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| As the only city outside of France to have been awarded the prestigious Gourmande award, Barcelona, with its 10,000+ restaurants and nine Michelin stars, is undoubtedly the Mediterranean's culinary capital. Centered on a Mediterranean diet of olive oil and fresh seafood, the distinctive traditional Catalan cuisine is what truly sets this Spanish city apart, with hearty dishes showcasing an interesting mélange of locally produced, seasonal ingredients. Barcelonans consider dining as a main event: a heavy lunch is served between 2 - 4 p.m.; a light dinner follows later at night after 9 p.m.. Should you have a snack attack in between, head straight to one of the ubiquitous tapas bars where traditional and creative Spanish small plates are served in trendy settings. For some of the best bites in Barcelona you'll need to sniff out some all-time local favorites; don't miss Ca l'Isidre or Passadis del Pep. Still, no visit to Barcelona is complete without visiting the city's flagship La Boqueria food market — just off Las Ramblas — where locals hustle and bustle in their quest for top-notch produce. | |
| | You can't go wrong with a frosty mug of Belgian beer and a large plate of frites (or fries, as we call them). But Brussels' cuisine, influenced by French fare and thought by many to surpass it, offers a gastronomic potpourri for your taste buds, boasting such traditional staples as moules frites (mussels and fries), stoemp (a dish combining rabbit or veal with mashed potatoes and root vegetables), waterzoo (a fish or meat stew), and, let's not forget, sweet-tooth favorites like fluffy Belgian waffles and exquisite chocolates (Pierre Marcolini Chocolatier wins best in show for its rich and creamy decadence). This meat-loving city also offers its fair share of seafood: bisque d'homard (lobster soup), prawn croquettes, sole mousse, and hutres au champagne (oysters in champagne) are menu regulars at the city's multitude of French/Belgium haunts. One of the most famous is Comme Chez Soi — a Michelin-star worthy French fixture that's home to master chef Pierre Wynants; you can actually get a table in the kitchen and watch the master at work. | | | | If you like your noodles, you'll fit right in with the noodle-crazed populace in Hanoi. Whether eaten wet or dry, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, noodles infused with the freshest herbs, spices, vegetables, fish, or meat, make up a large part of the Vietnamese diet. Despite this standard staple, you'll also find more unusual delicacies like dog or snake (considered a male aphrodisiac) paired with lots of alcohol. For an interesting night, you can head to Le Mat (known as "snake village"), to the East of Hanoi for a seven-course snake meal, including fried snake skin, snake spring rolls, snake soup, and minced snake dumpling — all served with plenty of whiskey. French-inspired fare is also predominant in Hanoi and includes banh mi thit, a delicious baguette-filled sandwich of pate, shredded pickle, and cucumber slices, garnished with coriander and black pepper. Visitors don't have to dine in a fancy or pricey restaurant to enjoy good food here, either: you can pick up a whole roasted pigeon at a food stall in the Old Quarter for next to nothing. And don't miss out on the array of decadent desserts also available at street shops; try the tasty rice balls made with coconut and sesame seeds and served in a sweet, gingery soup. | | | |
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| While Mother Nature originally envisioned vultures circling for scraps in the desert wilds of Nevada, the fantasyland of Las Vegas introduced new feeding ground — and new appetites to boot. In Sin City, where visitors' whims and wants seemingly have no limit, there is, fittingly, a dish for every wish — be it dining à la française under the Eiffel Tower (at Paris Las Vegas) or savoring alfresco Italian dishes near the waterways of Venice (at The Venetian). Long known for its cheap (if somewhat lacking in the flavor factor) buffets (think $9.99 all you can eat surf-and-turf), Sin City has evolved in recent years to become one of the world's hottest restaurant cities. New eateries seem to pop up daily here; celebrity chefs are gravitating to luxury resorts; and outposts of popular U.S. restaurants from Bouchon to Nobu flourish. Best bets to indulge in these days? Two upscale eateries enjoying rave reviews include Bellagio's Picasso, (serving Spanish-inflected New French) and Aureole (with New American fare) at Mandalay Bay. Since buffets are still exceedingly popular, word on the street is that the Bellagio's is the best in town. | | | | France and great food inherently go hand and hand, but nowhere is this country's rich cuisine manifested more profoundly than in France's third-largest city of Lyon. Situated at the crossroads of the Rhône and Saône rivers in the southeast, Lyonnais palate-pleasers — think succulent Lyon sausage, Bresse poultry, and tripe — leave even the most hard-to-please gourmands with their mouths watering. Restaurants decorated with Michelin stars are lined up here, too. Among the more famous are world-renowned chef Paul Bocuse’s quartet of Le Nord, L'Est, Le Sud, and L'Ouest (the north, east, south, and west, respectively). While there is no shortage of fine museums, theaters, or historical attractions to pique your interest in Lyon, it is certain that nobody misses a meal here. The Lyonnais' love of good food and wine and the region's rich culinary resources have spilled over into a seemingly unending stream of bouchons (bistros) and restaurants, with even the priciest of eateries normally offering a reasonable prix-fixe menu so as not to deprive anyone of the rich culinary culture. Should you choose to be your own chef, strolling one of the city's 40+ daily markets will also allow you to pick up the region's freshest produce and make your own repast. | | | | | The view from street-level New York — where food stands sell giant pretzels and sauerkraut-smothered hot dogs — does little to promote the gastronomical paradise that lies behind city facades. Indeed, New York is a 24-7 foodie paradise: a city that has served as a melting pot for every culture under the sun, showcases every cuisine imaginable, and adds some unexpected fusions that could only be dreamt up here. From haute-French establishments like award-winning Le Bernardin, to overstuffed smoked-meat sandwiches at Katz's Deli, dining out in New York is a joy, whether you're indulging in the simple or the sublime. There's a cook for every pocketbook, too — you can get a $2 slice of pizza pie at Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village or pay a $1000 for a sushi platter for two (at Masa in Time Warner Center). Any foodie visiting NYC simply must partake in two rites of passage — a stroll through one of the popular greenmarkets (selling local and organic produce) and a Sunday brunch, mimosa in hand. | | | | When in Rome — mangia, mangia, mangia! Dining in this Italian capital is an experience that's arguably just as pleasurable as seeing the awe-inspiring ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time, and, thankfully, eating and drinking well in the Eternal City is a piece of cake (or should we say pie — pizza pie, that is). Just follow the locals to the nearest caffe or pick up your own fresh produce every morning at the bustling, picturesque Campo de' Fiori market and sit down for a bite by the nearby Bernini fountain. While Northern Italy is famous for its pesto and truffles, Tuscany for its olive oil and beans, Sicily for its sweets, and the south for its seafood and spice, Roman cuisine boasts all of this and more. The most common items on local menus are bucatini all'amatriciana (pasta with a tomato, chilli, and pancetta sauce), gnocchi al sugo (potato dumplings in tomato sauce), polpette (meatballs), and vitello con patate (veal with fried potatoes). For a slice of Italy's finest, try Pizzeria Remo, where you can sample delicious, thin-crusted margherita, capricciosa, or marinara pizza. From home-style Italian cooking in charming trattorias to innovative fare in designer restaurants, the old streets of Rome will have you savoring la dolce vita. | |
| | The 1849 Gold Rush may have given San Francisco its start, but what keeps people coming back to this hilly West Coast city is a different kind of treasure: a trove of top-notch menus showcasing multicultural cuisines, fresh California produce, and world-renowned chefs. The combination has created a feeding frenzy among the dining elite and dining options as diverse as the people who come to visit. Splurge on a plate of pistachio-crusted foie gras at the upscale Fleur de Lys, or sample some homemade tortillas at Mijita, where celebrity chef Traci Des Jardins serves authentic dishes her Mexican grandmother used to make. A trip to North Beach (San Fran's Little Italy) and Chinatown may sound somewhat cliche, but for traditional pasta delights and the chance to experience one of the country's largest Chinatowns, there's no better place to let those taste buds wander. Fresh seafood can also be enjoyed at the ever-popular Fisherman's Wharf; you can even browse the stalls at the Ferry Building Marketplace or even take a break between meals at the Tsar Nicoulai Caviar Cafe, a 15-seat Parisian caviar bar. The unparalleled wine regions of Sonoma and Napa Valley are also just a stone's throw away - producing the perfect libations to complement your local fare. | |
| | Grab your chopsticks and go to town on the freshest sushi around — accompanied by the finest sake, of course. From beautifully displayed sashimi, sushi, and tempura, to succulent skewers of yakitori (barbeque-dipped grilled chicken) — best washed down with ji-biru (Japanese beer) — to hefty bowls of delicious yaki-udon (stir-fried noodles), and French-influenced meals of caviar and foie gras, Tokyo's cuisine provides a Zen-like eating experience indeed. Case in point: The Kaiseki Feast, a traditional 5- to 14-course tasting menu of fresh fish, tofu, hand-made noodles, and local produce, is offered at various restaurants, like Kitcho (at the Hotel Seiyo Ginza). And, thanks to Tokyo's famous Tsukiji Market (one of the world's largest fish markets), some 3000 tons of fresh catch is doled out daily which, fortunately, can be sampled at any of the city's countless restaurants. Daring foodies can also opt to taste Japan's special-but-deadly fugu (blowfish) — a bite of this delicious delicacy can kill you instantly if prepared wrong (whence the old Japanese expression, "I want to eat fugu but I don't want to die"). At $100-$200 a pop, this daring taste test also doesn't come cheap — but why not indulge? You're on vacation! | |
| | While you might assume that you need to head to Asia to sample the ultimate in Chinese cuisine, you need not leave North America at all to dabble in some of China's finest - just head northwest, to Vancouver! With its variety of international cuisines and unique Pacific Northwest cooking, this Canadian city has become one of the world's top dining cities. But it's the Chinese fare that really gets gastronauts excited: An influx of Chinese immigration in the late-19th century sparked the development of the city's Chinatown (now one of the largest such neighborhoods in North America) and nowadays, whether you are hankering for dim sum or a guy may bow (coconut bun), you will find these and more in its muddled streets. For a one-stop Chinese food fest, head to Floata Seafood Restaurant, the largest Chinese restaurant in Canada; with its savory entrees of Peking duck or lobster and crab glazed in ginger and garlic sauce, impeccable service, and traditional Chinese air, this spot is a favorite with tourists and locals alike. | | | | | | |
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