JBord

As I said in my earlier post, nowhere is really even close to Tokyo. But I'm surprised to see how often NYC is mentioned. I guess it's subjective and dependent on individual taste, but in the US I'd rank DC higher for the diversity, Chicago higher for uniqueness, and San Francisco higher for interesting, farm fresh cooking.

Not to knock NYC, because it has some excellent food, and more choice on the very high end, but if I were planning a foodie trip in the US it would probably be 4th on my list. To each his own I suppose!

richardinmotion

Haha... I spent half of the show in the loo after eating a meal there! Had to do the walk of shame right through the middle of the show back to my seat.

oh_lol

I'm kind of split between NYC, Tokyo & Bangkok.

All have their own particular local foods.
I'd say NYC & Tokyo nudge out BKK only just, but Bangkok has everything you can find in those two cities at a lower price.

richardinmotion

I'm going with Tokyo, Bangkok, and South Africa. I know the SA mention is too general, but wow, I love all the food in that country. Hard to name a city. I'm in Bangkok now and have to do everything I can to keep the consumption in check. Incredible food everywhere. Singapore is a distant mention, although I do love a lot of the hawker center food. I'll be there tomorrow night to check out some new spots.

cubbie

I agree, and I may be biased because I am from Chicago, but say we exclude Chicago from my list for that reason, if I were going to take a food-oriented trip away from Chicago to another US city, I'd put SF, DC, and one you didn't mention -- New Orleans -- higher up on the list than NYC. Not that a city as big as NYC doesn't have lots of great restaurants, but if I were thinking, where would I like to go for a few days for great memorable dining experiences? I wouldn't think NYC. I'd probably think New Orleans first, then SF and DC. I don't know much personally about LA or Las Vegas, but from what I've read, they could be contenders too.

sky303

Can't find the pictures...if I find some I'll throw them here. However, by far my favorite street food item in Ghana was Kelewele which is basically ripe plantain rubbed with an aromatic chilli, ginger, clove paste, deep fried and served usually with groundnut/peanut--an awesome blend of sweet and spicy. In Nigeria, I love kilishi which is basically jerky made of dried suya--it's generally more toothsome and has a slight crunch that Western jerkies lack, as well as great spice. Pepper soup is by far my favorite dish in West Africa (Nigeria).

Meat pies, sausages, egg dishes (including one I saw often in Ghana that was a hard boiled egg with a chilli paste), charred corn, chicken, fish, and tons of other stuff are all over though. I could go on for a year about all the dishes I have enjoyed on trips to West Africa though. Highly recommend a trip for a foodie like yourself.

I really like DC for food, and have had some really excellent meals there. There is a good deal of diversity, but maybe I just perceive it more in NYC since it's just generally more "in your face," if that makes sense. Agree though, that TYO is just amazing.

Shameless plug for Atlanta--the ATL food scene has been growing exponentially in a really good way. I think Southern American food is really getting a lot more respect nationwide, and the epicenter of that foodway IMO is Atlanta right now. It's great watching our restaurant scene become more and more robust and strong by the day. Definitely no NY, Chicago, SF, etc., but I think we have a very bright future.

JBord

New Orleans is a good call, that's probably my #5. My biggest issue with it is that it's mainly one type of food. Kind of like Portland, Maine which I love, but it's really a seafood city.

I don't have a lot of experience with LA but have found some good food there. Las Vegas doesn't even make my list because every good chef has a clone restaurant or their second restaurant that's all about the money rather than the food. You can eat at every famous chef's restaurant within about 4 square miles though, but usually at a much higher price.

I had the best lamb chop I've had in my life in DC.

I LOVE southern food. Atlanta has been good and getting better for a while. I recall a dinner there about 10 years ago, I think the place was called Canoe(?). It rivaled meals I've had at some well known restaurants at 3/4 of the price and none of the pretension.

For me, Chicago, DC, SF are still the top 3 in the US though. Great combination of diverse, unique, excellent food, and affordable (with a few exceptions).

miamiflyer8

I love DC for food. Indigo on K Street, has some of the best Indian food I've ever had and Chinatown Express in Chinatown is also delicious.

activetrekker

I would agree with all of these and would say that Taipei is probably they best...would add Tokyo and Paris to this list...having just done Singapore I feel that Taipei has much more to offer

kale73

N'Awlins is my #1.

I've you've ever lived there, you know that's not true.

PsiFighter37

I went to Chicago last weekend, and my wife and I had dinner at Grace. Having eaten at both of Chicago's 3-star Michelins now (we went to Alinea a few years ago), I have to say that I don't quite understand what the Michelin diners see in the food. Yes, it's extremely creative - Grace, from a flavor perspective; and Alinea, moreso from a presentation aspect - but neither of them come close to the 3-star spots I have experienced in NYC or in Europe (paradoxically enough, the only 3-star place I have been to in Tokyo was not that impressive, but it was specializing in blowfish - almost certainly an acquired taste).

For Grace, they simply tried to do too much when it came to making things interesting. An example would be the crab dish served with Danish trout roe and topped with a translucent, clear film of sugar. The crab was excellent, as was the sauce the crab was in. The sugar distorted the flavor profile way too much for a savory dish like this, and the trout roe was way too cold - it took me focusing on each roe in order to pop it and get that burst of saltiness that would have helped right away. For Alinea - frankly, I just didn't find the food to be all that impressive. Duck served 5 ways was great - but giving you 60 random sauces and other condiments with which to eat 5 relatively small portions with was just a bad idea, as some simply do not work.

It's surprising to me, because we had some fantastic late-night Italian food in the basement of an apartment complex this last time. We went to a spot that did tacos and baos together - and did both really well. Tru, which only has 1 Michelin star, is almost certainly still in my Top 5 restaurants that I have ever been to. But for whatever reason, it seems like the adventurous is rewarded unnecessarily in Chicago.

YMMV, but that's my opinion as a New Yorker who visits very occasionally

FLYMSY

Mainly one type of food??? Lived in NOLA all my life and obviously you haven't been here in the last 5-10 years. Post-Katrina, with a smaller population, we have over 400 more new restaurants than prior to Katrina. Seafood? Yeah, we have that in abundance, thankfully. But, also, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Middle Eastern, Italian, Mexican, Colombian, Honduran, Cajun, Creole, Israeli, Thai, Ethiopian, BBQ, etc. This week, I just ate lunch in a new Peruvian restaurant.

One unfortunate development, IMO, is that we're now seeing a lot of hot shot restauranteurs from California, Chicago, NYC, coming in to open new restaurants. We don't need to become one of their outposts.

True dat!

This thread, while somewhat interesting, is an exercise in futility in trying to name the BEST food city in the world. There can only be one "BEST". And, unless someone has eaten in every restaurant in every city in the world, then it's impossible to declare one city the "BEST". An example: we were just in Keems, Austria at a very small hotel restaurant. I had the best creme brûlée that I have ever had. Who would have thought that I would have this in such a small town as Krems? However, for obvious reasons, I won't classify as the best creme brûlée in the world, just the best that I've eaten.

Now, if you add a qualifier, such as, "the best city that I've experienced" or, "my favorite food city", then that would have some validity.

With that said, I love the food from my city and I miss it when I'm traveling, however, I won't claim it's the best in the world. I haven't eaten in every city in the world to make a valid comparison.

Stepping down now from the soap box in my little corner of the world.

JBord

One of the things that makes food fun is everyone has different tastes and opinions. I actually prefer the second tier restaurants in Chicago over the fancy Michelin places. Publican and Girl and the Goat are still two of my favorites even though they're not new and trendy.

There's a lot of subjectivity in this topic, and even in the definition, of what qualifies a city as a good food city. Even though I've eaten in quite a few Michelin-starred restaurants, I love eating really good, local street food just as much.

That said, one of the best meals I've had was at Takazawa in Tokyo. I think it's more known now, but at the time was relatively new. It was recommended to me by a Chicago chef (hint, you named one of his restaurants ). And it was also one of the most expensive meals I've had!

Old Hickory

Has anyone mentioned Charleston, SC? Okay, so there's not millions of people dining there daily but what it offers in food choices is unique, fresh, and served with charm.

Y'all welcome!

MikeFromTokyo

Tokyo, by far and away. Edo-mae Sushi and Tempura at that level do not exist elsewhere in Japan, let alone anywhere else in the world. But, the offerings of Italian, French, Chinese, and even Indian food in Tokyo are very good as well. Oh, and then there is Wagyu... I just love it.