The World's Best Street Eats

As Americans' appreciation for street eats rises along with the trend in gourmet food trucks, Carly Fisher examines the "World's Best Cities for Street Food," in a piece for Food & Wine.

1 minute read

May 2, 2012, 2:00 PM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


With "traffic jams of trendy food trucks piling up in American cities," it's easy to overlook the fact that street food has a rich global history. Fisher has put together a collection of places where hungry explorers can dig into that history.

In Istanbul, Turkey, one can find "specialty kiosks scattered throughout the city hawking börek (flaky pastry), simit (ring-shaped sesame bread that recalls a pretzel) and kumpir (baked potatoes stuffed with anything from ketchup and pickles to olives and sausage)."

Austin, famous for its creative music and arts scene, is bringing its "weird" sensibilities to street food. "Innovations include Lucky J's fried-chicken-and-waffle tacos (wrapped in a waffle shell) and kimchi fries from Korean-Mexican fusion truck Chi'Lantro."

Fisher calls Bangkok, Thailand the "ultimate tourist destination for any street-food obsessive." One center of action can be found on Yaowarat Road in the city's Chinatown. "Here, makeshift stands offer pork skewered on sugar canes; fragrant fish curries; sweet bananas deep-fried in rice-flour batter; and durian, the notoriously stinky fruit."

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in Food & Wine

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