HCMC beats Bangkok as world's fourth-best foodie city

Ho Chi Minh City ranked fourth out of the world’s 20 best globetrotting foodie cities, surpassing Asian cuisine paradises Bangkok, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, reported British travel magazine Time Out. To compile the list, Time Out surveyed thousands of city dwellers across the globe, asking them about the food options in their city, with a focus on quality and affordability. The magazine’s editors then sifted through the results to decipher the highest-scoring city for each country to include on the resulting ranking list. Naples of Italy was voted the globe’s best city for foodies, followed by Johannesburg in South Africa, and then Lima in Peru at third place. China’s capital of Beijing came in fifth. The rest of the top 10 list included Bangkok in Thailand, the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, India’s Mumbai, UAE’s Dubai, and the U.S.’s lesser-known city of Portland. The Time Out editors recommended food lovers to try a bowl of pho in HCMC. “The warming noodle soup in the south typically heavily garnished with basil, coriander, chili and hoisin sauce is a Vietnamese staple, ubiquitous across the city,” reported the Time Out article.

A bowl of beef noodle soup pho at a stall in HCMC's District 1. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

The soup is traditionally served with chicken or beef broth in which the bones simmer lazily for at least three hours until the broth is perfect. A bowl of pho in Ho Chi Minh City costs around 50,000 (US$2.20).