even if I had something that wasn't stupendous, it was never outright poor.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I loved Jamaican food.

 

[Grym]

Mexico. Can't get enough so I go back all the time. I love the people, I love the beaches, I love the culture, but I go back for the food.

Jamaica would be my #2.

 

[Post Reply]

I'd say I probably had my best food experiences in Thailand, but Germany is a pretty close second

 

[Shadybiz]

I remember the food in Italy being very good.

Jamaica was excellent as well.

 

[nStruct]

Thailand. The street food is ridiculously cheap and extremely delicious.

 

[Chixdiggit]

Yeah, I don't recognize any of those except the "drink with the chewy pebbles in it" which is boba.

Standard Taiwanese fare is similar to other parts of Asia. Rice or noodles with meat (emphasis on pork, chicken, beef, and lamb) & veggies. Pot stickers & dumplings. Tofu. Meat/Fish/Veggie Stews. Sushi. If you ever go back again, be sure to check out a night market - there's tons of great snack foods and you can try super safe stuff (like puffed sweet potato donut holes) to less safe (Stinky Tofu - which I love but isn't for everybody).

Some great foreign food & fusion stuff too. Like I'm a big fan of Taiwan Pizza Hut's Kimchi Pizza.

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Thanks for the tips. I do plan on going back as my friend is from there and goes to visit his family. What you describe sounds way better than anything I had.

 

[monapon]

You are not the first person to tell me this and to be honest my time in Taiwan has been very limited. So maybe it's just a string of bad luck but from my experience it's just not for me as far as taste and texture.
Sorry not really familiar with the names of the stuff but some lows were:

• Some type of porridge like dish with dried fish flakes.
• Some type of drink with little chewy pebbles in it (could not get over the texture mostly).
• Some type of egg dish that wasn't the worst but was very cold. (maybe it was not meant to be cold?)I think it might of had fish in it as well?
• Some type of Fish Stick in brown sauce.
• Also had some fish that had a bunch of bones. Not sure if that was standard or another bad experience.

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Yeah if you're not even familiar with boba or the fact that a lot of fish dishes in Chinese cooking involve the whole fish bones and all, then it sounds like whoever took you around had no idea how to fit your tastes.

It sounds like a better designed trip would have involved a blend of traditional fare like dumplings, beef noodle soup, shaved ice, fried pork chop, etc combined with slightly different takes on familiar dishes from Western/Japanese/Thai/Korean etc cooking.

Which city were you in and did you just get shuttled to different restaurants or something? Because if there is one thing that is everywhere in Taipei at least, like literally everywhere, it is food, good food, and it sucks you didn't get to have that great experience.

 

[toohectic]

I guess I don't have the same love for Italy as the rest of Era. I was there for almost 2 weeks in a wide variety of locations and thought the food was very mediocre. The whole time I felt as though I could get better Italian food in the States with the exception for the gelato. Generally I love Italian which falls just behind Mexican, but it just wasn't nearly as enjoyable as I hoped.

I spent a week beforehand in Austria and absolutely loved the Austrian food. Maybe Austrian food tainted my taste buds and prevented me from really enjoying my meals in Italy. Perhaps my experience would have been reversed if I had started in Italy. *Shrug*

 

[Izzwan]

Malaysia and Singapore cuisine is basically the same thing.

 

[RestEerie]

For me it has to be Singapore. There is so much variety and quality to be found; whether in a Mall or a 5 star restaurant.

Their signature dish, the Singapore crab, is probably in my top 3 dishes. Simply amazing.

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as a singaporean,

thank you OP!

personally, i can stay in S.Korea forever due to the food. I love me some kimchi and korean style ginsengchicken soup and bibimbap!

 

[RestEerie]

Malaysia and Singapore cuisine is basically the same thing.

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not really.......

 

[LGHT_TRSN]

Italy for me. I got to experience a true homemade grandma's Italian dinner and it did not disappoint.

 

[smoothj]

Tied between Mexico and Japan.

Spain is 3rd.

I have high hopes for Italy though.

 

[Lebron]

I'm on a South Asia tour for work currently and have to say the cuisine has been killing it. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand have impressed me more than I ever thought. I've had and enjoyed Thai food in the states, but now I realize, it was indeed crap compared to the real deal.

 

[Darksol]

Pretty much every meal I've had in Japan for the past four years.

 

[Deleted member 13496]

Worst food experience was getting pizza in the southwest of Ireland. Holy fucking Moley that shit was gross.

Obviously Ireland isn't famous for pizza but still, I had no idea it could be done that badly.

 

[I Don't Like]

Not very exotic but in Canada (British Columbia) I had seafood that blew my fucking mind and I've had solid seafood in NYC and DC. Also in Alaska a place in Ketchikan called Salmon Market and spot called Taku in Juneau had smoked salmon (including in jerky form) that I could probably eat forever.

My parents live on the small Caribbean island of Anguilla and while we've had plenty of Caribbean food over the years there's a street BBQ place there called Rib Man and we get it multiple times when my brother and I visit. Honestly the ribs and chicken rivals BBQ I've had in places like North Carolina and Texas.

Overall I have to admit I haven't delved enough into local food during travel and I've been to places like French Polynesia, India, Cyprus, El Salvador, Belize. Kind of embarrassed. We typically just go to a couple of nice local restaurants or eat hotel food lol.

 

[cvxfreak]

Out of 59 countries I've visited, it's honestly a tough call.

Japan, France, Spain, Italy, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Kuwait, Malaysia and Thailand are all somewhere at the top of the list.

The bottom would honestly probably be places like the UK, Slovakia and possibly Australia...