Top Cities for Foodies to Visit in 2023

In recent years, food tourism has boomed into a global phenomenon, with increasing multiculturalism and the rise of foodie culture. Today’s tourists are more cultured and well-traveled than their predecessors and are constantly on the lookout for new ways to immerse themselves in the local culture. What could possibly be a more authentic and delightfully sensory way to do that than to try out new foods?!

As a travel or food blogger, you often find it hard to decide which city you should visit and what famous cuisines you should taste. The best way is to find out about the best food in any specific area beforehand, you can easily do that by checking some of the famous food blogs online. For your online food blog research, you need an internet connection. We recommend Spectrum for seamless connectivity. You can reach out to Spectrum customer service and subscribe to high-speed internet. Once you have such a connection, you can find out all the details about food and cities that you may pay a visit to.

The foods we eat have always been a big part of our stories and identities as people. Indeed, there are as many foods as there are human experiences: foods for celebrations and funerals, birthdays and office lunches, for sickness, and for health. The story of food is the story of civilization itself. Thus, introducing your tastebuds to new local delicacies is a surefire way to better understand the history and traditions of the country you’re visiting

So kick back and grab yourself some wine as you join us on this very gastronomical tour of the best city and food recommendations by us.

Hot – New Orleans (Louisiana, USA)

The first destination on our foodie Hot List is New Orleans in Louisiana, USA. Founded in 1718, New Orleans has always had strong roots in Afro-Creole culture. As a major port city on the mouth of the Mississippi River, New Orleans has always been a melting pot of cultures and peoples. With its unique French, African, and Anglo heritage, New Orleans is a truly unique city unlike anywhere else in the United States.

In the 1960s, New Orleans gossip columnist Betty Guillaud allegedly coined the city’s famous moniker, “The Big Easy”. Comparing it to New York City (“The Big Apple”), where people were perpetually running around, Guillaud dubbed the city of New Orleans “The Big Easy” for its signature laid-back vibe. Whatever you may decide to call it, the city of New Orleans has an undeniable “laissez les bons temps rouler!” (“Let the good times roll!”) attitude.

Famous for its live jazz, street performers, and history, the single biggest attraction of The Big Easy is without a doubt its exquisite food. Food is certainly one of the city’s most defining features, and locals here simply live to eat. As the land of beignets, po’ boys, gumbo, and crawfish, New Orleans have a little something for everybody. The overall 4 pillars of New Orleans’ cuisine can be divided into Creole, Cajun, Vietnamese, and Soul Food. Each of these can be found in the city’s 4 main geographical quadrants: towards the Mississippi, toward Lake Pontchartrain, Uptown, and Downtown. Though each quadrant has its own unique culture and flavor, you can rest assured that each locale has something delicious on offer, just waiting to be found.

Here are some of our best recommendations for dining in New Orleans:

• Café au lait and beignets at Café du Monde: Nothing says New Orleans like beignets at Café du Monde. If you walk over to the river side of the building, you can look into the kitchen window to see how this iconic landmark makes its signature cloud-like, square doughnuts, piled high with powdered sugar. Grab a café au lait (coffee and chicory with steamed milk) to wash it all down when you’re done!

• Crawfish: Seafood is one of the great hallmarks of Louisiana cooking, and people in New Orleans sure love their crawfish! Try out hot dogs made from crawfish sausage and topped with crawfish étouffée at Dat Dog. Alternatively, you can grab Vietnamese crawfish boils at Boil Seafood House or find traditional boiled crawfish at Bevi Seafood Co. and Frankie & Johnny’s.

• Gumbo at Galatoire’s: Gumbo is a traditional Louisiana stew made from crab meat, shrimp, onion, tomatoes, and okra. Though there are many local variations on the stew, Southern Living magazine voted Galatoire’s as the “Best Gumbo in New Orleans”. A pro tip: if you should decide to catch a show at the Saenger Theatre nearby, you might want to avail Galatoire’s 3-course pre-theatre meal!

Hotter – Tokyo, Japan

Japan is known for lots of things: Mount Fujiyama and cherry blossoms blowing in the wind, Japanese cars and bullet trains, and even anime and karaoke. It is also an absolutely fantastic food travel destination. With nearly half a million restaurants, and more Michelin stars than London, Paris, and New York combined, Japan’s capital city Tokyo offers up an endless array of delicious things to eat for travelers from near and far!

The restaurant scene in Tokyo is fiercely competitive and truly vast, covering all kinds of local and regional dish variations. As the undeniable food capital of Japan, Tokyo has also played a historically important role in developing the latest East-West fusion foods. So without further ado, here are our top recommendations for what to eat in Tokyo!

• Sushi: It would be impossible to write about foods to eat in Tokyo without mentioning that star celebrity of Japanese food, sushi! Modern sushi as we know it today is known as Edomae sushi, or ‘Edo-style sushi’. In the 1820s, it was served as a quick street food snack for Edoites across Tokyo. These days, sushi ranges from the classy and expensive omakase courses you can find at five-star sushi establishments or go cheap and cheerful at conveyor belt (kaitenzushi) sushi restaurants. We suggest checking out Nemuro Hanamaru and Nemuro Marunouchi for O-toro (fatty tuna belly), shime-saba (vinegar-cured mackerel), any Hokkaido-local fish, and uni (sea urchin roe).

• Ramen: The second celebrity on this list is the ever-versatile and newly reborn ramen noodle! Although there are different styles across regions in Japan, the most common type of ramen is tonkotsu ramen, which has a rich, milky soup base made by boiling pork bones for hours on end. Our pick for where to eat ramen in Tokyo would be the widely loved chain restaurant, Ichiran ramen. There are more than a dozen Ichiran ramens in Tokyo alone, so you’ll never be far from a location and easily able to get your noodle fix!

• Yakitori: These tasty, skewered chicken pieces are grilled over charcoal and brushed with a sweet soy glaze. Though yakitori is most commonly made of chicken meat, it can also include chicken hearts, liver, skin, and gizzards. As a cheap, casual food, yakitori is most commonly associated with a night out among friends or coworkers. The best places to enjoy yakitori in Tokyo are at izakaya restaurants and specialty yakitori restaurants. We recommend restaurants inside Omoideyokocho (Memory Lane) and Shinjuku.

Wrapping up

We hope that today’s Hot List really inspired you to sit down and build community wherever your travels may take you next. For what else is travel for, if not to savor every morsel of delicious conversation, digest new ideas, and to add new flavors to the colorful feast that is life?