The world's 20 best cities for food

[James Bond Agent 007]

Another stupid list.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/time-out-...024/index.html

1. Naples, Italy
2. Johannesburg, South Africa
3. Lima, Peru
4. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
5. Beijing, China
6. Bangkok, Thailand
7. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
8. Mumbai, India
9. Dubai, UAE
10. Portland, USA
11. Liverpool, UK
12. Medellín, Colombia
13. Seville, Spain
14. Porto, Portugal
15. Marrakech, Morocco
16. Lyon, France
17. Sydney, Australia
18. Montreal, Canada
19. Osaka, Japan
20. Copenhagen, Denmark

[BnaBreaker]

Johannesburg seems like an odd choice for #2... as for the rest of it though, yeah, more or less a random and interchangeable collection of cities... also pretty egregious leaving out Tokyo, New York, Paris, and London. I know these media outlets are looking to keep their content fresh, and that all of those cities are somewhat 'old hat' and cliché to name to lists of the top food cities, but there's an obvious reason they continuously show up.

[Steely Dan]

^ Timeout's various "best" listicles are better understood as "here are 20 places that we think are particularly good at X".

Don't read them as hard rankings. Though that can be hard to do when they themselves present them as such, and other media outlets then regurgitate that message.

[veep]

Portland the only US city?

[Skintreesnail]

And since it's number 10 of 20, we can assume no other city comes close. Portland cuisine is just that good. Dream of the 90s.

[sentinel]

Lolol

[sopas ej]

Grain of salt list, of course...

But reading the article, the bottom line seems to be that these cities are "undergoing a culinary renaissance" (however you define that) and that they're "particularly buzzing right now..."

AND, "affordability played as much a role as quality in creating this ranking."

So OK, there you have it. I haven't been to any of the cities on the list (yet), but looking at the sole US city, it says that Portland's claim to fame is a "Mexican pizza – a pizza topped with taco ingredients (?) – was named by locals as the city’s best-value dish."

[mousquet]

I suspect the Michelin 3-star thing is still a more reliable reference, cause it sets a whole (overpriced, luxury) standard and hard competition.

Recently, I saw a report about some chefs mistreating their employees in France.
They're driven crazy by pressure and their rating in the Michelin guide, which is evil.
Sure, great chefs can be harsh when necessary. But going down to beating or burning (literally torturing) their employees would be punished by law if only people in the kitchens weren't so scared to ruin their careers.

There is a lot of pressure in luxury restaurants and hotels. Maybe too much sometimes.
When people go insane because of competition, then it turns out unproductive.
Great chefs are also good managers on principle. Otherwise their kitchens go derailed.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by mousquet

I suspect the Michelin 3-star thing is still a more reliable reference, cause it sets a whole (overpriced, luxury) standard and hard competition.

These lists are whatever city the writer has visited recently but the Michelin Guide isn't a good gauge either. 99% of residents aren't dining daily at Michelin rated restaurants.

What matters is the minimum food quality standards on offer, the diversity of food from around the word, affordability of these food offerings, having innovative food scenes that continually evolve, and the degree to which all of these things are accessible to the masses.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by veep

Portland the only US city?

And I bet you it's Portland, ME. Just because.

And yeah, Liverpool, that culinary mecca. Their signature dish is Scouse, a potato stew...

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Another stupid list.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/time-out-...024/index.html

1. Naples, Italy
2. Johannesburg, South Africa
3. Lima, Peru
4. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
5. Beijing, China
6. Bangkok, Thailand
7. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
8. Mumbai, India
9. Dubai, UAE
10. Portland, USA
11. Liverpool, UK
12. Medellín, Colombia
13. Seville, Spain
14. Porto, Portugal
15. Marrakech, Morocco
16. Lyon, France
17. Sydney, Australia
18. Montreal, Canada
19. Osaka, Japan
20. Copenhagen, Denmark

Lmfao portland but not LA and NY, which have 5000 times as many options. Laughable

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Lmfao portland but not LA and NY, which have 5000 times as many options. Laughable

Looks like they focused mainly on cities that have a uniquely local dish, plus Portland. I don't get why Portland was included for pizza, but every other city on the list was included for a local dish. I guess they would've showcased the chopped cheese for NYC lol.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by isaidso

These lists are whatever city the writer has visited recently but the Michelin Guide isn't a good gauge either. 99% of residents aren't dining daily at Michelin rated restaurants.

What matters is the minimum food quality standards on offer, the diversity of food from around the word, affordability of these food offerings, having innovative food scenes that continually evolve, and the degree to which all of these things are accessible to the masses.

The highlighted isn't typically a factor when the world's best food cities (in general) are ranked.

As proof, most of the top-ranked cities are simply cities that excel in a widely appreciated national cuisine, ie their own.

[niwell]

As mentioned above Timeout's lists are more of a "here's 20 places we decided to highlight this year, usually different than last which you may not have considered and have interesting things going on". Similar to their coolest neighbourhoods list. I actually enjoy them compared to lists that may be more accurate but would have largely the same stuff year-on-year.

Johannesburg is an interesting choice as it's not really seen as a high-end culinary destination - though obviously does have those restaurants catering to the business class. Personally I found the food on average to be better and cheaper than Cape Town where the food scene in central areas at least kinda pretends to be European. Which it very much is not. I remember going to a highly rated test kitchen which was certainly good, but I've had much better high-end meals in Toronto at a surprisingly lower cost.

[mhays]

A signature dish/cuisine is key to making the list, but a galaxy-sized variety of cuisines isn't?

As a tourist for a few days I might like that signature cuisine.

As a resident I want the galaxy of options, including dozens within walking distance.

[bilbao58]

I'll say this for Kuala Lumpur: Not once during the summer I spent there 40-something years ago did I have any Chinese or Malay food that was less than stellar. Whether at a hole-in-the-wall in some mini mall or the most elegant restaurant, or even the Holiday Inn at Bukit Fraser (Fraser's Hill was where the Brits cooled off during summer in colonial days) where I stopped for a top notch Chinese lunch. Just wonderful food. It helped that my parents had a live-in Chinese cook.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

I'll say this for Kuala Lumpur: Not once during the summer I spent there 40-something years ago did I have any Chinese or Malay food that was less than stellar. Whether at a hole-in-the-wall in some mini mall or the most elegant restaurant, or even the Holiday Inn at Bukit Fraser (Fraser's Hill was where the Brits cooled off during summer in colonial days) where I stopped for a top notch Chinese lunch. Just wonderful food. It helped that my parents had a live-in Chinese cook.

A couple of friends spent several weeks there and they raved about the food, in terms of quality, cost, and variety. The way they told it, a lot of people from throughout Asia live in KL and the dining scene reflects that.

[Cirrus]

Naples? Excuse me? The Chipotle and Potbelly I had recently beg to disagree.

[MolsonExport]

Lyon and not Paris?
Liverpool and not London?
Portland, and not New York City?
Osaka, and not Tokyo (doesn't the latter have more Michelin starred restaurants than any other city)?

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The highlighted isn't typically a factor when the world's best food cities (in general) are ranked.

As proof, most of the top-ranked cities are simply cities that excel in a widely appreciated national cuisine, ie their own.

Top-rated chefs actually like to bring some exotic touch to their creations here in Paris, cause their gourmets enjoy surprises.
They find inspiration from the entire world indeed.

If they stick too much to French traditional cuisine all the time, they're rated "vieille France" (old France), which means good cuisine, but lacking creativity, imagination, not innovative or quirky enough.
So they have to find tricks, often mixing influences from various countries to keep their businesses trendy.
This would be important to wealthy foreign tourists or businessmen used to Parisian luxury.
Again, they just like to be surprised sometimes.