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MSN has posted a list of the top 10 cities for
foodies, as determined by a travel site. The cities chosen are all
over the globe, picked for a combination of unique dishes, celebrity chefs and all-around good cuisine. Barcelona,
Brussels, Lyon and Rome were lauded for their long standing traditions, while Las Vegas and New York were included for
having just about everything. While San Francisco did get a nod for its non-Asian cuisine, it seems to have been
selected mainly on the availability of good Chinese food. Asian flavors are what put Tokyo, Vancouver and Hanoi on the
list, too.
It appears that the definition of a foodie as someone who is willing (and possibly desperate) to eat anything has been put into play with this list, as along with Asian flair, Hanoi was picked for "unusual delicacies like dog or snake," including "fried snake skin, snake spring rolls, snake soup, and minced snake dumpling." Weird meats are all well and good, but to plan a whole trip around them seems a bit extreme.
Nevertheless, their list includes:
- Barcelona, Spain
- Brussels, Belgium
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Lyon, France
- New York, New York
- San Francisco, California
- Rome, Italy
- Tokyo, Japan
- Vancouver, Canada
One city that deserves to be on the list is Sydney, Australia. Not only do they fit the criteria of having an outstanding variety of high-quality Asian foods, but just about everything else you can imagine is available there. Diverse cuisine, coupled with the availability of fresh, high quality meat and produce at any time of the year makes Sydney a "must-visit" for a real foodie.
[Photo by Nicole Weston]
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4-03-2006 @7:35AM Alex said... Bit of a dodgy list this ... not only is Sydney missing but also London ... not to mention places like Bologna or Paris ... guess that's the problem with lists though ... :)
Reply
4-03-2006 @7:58AM Nicole Weston said... That is a problem with lists, true. However, they do make it easy to see what you're missing (Sydney, London) and always make a great starting point for further discussion.
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4-03-2006 @9:07AM harry said... I spent a week in Hanoi and dog meat and snake meat isn't all that common. They are specialty foods that need to be sought out. That said, Hanoi (in fact all of Vietnam) has the best food I have ever eaten. Incredibly fresh (and ubercheap!)soft shell crabs, unbelievable fragrant soups, the best grilled pork, the freshest fruit...I can go on and on...
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4-03-2006 @1:51PM Kevin Breit said... Chicago isn't on there? I'm biased here, yes. But Chicago has some of the most amazing food to be found.
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4-03-2006 @2:36PM extramsg said... Yeah, Chicago not making the list is highly suspect. It has it's own traditional foods (deep dish pizza, it's own style of hot dogs and sausages, various sandwiches, etc) plus a huge diversity of foods, both in the bottom and top ends. I think it's clearly a better food city than Vancouver, BC, and I've made food trips to both. Even Washington, DC, might be a better food city than Vancouver overall. I think they just wanted to toss in something from Canada to be nice.
Las Vegas making the list is a shame. Sure, it has a huge number of high end restaurants, but they're mostly second fiddles to the originals elsewhere. And everything is so damn overpriced. If your definition of a foodie is someone who swoons whenever Emeril comes on the TV, who is always the first to buy a Zagat, I guess that fits. But the diversity and overall quality of Vegas's food is pretty weak. There are plenty of US cities that should be there first, such as Los Angeles.
I think 10 cities may just not be enough, though. Once you get past places like Paris, NY, and Tokyo which have so many high end and low end options, then you have a lot of places that are great, but similarly great. How do you avoid giving India, Thailand, or Mexico any honors. Sorry, but Mexico City is one of the best food cities in the world. And what about China? China! The mother cuisine that is influential in probably a majority of cuisines throughout the world. What, Beijing or Hong Kong doesn't compare to Vancouver, BC?
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4-03-2006 @5:43PM sarah said... i have to agree with previous commenters about chicago, and i'm certainly not biased(live in LA). and i CANNOT BELIEVE that "celebrity chefs" is a criterion. that is ridiculous. i love chefs, and of course, i love certain celebrity chefs, but shouldn't the focus be on the FOOD, regardless of what glittering gourmet chef 's name (sometimes name only, too) is behind it?
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4-03-2006 @8:36PM Chuck said... New Orleans isn't on your list?
You can't be serious.
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4-08-2006 @4:41PM breadchick said... Vegas??!!! You have to be kidding!!! The absolutely most mediocre city for foodies I have ever visited. I can't believe this list would leave off Sydney, London, Paris, New Orleans (pre-Katrina and hopefully soon again) to just name a few. Oh, of course it IS MSN who is reporting this list.
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4-17-2006 @3:15PM Amnee J (New Orleanian and Proud) said... WHAT THE F***?????? WHERE THE H*11 IS NEW ORLEANS!!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! THIS IS A VERY INACCURATE LIST WITH OUT NEW ORLEANS, THE BEST PLACE FOR EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAYBE YOU NEVER HEARD OF NEW ORLEANS!!!!!!
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