Summer Travel Plans: Where's the Best Food Destination?

Being food lovers, the local cuisine is often one of the first things we investigate when choosing a vacation spot. The chance to try real pho from a streetcart in Vietnam, lardo while traveling through Italy, or even just picking up local honey on a camping trip in Vermont: these are the moments we cherish. Which food destinations do you recommend? Or where would you love to go?

My first trip to France when I was sixteen holds many pivotal food memories for me. I ate my first crêpe from a cart near the Eiffel Tower and later watched in fascination as a friend of my host family carefully grilled a rabbit for dinner. I learned how to eat from a cheese plate and happily crunched into a great many baguettes. This is one experience I would love to relive.

But if I were offered a free ticket any where in the world right this second, I think my first choice would be Japan. I love the idea of slurping ramen, filling myself on real sushi, and getting to try regional specialties like takoyaki (octopus dumplings) that I've only read about or seen on episodes of No Reservations.

What about you? Where have you gone, and where would you love to go?

(Images: Flickr members fishermansdaughter, keepwaddling1, and wonderlane licensed under Creative Commons)

Comments (45)

Not terribly exotic, but street cart tacos in mexico were great ;)
If do think I would looooove eating in France. Especially after reading a Homemade Life.
Anyone have recommendations for what to eat in Stockholm and Copenhagen? I will be there in 2 weeks :-)

Belgium! Chocolate, waffles and beer, can't get much better than that :)

France and Italy were/are great, and Japan too. But my summer fave is much closer to home: Long Island. (I can't afford the currency exchange and airfare right now!) The tomatoes have become my daughter's benchmark of what a tomato is supposed to be (ditto the corn). She will look suspiciously at a slice of tomato in a restaurant and ask, "Is it a LONG ISLAND tomato?"

And I don't even eat seafood. Though husband/daughter did their part to demolish as much of it as possible.

India is #1 on my wishlist, hands down.

Malaysia - it's a combination of Indian, Chinese, and just original fare that is absolutely delicious! Plus wouldn't mind scuba diving and hiking while there

I've been to 4 continents in under 30 years, so maybe I wasn't quite ready to appreciate Taiwan's cuisine, but my favorite trip that ended up being centered around food was in New Orleans. Joey K's had amazing roast beef sandwiches, tons of other little holes in the wall to stuff you silly between walking around the entire city, and great beer and drinks to go with it!

Jamaa el Fna in Marrakesh's medina quarter. Hundreds of food stalls have been a few times and would like to go a few more.

Singapore. Hands down.

But have to admit that street food from places such as Mexico, China, Bolivia, Chile, Vietnam, Thailand, etc. were all pretty good as well.
Closer to home - the food carts in Portland, OR are pretty impressive.

Where NOT to go for food: Mongolia. Great country, people, place but awful awful food. They just have no access to spices or veggies!

I'll be visiting NYC for the first time in my life this summer! Any restaurant recommendations or must-have products I should search for?

I'd love to return to France and Italy.

I'm with @cmcinnyc - a Long Island tomato is worth the pilgrimage. They are the quintessential tomato experience.

Closer to home, I'll be checking out a cheese factory or two this summer - Wisconsin rules.

If you want something farther afield, I love the cuisine in Ecuador. You do not know what pineapple really taste like until you've tasted one grown there. Or potatoes, or quinoa, or the local aguardiente. The variety of soups alone could be the foundation of a trip, or the many variations of aji salsa. And Cuy is delicious. Yep, it is.

Within the states, definitely New Orleans. Further from home, I would love to just eat my way through Italy. France has always been high up on my list, but I must admit to being vaguely terrified and intimidated by France after reading David Lebovitz's Sweet Life in Paris.

Portugal. Forget California wine country, go see Port country. Hate port? Try the vinho verde, refreshing!

The pastries are to.die.for.

Get off the beaten path, stay north, and eat at mom and pops. You will be treated like long-lost family! Make peace with tripe, salted cod, and fried food, and if you can't do that, chicken in Portugese is "galinha." Try the piri-piri, hot-hot-hot!

Saving for next year's trip.

I second phoxx on the market in Marrakesh, I ate dozens of delicious foods from different stands with no idea what they were.
Also, hot chocolate in Spain, France and Italy. All a bit different from each other, and vastly different from Swiss Miss!
Somewhere very out of the way, Tony's coffee shop in the Bvumba Mountains in Zimbabwe -beautiful setting near a botanical garden, very old world british style, with gourmet hot chocolate, coffees, teas and ice cream. Actually had great food in Zim in general including one of the best butternut squash soups I've had!

Brisbane!! I love the kebabs you can get there, and the candies they have are amazing. Although no Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but still. Also, Paris, such amazing food, even for cheapskates like me!

Loved eating in India and Italy! Next stop - Thailand. I am getting hungry just thinking about it!
In the US, Austin, TX...hands down best ever.

Just got back from Seattle. Every meal was amazing (thought that may have been in part because I kept eating mac and cheese for breakfast).
For good non-international destination, I would highly recommend Seattle - great food culture, and great restaurants.
Vancouver is also supposed to be amazing - great chinese food, great seafood, etc.

TAIWAN!

N'awlins!!!!! Within the states, it can't be beat. Crawfish Madeline, po' boys, beignet...I've never had a bad meal there. Go during Jazz Fest (or any other "fest" for that matter, those people will celebrate anything...) and get amazing tastes of everything. My hubby's from NOLA, and we love going back :)

Best food staycation: MN State Fair, hands down!! IA State Fair is not far behind. If you're in NYC, Flushing is a treasure trove.

I would also love to go to Malaysia or Vietnam, and want to make it to Macao (think Portuguese, Indian, and Chinese influenced food) next time I'm in HK too.

Basically, if there is great street food and amazing pastries I'm pretty happy!

I'm sad I didn't mention the North Shore (in MN, Duluth all the way up to Grand Marais). I'm mentioning the North Shore! It's great up there!

Greece! Went there on a 12 day honeymoon and ate constantly, yet managed to come back a few pounds lighter. Everything was fresh and not exactly what we expect from eating Greek food in the states. I've always loved Mediterranean food, so eating feta and olives with the Acropolis in site was unforgettable, wine tasting on Santorini was great and I long for another meal from Kouzina, a restaurant on Syros in the Cyclades.

Italy! Just got back from a trip to Rome/Florence/Chianti. Amazing gelato--carmelized fig, pear and sheeps milk cheese, licorice. Incredible cold cuts in Chianti--prociutto, tuscan salami, salami with fennel. Pecorino cheese in Pienza. Neopolitan-style pizza at Il Pizzaiuolo in Florence. Pasta, pasta and more pasta.

I travel a lot in CA, burritos and fish tacos in San Diego, Dungeness Crab in SF, Farm to Table in Wine Country.

Some of the best food I've ever had was in Mozambique. Prior to my visit I wasn't a sea food lover, and to be honest there was nothing done appearance wise to make it all that appetising. But the food was so fresh (literally fished that afternoon and on the plate for dinner) that it was hard not to fall in love with. Had some delicious pastries too - one of the good things the Portuguese did for the place!

The Basque country was also a FANTASTIC food spot with so many wonderful pintxos to try and great foodie tours to try out.

I spent a few months in Philly too and thought the food was out of this world . . . then again it was an all expenses paid trip - free dinners always taste better!!!

India. And closer to home, a molecular gastronomy restaurant - for the experience. Totally different from one another, but a place for each in my heart (and mouth)!

hands down, southeast asia (more importantly thailand and vietnam). these are places where the street food is WAY better than any restaurant there (and cheaper! ..a HUGE bowl of Pho for about 50 cents? yes please!) many people are scared or turned away from flying to asia from the plane ticket price, but if you can travel to europe, you can DEFinitely travel to asia! the food is cheap, the hotels are cheap, the people are wonderful, and after your huge bowl of pho, you can get an hour massage for $6! ...i need to go back :(

ditto on southeast asia :) bangkok, hong kong and singapore... yuuuuum!

and don't forget Philippines! Anthony Bourdain himself declared the best roast pig is to be had in the PH :)

I actually registered after two years of reading TheKitchn just to comment on this post.

Hawai'i. Admittedly, part of this is probably nostalgia, since I grew up visiting my mom's family there, but I could eat papaya with a squeeze of lemon and a scoop of rice three times a day for a week and not get tired of it. Plus malasadas, teri beef plate lunch, mauna pua, haupia...my mouth is watering as I write this. I just bought a papaya yesterday, so I can have my favorite meal today, but I know it won't taste as good as if I were eating it at the source!

I can definitely recommend Japan--and not just "Japanese food". Indian, Thai, French, Italian, etc--amazing there.

I definitely wouldn't recommend Helsinki or Stockholm. You know how IKEA food tastes? Not bad but not good but it doesn't matter because it's cheap. Well that's like the food there...except a LOT more expensive.

I agree with many of the above commenters that New Orleans is the best place for food in the U.S. As far as farther away, Thailand is wonderful. I'm dying to go to Vietnam.
I'm traveling to Switzerland and Austria (just Innsbruck and Salzburg) in about 2 months, so if anyone has any recommendations for food specialties in either of those countries, I'd love to hear them.

I second India as a wish-list destination! I loved eating in Thailand and am sure I would love Malaysia too. In the U.S., I vote for New Mexico, assuming you like chiles and Mexican/Southwest-style food!

I'm all about Seattle - so many great restaurants! Thankfully we have family there so we have a place to stay :) but this summer, we are going to San Francisco - can't wait to try the food there.

Just got back from Japan and I concur with the author. I tried various types of Ramen and each were delicious. The food was amazing.

My trip to Ireland was a flavor exposion. Even their side vegetables have such flavor. I recommend their beef, lamb, and anything with dairy.

This might be a long shot, but I'm traveling to Gary, IN for work in a couple of weeks. Anyone have a restaurant recommendation?

Spain. Wine, seafood, cheese and JAMON!
And personally I LOVE Swedish food. I could live off the bread and cheese alone. But a simple breakfast of filmjolk, cornflakes and lingon, with a little openface cheese and cucumber sandwich and a strong cup of coffee is something I dream about.
And never miss an opportunity to fika! More coffee and any pastry with cardamom -- be still my heart.

Little India in Artesia, CA. so much wonderful, authentic food + amazing fabric, clothing and spice shops.

I'm going to Austin for a few weeks and have heard great things about the food there. I can't wait!

Cebu and Davao, two great cities in the Philippines. Davao food are diverse and Cebu food are also influenced by Asian, American and European food like Siomai sa Tisa, Lasagnas, and Lechon.

Argentina. No contest.

My choice is partly influenced by the fact that when we've been to European destinations, we can't really afford to try all of the culinary options (street carts yes, fancy restaurants, no). In Argentina, we consumed the most memorable and dreamy meal of our lives, bottles of wine, and had enough leftover that it could have fed us for a week and it only cost about $60. Everything from the high end to the low end was wonderful. We want to go back there more than anywhere else.

Highlights: steak (duh), alfajores, and my favorite was eating a piece of grilled beef on a roll with a drink box of malbec while watching a gaucho festival (that was the only food option)

Greece and Sicily for great seafood done simply. But any destination is good if you befriend the locals, and follow their recommendations.

Man oh man. San Francisco, hands down. I could be biased, because I work in the food industry here...

Don't forget Istanbul!! Happy hour and dinner by the Bosphorus are to die for at this time of year..
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Eeks - in Stockholm you should really eat fish! Plenty of it. Try Den Gyldene Freden, with traditional Swedish food, or Drottning Hof.
In Copenhagen you must try classical smörrebröd, delicious sandwiches made with rye bread and plenty of toppings of your choice. Served with a beer and a schnapps. Also, to visit Denmark and not eat a Danish with chocolate? Unthinkable!

Most of my vacation decisions are food based. Tuscany and Hong Kong would be my two recommendations to anyone. I am going to Bali this fall and planning on doing a market tour and cooking class. I'm hoping to visit Thailand, Sichuan province of China, Argentina, and Turkey someday.

I've eaten food in many countries, and Germany is my all-time favorite. You can't beat the Schnitzel, and German bakeries never disappoint!