When it comes to international cuisine, the Italians are unrivaled.
As per figures from the national Best Countries placings – a classification of 60 countries based on surveys of more than 16,000 people from 4 regions – Italy has the most incredible meals globally.
Italian cuisine has caught the entire world’s imagination, hearts, and stomachs, whether that’s simple spaghetti with sausages or a complicated risotto dish with truffles.
Spain, France, Mexico, and Greece round out the top five.
Spain is known for its jamón ibérico, gazpacho, and churros, while France is known for its baguette, escargot, and macarons.
The following are the top ten nations with the best restaurants in the world, as judged by public opinion:
1. Italy
It’s all so simple. Get noodles, olive oil, garlic, tomato, or a slice of bacon. Bam, you have a party on a plate.
2. Spain
The Spaniards gourmandize the way they flamenco dance with unbridled passion. They munch on snacks throughout the day with intervals of big meals. From the fruits of the Mediterranean Sea to the spoils of the Pyrenees, from the saffron and cumin notes of the Moors to the insane molecular experiments of Ferran Adria, Spanish food is timeless yet avant-garde.
3. France
If you’re one of those, who doesn’t like to eat because “there’s more to life than food,” — visit Paris. It’s a city notorious for its curmudgeonly residents, but they all believe in the importance of good food. Two-hour lunch breaks for three-course meals are de rigor.
4. Mexico
It’s a central station for nutritional superfoods. All that avocado, tomato, lime, and garlic with beans, chocolates, and chilies are rich with antioxidants and good healthful things. It tastes like a fiesta.
5. Greece
Traveling and eating in Greece feels like a glossy magazine spread come to life, but without Photoshopping. Like the blue seas and white buildings, the kalamata olives, feta cheese, colorful salads, and roast meats are all Postcard perfect by default.
6. Thailand
Street eats are a Thai attraction. Flip through a Thai cookbook, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find an ingredient list. The combination of herbs and spices in each dish produces complex flavors. Thais fit spicy, sour, salty, sweet, chewy, crispy, and slippery.
7. China
China is the place to get food shock a dozen times a day. “You can eat that?” will become the intrepid food traveler’s daily refrain. China’s regional cuisines are so varied it’s hard to believe they’re from the same nation. It’s not a food culture you can quickly summarise, except to say you’ll invariably want seconds.
8. India
When a cuisine uses spices in such abundance that the meat and vegetables seem like an afterthought, you know you’re dealing with cooks dedicated to flavor. There are no rules for spice usage as long as it results in something delicious. The same spice can add zest to savory and sweet dishes or can sometimes be eaten on its own — fennel seed is enjoyed as a breath-freshening digestive aid at the end of meals.
9. Japan
You can get a lavish multicourse kaiseki meal that presents the seasons in a spread of visual and culinary poetry. Or grab a seat at a revolving sushi conveyor for a solo feast. Or pick up something random and previously unknown in your gastronomic lexicon from the refrigerated shelves of a convenience store. It’s impossible to eat poorly in Japan.
10. The United States
This may be because most popular foods originate in some other country. The pizza slice is Italian. Fries are Belgian or Dutch. Hamburgers and frankfurters are German. In the United States, they have been improved and added to become global icons.