Ho Chi Minh City leaves the top 20 cities with the most unique cuisine in the world

NDO - Recently, Time Out - a famous British magazine has just announced a list of 20 cities with the most diverse and unique culinary cultures in the world in 2025. Notably, although it held the 4th position last year, this year Ho Chi Minh City is no longer in this ranking.

"We asked thousands of people around the world to rate the food scene in their city and called on the insights of Time Out Market editors, food critics and chefs to create this compelling list," Time Out said.

Previously, in 2024, Ho Chi Minh City ranked 4th on the above list when Time Out rated it as an ideal place to enjoy Vietnamese cuisine , always maintaining the unique flavors in the dishes.

However, this year, Vietnam's representative is no longer named in the rankings. Meanwhile, some cities such as: Bangkok, Mumbai, Medellín, Porto... have been on the list for two consecutive years.

Topping the 2025 rankings by Time Out Magazine is New Orleans, the largest city in the state of Louisiana, USA. This place is famous for its dishes that blend the cuisines of many countries such as: France, Spain, Vietnam and Africa.

Some typical dishes include: gumbo (a stew made from chicken or seafood simmered with bell peppers, celery and okra), jambalaya (a rice pilaf consisting of a mixture of meats, vegetables and spices typical of the Louisiana region) and beignets (a type of deep-fried pastry covered in sugar originating from France).

According to Time Out, 93% of locals surveyed rated the quality of food served at restaurants and takeout services in New Orleans highly. The cuisine here also received good feedback from experts, contributing to New Orleans' top spot on the list.

"New Orleans celebrates and promotes food wherever possible, from Jazz Fest to annual festivals celebrating favorites like gumbo, Creole tomatoes, beignets... Everyone is invited to the party," says Gerrish Lopez, Time Out's New Orleans contributor.

New Orleans is the city with the most unique cuisine in the world. (Photo: Time Out)

Second place in the list of cities with the best cuisine in the world belongs to Bangkok, Thailand. This city has a wide range of delicious dishes at a variety of prices. Visitors can experience Bangkok's culinary world from street markets to high-end Michelin-starred restaurants.

At number 3, Medellín, Colombia’s second-largest city, impresses with its cheap food and coffee. South Africa’s Cape Town comes in at number 4, Spain’s capital Madrid is in number 5 and Mexico City is in number 6. These are all top foodie destinations with rich local cuisines.

In addition, jollof rice (tomato and chilli rice) and smoky suya (smoked meat skewers) helped Lagos, Nigeria to stay at number 7. Mantou, fried dumplings helped Shanghai, China to stay at number 8. Parisian cuisine ranked ninth on the list, while Jakarta took the 10th spot with rendang (spicy beef).

The remaining destinations are: Marrakech, Morocco; Lima, Peru; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Mumbai, India; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Cairo, Egypt; Porto, Portugal; Montreal, Canada; Naples, Italy and San José, Costa Rica.

The list of 20 cities with the best cuisine in the world was compiled based on a global survey with more than 18,500 local participants.

They were judged on 18 criteria, with quality, price, taste and new experiences being considered important. Experts appointed by Time Out then participated in additional assessments to come up with the final results.