Travel Like Bourdain: The 6 Best Food Destinations for Travel

Anthony Bourdain didn't just eat food, he used it to understand people, culture, and the human condition that we are all trying to navigate. He went where the locals went, ate what they ate, and never apologized for loving a $3 bowl of soup as much as a Michelin-starred meal. Even if they tried to make him apologise! Not Tony.

His approach to travel was simple: show up with an open mind, eat like a local, and let the food tell you the story, and, treat your body like a joy ride! Have a blast, don't be such a square. Try those different foods and have fun.

These six destinations are the places he loved most. The ones he kept returning to. The ones that moved him. If you want to travel like Bourdain, this is where you start.

 Quick checklist on Bourdain's favorite food destinations:

• Vietnam: Bourdain's true love, bún bò Huế as "the greatest soup in the world," life-changing street food
• Tokyo: "the most amazing food city in the world," Sukiyabashi Jiro, izakayas, soba shops
• San Sebastián: "no better place to eat in Europe," pintxos culture, Michelin stars per capita
• Singapore: hawker centers, laksa, char kway teow, a melting pot of East Asian flavors
• Lyon, France: Bourdain's culinary roots, bouchons, Restaurant Paul Bocuse, childhood flavors

• Beirut: "no place else remotely like it," mezze, kibbeh, shawarma, a city that changed how he made television

1. Vietnam, Bourdain's True Love

Vietnam was the place Anthony Bourdain loved most. He filmed all three of his major series there and returned again and again. "I love Vietnam. I love it now. I loved it from the minute I arrived for the first time," he said. The food, the culture, the people. It all worked for him in a way that few other places did.

"Going to Vietnam the first time was life-changing for sure. Maybe because it was all so new and different to my life before and the world I grew up in. The food, culture, landscape, and smell; they're all inseparable," Bourdain explained. He was captivated by the flavors. Smoky bún chả, rich lemongrass-heavy bún bò Huế, and the endless variety of street food that costs next to nothing and delivers everything.

In Huế, Bourdain ate at Bún Bò Huế Kim Chau and called the dish "the greatest soup in the world." He described it as "as sophisticated and complex a bowl of food as any French restaurant." That's the beauty of Vietnamese food. It's humble, it's affordable, and it's world-class.

Hanoi is where Bourdain had his most famous meal. Sitting on low plastic stools at Bun Cha Huong Lien with President Obama in 2016, sharing bún chả and cold Hanoi beer. That moment captured everything Bourdain believed about food. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from. Good food brings people together.

If you're traveling like Bourdain, Vietnam is non-negotiable. Start in Hanoi, eat your way through the street food, head to Huế for the soup, and finish in Ho Chi Minh City. Don't skip the small towns along the way. That's where the real food is. Careful, you may find vietnam as your new lover! 

Image of Vietnam

2. Tokyo, The Most Amazing Food City in the World

Bourdain called Tokyo "the most amazing food city in the world, with a nearly unimaginable variety of places stacked one on top of the other, tucked away on every level on densely-packed streets." He was right. Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city on the planet, but it's not just about fine dining. It's about the izakayas, the soba shops, the ramen counters, and the yakitori joints.

Bourdain visited Sukiyabashi Jiro, the legendary three-Michelin-starred sushi restaurant run by Jiro Ono. When Bourdain tried it, he said it was the best sushi he'd ever had. But he also loved the informal spots. He ate at Sarashina Horii, a soba noodle restaurant specializing in traditional hot pot, and an izakaya called Daitoryo.

In New York, Bourdain's go-to yakitori spots were Yakitori Totto and Torishin. Both serve grilled chicken skewers in a casual, no-nonsense setting. Whatever the hell "no.nonsense" means 😂. It's the kind of place where you sit at the counter, order a beer, and let the chef handle the rest, the true Tokyo experience. Trust the process and eat what's put in front of you and don't complain young child! 

Tokyo is one of those cities where you could eat for a year and still not scratch the surface. If you're following Bourdain's lead, skip the tourist traps and go where the locals go. The best meals in Tokyo are the ones you stumble into. Origato Japan!

Image of Tokyo, Japan

3. San Sebastián, No Better Place to Eat in Europe

"You could make the argument that there is no better place to eat in Europe than the city of San Sebastián. The love of food, the insistence on the very best ingredients, is fundamental to the culture and to life here," Bourdain said. San Sebastián has more Michelin-starred restaurants per capita than anywhere on Earth, but the everyday joints are just as good.

Pintxos are the highlight, small bites of food served on a cocktail stick or morsel of bread, think serrano ham, quail's egg, piquillo pepper, potato croquettes, fried baby eels. You walk from bar to bar, eat a few pintxos at each stop, drink txakoli (a local sparkling wine), and repeat. My god my mouth is watering as I'm writing this.

Ganbara was Bourdain's favorite pintxos bar and is credited with him saying, "I come here every time, like a heat-seeking missile". The mushrooms there are legendary and are simple, perfectly cooked, and worth the trip alone. He also loved Casa Urola, which serves the classic pintxos and more substantial dishes.

For fine dining, Arzak is the internationally renowned spot serving innovative, avant-garde Basque cuisine where it earned three Michelin stars and a reputation that was rightfully bestowed for it's obsession with quality. But the beauty of San Sebastián is that you don't need reservations to eat well. Just walk the streets, follow the crowds, and eat what looks good.

San Sebastián is small, walkable, and completely obsessed with food, if you're serious about eating, this is where you go. Hands down the greatest region in Spain for food. If you're a foodie, I would, honest to god, skip out on all other cities in Spain. They are like a dream cousine. Fried egg on french fries? Wtf is that? 

Image of San Sebastián

4. Singapore, Hawker Centers and a Melting Pot of Flavors

Singapore was one of Bourdain's three favorite food cities in the world. In a 2011 interview with National Geographic, he listed Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo as his go-to food destinations "for sheer variety and for ingredients and culture." Singapore's hawker centers are the draw. Open-air food courts filled with stalls selling everything from laksa to char kway teow to Hainanese chicken rice.

Bourdain loved the accessibility. You can eat world-class food for $3-$5 a meal. No reservations, no dress code, just good food made by people who've been perfecting their craft for decades. The hawker centers are where locals eat, and Bourdain always ate where the locals ate.

Laksa is a coconut curry noodle dish that's smoky, spicy, and rich. Char kway teow is a stir-fried noodle dish with prawns, Chinese sausage, and bean sprouts. Nasi lemak is fragrant coconut rice served with sambal, fried anchovies, peanuts, and a fried egg. All of it is incredible and none of it costs more than a cup of coffee back home.

Singapore is a melting pot. Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Western influences all blend together into something entirely its own. The food reflects that. It's diverse, it's accessible, and it's some of the best street food in the world.

Bourdain was always bitter that New York didn't have the kind of hawker centers Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong have. If you want to understand why, go to Singapore and eat at a hawker center. You'll get it immediately. Just don't chew any gum or you might got to jail! Not Joking....

Image of Singapore

5. Lyon, France, Culinary Roots and Childhood Flavors

France was personal for Bourdain, his father's side of the family was French, and his childhood summers in France shaped his love of food. "This is the food that I first learned to love and to eat. You know, French cuisine, I mean, that's in the bone, man," he said.

Lyon is France's food capital where the city has bouchons, rustic eateries serving local dishes like quenelles and sabodet. Bouchon Comptoir Brunet was one of Bourdain's favorites. The food is rich, the portions are generous, and the atmosphere is exactly what you want from a French bistro.

Bourdain had the opportunity to dine at Restaurant Paul Bocuse, the legendary three-Michelin-starred restaurant run by one of France's greatest chefs. "Over the past century, the system here, the tradition, whatever it is that took hold here, churned out a tremendous number of the world's greatest chefs, (Point, Chapel, Troisgros, Bocuse) and, as importantly, influenced nearly all the rest of them," Bourdain said.

But it wasn't just the fine dining that moved him. It was the soupe de poisson, a rustic fish soup that captured the essence of his childhood vacations in France. "This more than anything is the flavor of my childhood vacations in France," he told Food & Wine.

Lyon is where Bourdain's love of food began. If you want to understand where he came from and what shaped his palate, this is where you go. Perhaps you may try some frog legs whilst there. For me that is nasty as hell. 

Image of Lyon, France

6. Beirut, A City That Changed Everything

Bourdain visited Beirut three times and each trip shaped him differently. The first time in 2006, he arrived to film No Reservations just as the city fell into war. Instead of turning off the cameras, Bourdain and his crew documented what they experienced. That trip changed how he made television forever. "The days of happy horseshit ended right there," he said.

He returned in 2009 for "Back to Beirut" and again in 2015 for Parts Unknown. By his final visit, he called Beirut one of his favorite places on the planet. "There's no place else remotely like it. Everything great, and all the world's ills, all in one glorious, messed-up, magnificent and maddening city."

The food is what kept pulling him back. Lebanese mezze spreads with hummus, kibbeh, stuffed grape leaves, and fresh vegetables. He ate at Le Chef, a legendary spot known for simple home-style classics. He visited Onno for Armenian food where he went crazy for baby sparrows and soft bone marrow. He ended one trip at Abu Elie, a Communist-themed bar serving homemade shanklish cheese and spiced lamb kibbeh.

Bourdain also recommended the seafood restaurants by the shore and late-night shawarma. "The food, the food, the food," he said when asked what to do in Beirut. "Fast-food shawarma. Smoke some shisha. Go to a nightclub. It's a crazy kooky town."

Beirut isn't easy. It's divided, complicated, and carries the weight of regional conflict. But Bourdain believed that's what made it essential. "Hopefully, you will come back smarter about the world," he said. "You'll come back as I did: changed and cautiously hopeful and confused in the best possible way."

Beirut taught Bourdain that travel should challenge you, not just comfort you. If you're eating like Bourdain, you're not just looking for good food. You're looking for the truth.

Image of Beirut

Ready to eat like Bourdain?

Vietnam, Tokyo, San Sebastián, Singapore, Lyon, and Beirut are the six places Anthony Bourdain loved most. These aren't just food destinations. They're the places that shaped how he saw the world. Eat where the locals eat, skip the tourist traps, and let the food tell you the story.

Pick one, book the flight, and show up hungry. And when you land, staying connected is easy. Grab an eSIM before you leave and you'll have data the second you touch down. No hunting for WiFi, no dealing with airport SIM card shops. You land, you're online, and you're already eating.

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Resources:

This article was informed by the following sources:

• Anthony Bourdain's shows: "Parts Unknown", "No Reservations", and "A Cook's Tour"
• Interviews with National Geographic, Food & Wine, CNN, and Bon Appétit