Ten cities where the food is the reason to go, with what a normal meal actually costs and what to order when you get there.
A good food destination is not the city with the most restaurants. It is the city where an ordinary lunch, eaten by ordinary people at an ordinary price, is worth flying for. That rules out a lot of famous places and lets in a lot of unfamiliar ones.
These are the ten best food destinations I keep returning to, with real prices from 2026.
Bologna, Italy
Emilia Romagna produces parmigiano reggiano, prosciutto di Parma, balsamic vinegar and tortellini within an hour of the city. Bologna itself is small, walkable and much cheaper than Florence.
Order tagliatelle al ragu, not spaghetti bolognese, which does not exist here. A plate in a trattoria costs €11 to €14. A tigella filled with mortadella from a market counter is €4.
Osaka, Japan
Osaka calls itself the nation's kitchen and eats like it. Standing bars, counter kitchens and street griddles rather than tasting menus.
Takoyaki six pieces for ¥500, about £2.60. Kushikatsu skewers from ¥130 each. A bowl of ramen in a neighbourhood shop is ¥900, roughly £4.70. Even in Japan, eating well is not expensive if you eat where people eat on a Tuesday.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Breakfast pho at a pavement stall costs 40,000 dong, about £1.20. Bun cha, the grilled pork and noodle dish, is £1.60. Egg coffee at a first floor cafe is 90p.
Hanoi rewards the person who sits on a plastic stool. The method for choosing the right stool is in the guide on finding authentic local food while travelling.
Istanbul, Turkey
Breakfast is the meal here. A serpme kahvalti for two, meaning fifteen small plates, bread and endless tea, costs 550 lira, about £13 for the table.
Later, a fish sandwich by the Galata bridge is £2.20, and a proper esnaf lokantasi lunch of two hot dishes with rice and salad is £4.50.
Oaxaca, Mexico
Seven distinct moles, tlayudas the size of a bicycle wheel, and mezcal that has nothing to do with the bottles sold abroad. A tlayuda from a market grill is 70 pesos, about £3.
I wrote a longer piece about the drinking side in Oaxaca for mezcal, not Instagram.
Bangkok, Thailand
The street food is the restaurant scene. Boat noodles at 20 baht a bowl, about 45p, and you order three. Pad krapow with rice and a fried egg is £1.30. Mango with sticky rice in season is £1.60.
Lisbon, Portugal
Grilled sardines in summer, bacalhau all year, and a pastel de nata that costs €1.40 at the counter. The prato do dia in a tasca is €9 to €11 including soup and wine.
San Sebastian, Spain
Pintxos bars along the old town, where each bar has one thing it does properly. A pintxo is €2.50 to €4, a small glass of txakoli €2.50. Three bars and you have eaten better than most tasting menus for €22.
Tbilisi, Georgia
Khinkali dumplings at 90 tetri each, roughly 26p, and you eat six. Khachapuri, the cheese bread, is £2.40 and feeds two people. Wine from a clay qvevri is £2 a glass in a wine bar.
The trip is written up in three weeks in Georgia.
Penang, Malaysia
Chinese, Malay and Indian cooking on one street. Char kway teow for £1.20, assam laksa for £1, roti canai for 40p. The hawker centres open at different hours, so eating well here means knowing which stall trades when.
What makes a city worth flying for
Three signs, every time. Locals eat out regularly at prices locals can afford. There is a dish the city argues about. And the best version of that dish is not in a restaurant with a doorman.
If you are choosing between countries rather than cities, the best countries for food tourism breaks it down by region and season.
The receipt
Below is five days of eating in Bologna for one person, including two sit down dinners, a food market tour and a lot of coffee. Total £186, which is £37 a day in a city famous for food.
How long to give each city
Three nights is the working minimum. Day one you eat badly because you are tired and you pick the wrong place near the station. Day two you find the market and the good bakery. Day three you eat well because you finally know the streets. Anything shorter and you spend the whole visit paying tourist prices for average food.
For Bologna, four nights covers the city plus a morning in Modena. Osaka works as five nights with a day in Kyoto and a night in Kobe. Hanoi needs four, because the good breakfast places close by ten in the morning and you want more than one shot at them. Istanbul deserves six, since the food changes completely between the European and Asian sides. Penang can be done in three. Oaxaca needs a week if you want the villages and the markets on their proper days, which are Sunday in Tlacolula and Thursday in Zaachila.
Booking, queues and the money side
Almost none of these cities need restaurant reservations if you eat at local hours. The exceptions are San Sebastian in August, Bologna on a Saturday night, and any Japanese counter with fewer than ten seats. For those, email two weeks out or ask your accommodation to phone.
Budget roughly 25 to 35 pounds a day for eating well in Italy and Spain, 18 to 25 in Japan if you keep lunches cheap, and 10 to 15 in Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico and Malaysia. Flights matter more than meals in the total, so pick the city by the flight price and the season, then plan the eating around it. The step by step trip planner covers the booking order, and the comfort on a budget guide covers where to spend the money you save on food.
One rule that works in every city
Eat where the turnover is highest at the hour locals eat, then walk one street further than you planned. Kitchens near a station or a cathedral pay high rent and pass it on. Five minutes of walking usually drops the price of the same dish by a third and raises the quality, because the customers are regulars who would notice if standards slipped. Ask staff what they eat after their shift, order it without editing, and note the name for the next night.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the cheapest food destination on this list? Hanoi and Penang, where three good meals a day cost under £8.
Do I need to book restaurants in advance? In Bologna and San Sebastian, yes for dinner. In Bangkok, Hanoi and Penang, almost never.
How do I eat well with dietary restrictions? Learn the phrase in the local language and carry it written down. Vegetarian eating is easy in India, Turkey and Italy, harder in Georgia and Vietnam where stock is usually meat based.
Is street food safe? Busy stalls with high turnover are usually safer than quiet restaurants. Watch where the queue is at lunchtime.
When is the best time to visit for food? Autumn in Italy and Spain for harvest, winter in Vietnam for the north, spring in Japan. Markets are always the guide.
How much should I budget for food per day? £8 in Southeast Asia, £18 in Turkey and Georgia, £37 in Italy and Spain if food is the point of the trip.
More eating notes go out with the monthly postcard, and every place mentioned here sits on the travel map.