Food and travel are intricately connected. Personally, I travel to eat. I love nothing more than visiting new places to try the unique flavors and dishes. But, of course, not every meal can be a standout. So redditor u/BornThought4074 asked, “What country had food better than you expected, and which had food worse than you expected?” Here’s what people said.
1.“Turkish food was amazing, particularly Turkish breakfasts. They were always these huge feasts of many small plates including fresh bread, pastries, cheese, cold cuts, fruits, olives, hummus, and the best fresh honeycomb I’ve ever tasted.”
2.“Amalfi, Italy. When I went to the Amalfi Coast I expected that the food would just be OK given how touristy the area is. In reality, it blew my mind. Everything we ate was super fresh, and consistently just delicious.”
3.“The food in Switzerland was not good at all. We really tried to find the best spots and did our research before each meal. Even so, all the food we ate was just okay at best. The views don’t disappoint, though!”
4.“Cambodia is, unfortunately, on my bad food list. I was expecting bright, fresh flavors like Vietnamese food, but most things tasted bland.”
—u/Depressedmonkeytiler
“I had really high hopes for Cambodian food when I visited, and I left feeling super underwhelmed, especially compared to the food I’ve had in its neighboring countries.”
—u/DQBeltBuster
Kosal Hor / Getty Images
5.“Sri Lanka! The food blew me away. I never had a bad dish while traveling there. It’s been six years since I visited this country, and years later, I still dream about some of the things I ate. The curries were so flavourful.”
6.“The food in Iceland was better than expected. From fish stew and hot dogs to lamb chops, fresh rye bread, and skyr, I ate many delicious things there.”
7.“Indonesia has great food. Where I’m from, Indonesian cuisine is unknown, and it’s hard to find an Indonesian restaurant. The food was a pleasant surprise.”
8.“Puerto Rico. It’s a tropical island, but ironically, fresh fish was hard to find. We ate lots of pork and fried food. I love visiting Puerto Rico. I’ve been a few times and have only had good trips. But the food game is off.”
9.“The food in The Netherlands was subpar. I like some Dutch snacks and desserts, such as stroopwafels, poffertjes, and frikandel, but otherwise, Dutch cuisine is among my least favorites. Whenever I go to The Netherlands, my favorite thing to eat is Indonesian food.”
10.“Bologna, Italy. This is the place to go for better-than-expected food. It should be the real food capital of Italy. Think: tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini, lasagna, and more.”
11.“If Colombia had some of the world’s best food, it would just be unfair. The country has beautiful people and a diverse, stunning country. If Colombia had food as good as Mexico’s, it would need to be broken up with an antitrust lawsuit. That being said, I didn’t find the food to be awful, just very mediocre.”
12.“Georgia had incredible food. From the khachapuri to the wine, everything was amazing. I went in not knowing much about the cuisine, but after taking a cooking class in a local home and eating our way through the country, I left so impressed that I started cooking Georgian food back home.”
13.“Lima, Peru has the best food. The city has many great restaurants, from some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world to lots of small and casual gems. There’s particularly great Chinese and Japanese food, too.”
14.“Poland. I was expecting the cuisine to be more like German food (which I enjoy, but find it can be quite repetitive and unimaginative often), but was very pleasantly surprised by Polish food.”
15.“The food in Dubai was better than expected. Dubai gets a lot of hate, but you’ll find great food if you get away from the malls and fancy restaurants and go to where the local working-class people and immigrants live and eat. It’s hard to find another city with so many diverse, unique, and authentic options.”
16.“The food scene in Ireland blew me away. Americans tend to think of Irish food as meat and potatoes, but I had excellent Irish food that was far beyond the stereotypical dishes, and I ate some bomb international food as well.”
17.“I was a bit disappointed by the food in Morocco. I enjoyed tagine and couscous, but it seemed like every restaurant had little more than these two options, and they got boring.”
18.“Belgium was a surprising gem for me. I had almost no expectations going into this trip. I went for the beer but ended up loving the homey and flavorful comfort food.”
19.And finally, “Honestly, my partner and I were a bit let down by the food in France. We tried a huge variety, from street food to some fine-dining restaurants, and overall, it was pretty… meh. To be fair, we had also just been in Italy less than a week before, so maybe that had to do with our disappointment.”
Do you have something to add? What destinations exceeded your expectations when it came to the food? And which places left your taste buds feeling disappointed? Tell us in the comments or drop it into this Google form.
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