CNN Ranks 23 Best Street Food Cities in the World, Bangkok Takes the Crown

Street food is affordable and delicious, offering the most authentic taste of local life. CNN recently released its 2017 list of the world’s 23 best street food cities, featuring entries from Japan, Hong Kong, Beijing, and various Vietnamese cities. Bangkok, Thailand, has topped the list for two consecutive years, surpassing Tokyo, Japan.

Bangkok, Thailand, crowned the world’s best city for street food for two years in a row, offers snacks that fuel locals from morning to night—from soy milk or tofu for breakfast, Hainanese chicken rice for lunch, to Thai-style noodle soups and satay skewers at night. A French chef in Bangkok’s Chinatown recommends must-try street foods: Thai oyster omelets and chicken satay.

Thailand also has its version of oyster omelets, prepared similarly to Taiwan’s—with sizzling sounds on the hotplate and fragrant aromas, even using the same dipping sauce. This version is closer to Teochew cuisine, called “OR SUAN” (哦算) in Thai. Another is the Thai-style preparation. Photo by Central News Agency reporter Liu Dechang, Bangkok, April 15, 2017.

Hawaiian garlic butter shrimp is a famous street food dish. (Photo provided by Shutterstock)

Tokyo, Japan, is home to the highest number of Michelin three-star restaurants in the world. In addition to delicious sushi, yakitori (grilled skewers) is another street food highly praised by foreign visitors. Honolulu, Hawaii, blends American, Asian, and Latin American culinary influences. Dishes like Hawaiian poke—similar to Japanese chirashi sushi—allow for dozens of flavor combinations based on personal ingredient preferences, as well as American-style fast-food truck offerings like garlic butter shrimp.

The CNN list of 23 best street food cities includes: Bangkok (Thailand), Tokyo (Japan), Honolulu (Hawaii), Durban (South Africa), New Orleans (USA), Istanbul (Turkey), Hong Kong, Paris (France), Mexico City (Mexico), Cairo (Egypt), Marrakech (Morocco), Cartagena (Colombia), Portland (USA), Dakar (Senegal), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Hanoi (Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Singapore, Los Angeles (USA), Rome (Italy), Cape Town (South Africa), and Beijing (China).