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These places deserve a spot on any foodie's bucket list.
Some go to Mexico for the beaches of Cancun, Tulum, and Cabo...but we go for the food in Mexico City. This colorful city is home to upscale restaurants that consistently rank among the best in the world, but it also boasts an enormous selection of markets and street vendors dishing out cheap eats. Wander around Mercado de La Merced, Mercado de Xochimilco, or Mercado San Juan and you'll pass stalls of tropical fruits, tacos piled high with pork carnitas, flautas, fresh-squeezed juices, and huaraches, which are flattened ovals of masa that are fried and topped with beans and chorizo.
If you've ever seen Crazy Rich Asians, you'll have a pretty good idea of the hawker stalls and bustling marketplaces that make up Singapore's vibrant food scene. Singapore is a melting pot of cultures, which results in diverse and delicious food influenced by Chinese, Indian, and Malay cooking. Some must-try Singaporean dishes include kaya toast (white bread topped with a sweet mixture of jam, coconut, sugar, and egg), nasi lemak (rice cooked with egg, anchovies, and peanuts), char kuey teow (stir-fried flat rice noodles), and Hainanese chicken rice (thinly sliced chicken served over fragrant rice cooked in fat, garlic, and ginger).
Germany's capital city is one of the most exciting places to eat in Europe thanks to its cheap eats. As you explore the food markets at Neue Heimat, Thaipark, and all around the trendy Kreuzberg neighborhood, you'll find flavors and dishes that reflect Berlin's diverse, international population. Of course, there's iconic currywurst and doner kebabs, but Berlin also has incredible food from southeast Asia, Durban, and South America — from Laksa and ceviche to tandoor-baked naan and chicken tikka. On warm summer days, these food markets often take place outside, accompanied by live music.
Thailand's largest city, Bangkok lures in travelers from around the world with its floating markets, Michelin-starred food stalls, and sprawling night markets. Seek out Amphawa Floating Market — a feast for all the senses — for everything from exotic fruit like mangosteens and dragon fruit to super fresh seafood like juicy barbecue shrimp and octopus in sweet chili sauce. In the night markets, you'll find traditional Thai dishes such as pad see ew (stir-fried thick flat noodles), som tam (sweet and savory green papaya salad), and moo ping (pork skewers sold with sticky rice).
As you walk along the busy streets of Kowloon, through the wet markets of Wan Chai, and the seafood villages of Tai O and Lei Yue Mun, you'll be overwhelmed by a million smells and tastes. Street vendors sell shrimp shumai with chewy curry fish balls, thin slices of sweet and sticky barbecue pork over rice, steamed sheets of rice noodles with soy and peanut sauce, and fluffy egg waffles. While Hong Kong is inundated with high-end restaurants, you can just as easily find the meal of a lifetime at some nondescript stall on a busy city street.
As you explore the serpentine, never-ending streets of the Medina, you'll pass stalls piled high with fragrant spices from cayenne pepper to saffron, ramshackle restaurants serving tagines full of couscous and tender chicken, and carts overflowing with dried dates and pistachios. In the main square, Jemaa el-Fnaa, vendors ladle bowls of snail soup and barbecued goat and beef kebabs. If there's one place you can't miss, it's Merchoui Alley, a single street where shops serve day-long roasted and spiced lamb so tender it literally falls right off the bone.
South Korea's capital city is quickly becoming a food powerhouse. With its many markets and narrow alleyways packed with food vendors, it's easy to find mouthwatering street food almost anywhere you look: Gwangjang Market, Namdaemun Market, Myeongdong Alley, and Dongdaemun Grilled Fish Street are just a few places to start. You can taste tteokbokki (rice cakes in spicy pepper sauce), mandu (Korean dumplings filled with minced pork and shrimp), kimbap (the Korean take on sushi hand rolls), and pajeon (savory scallion pancakes filled with seafood).
This lively city on Israel's Mediterranean coast is one of the most thriving food destinations in the Middle East. Prepare yourself to indulge in falafel pitas topped with pickled cabbage and spicy sauce, seriously creamy hummus, crispy beef kubbeh, fried eggplant sabich, and paper-thin shawarma seasoned with chili powder, coriander, and garlic. The best places to sample the iconic food of Israel aren't at fancy restaurants, they're at holes-in-the-wall, roadside falafel stands, and busy marketplaces like Sarona and Shuk HaCarmel.
If there's one U.S. city that stands out for its street food, it's Los Angeles. This SoCal locale was the pioneer of the food truck movement, and today it still boasts an impressive array of affordable eateries on wheels, dishing out everything from bulgogi bowls to fried chicken sandwiches. Some standouts include Leo's Taco Truck for tortillas filled with succulent pork and pineapple, Kogi for Korean-style short rib burritos, and The Lobos Truck for waffle fries loaded with your favorite nacho toppings.
When you think of Paris, you probably think of Michelin-starred restaurants with fancy tasting menus, not of cheap eats. But as it turns out, Paris has a huge street food scene you'll want to explore. Start out at Marché des Enfants Rouges, the city's oldest covered marketplace, where stalls dish out things like savory crêpes, Japanese bento boxes, and sandwiches overflowing with jambon des pays and Comte cheese. On Rue du Faubourg and Rue des Rosiers, the streets are lined with ethnic food shops serving dishes from Syria, Turkey, Vietnam, Israel, and everywhere in between.