Whether you crave Danish pastries, Roman pasta, or Basque pintxos, these five cities belong on every foodie’s travel list. Photo / 123RF
Some people travel for history and culture, others for mountains and beaches. But for food pursuers, five cities in Europe take culinary tourism to the next level, writes Beks Lockie
Copenhagen is a joy to experience as a tourist. That instantly identifiable Copenhagen style manifests itself in the architecture, the fashion and the food.
Restaurants like Noma really put Copenhagen’s experimental and plant-focused fine dining scene on the map. While Noma has now been turned into a test kitchen and is sadly no longer taking reservations, Geranium, Barr and Alchemist offer an equally impressive Danish fine dining experience.
But you don’t need to drop hundreds of Danish Krone to enjoy the best of the Copenhagen food scene. The city’s version of street food is very much worth exploring. DØP is an award-winning hotdog stand where organic hotdogs are garnished with fried onions and pickled cucumber. Go to a covered food market like TorvehallerneKBH to try smørrebrød (open sandwiches with endless topping options) or ribbensteg (roast pork sandwiches) sold directly from the butcher.
And you can’t go to the land of the Danish pastry without trying the city’s brilliant bakeries. The biggest names in the bakery game are Andersen & Maillard, Juno and Hart Bageri but if you’re exploring the city on foot or bike, you’ll stumble upon any number of other local gems. You can even spend a few hours learning how to make some yourself in a class on The Art of Baking Danish Pastry.
You can’t talk about great food cities without highlighting San Sebastian. It’s a small coastal city in the Basque country wedged between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. In many ways, it makes for a perfect holiday destination but among food lovers, San Sebastian, with the highest number of Michelin stars per square meter in the world, is food heaven.
While the fine dining opportunities are plentiful, to really get to know this food destination you need to go on a pub crawl. Not one focused on drinks, although jugs of Clara (the Spanish version of a Shandy) and glasses of Txakoli (the local semi-sparkling white wine) will always be on offer. But a pub crawl in search of every variation of the iconic San Sebastian bar snack – the pintxo.
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Every local spot will serve the classic bites, such as gildas (anchovy, olive and chilli skewers) and tortillas (egg omelettes), and also have their own speciality on offer. Just look behind the counter to find which bite any bar has received an accolade for and start there. My personal favourites? Paco Bueno for fried seafood, Gandarias for the steak sandwiches, La Cuchara de San Telmo for some more adventurous plates. No crawl is complete without a visit to La Vina for the world-famous Basque cheesecake – it’s worth waiting in the queue for as long as it takes!
Another city where the geography and history lend itself to fantastic food experiences is Istanbul. The Bosphorus Strait splits the city into European and Asian sides and exploring the food on both continents is essential.
Every day in Istanbul should start with a traditional Turkish breakfast, ideally eaten in a picturesque courtyard alongside a cup of Turkish tea. Breakfast is usually served as an abundance of small plates – olives, cheeses, honey and boiled eggs and other local specialities like Menemen (scrambled eggs with tomatoes and peppers) and Sucuk (spicy sausage).
The epicentre of life in the city is the markets. Wander through the bustling Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar to get a feel for local life (albeit with a good number of tourists in the mix) and sample spices, breads and every flavour of Turkish delight. From there you can take a ferry across to the Asian side of the city for more street food, including lahmacun (Turkish pizza), baklava and Iskender kebab (grilled meat topped with butter sauce and yoghurt) from its founding restaurant Kebapçi Iskender.
However, if there’s one restaurant that I highly recommend a visit to it’s Tershane Karaköy. Partly because it has a full menu of classic Turkish dishes that taste like absolute heaven but mostly for its breathtaking view of the otherworldly city skyline.
Somewhere along the line Scotland has acquired a bad rap when it comes to food. But it’s not all haggis and tattie scones (although I do think both have their place in a Full Scottish breakfast). Edinburgh, Scotland’s enchanting capital, has quickly emerged as an exciting food destination and a visit needs to be carefully planned to enjoy all of the city’s best bites.
The brunch and bakery scene is fantastic and it all starts in the quaint suburb of Stockbridge. If you have the time to queue, the extremely popular Lannan is the place to pick up a few pastries or, if you’re looking for a twist on the Full Scottish breakfast, Singapore Coffee House is cooking up a Singaporean version of the classic that you won’t find anywhere else.
I was surprised to discover just how much Edinburgh loves gelato and how good they are at making it. There are outstanding gelaterias dotted around the city and they’re buzzing with customers rain or shine. After all, they have access to some of the highest quality dairy in the world (New Zealand excluded). Give Moo Pie, Joelato or Mary’s Milk Bar a visit for the most delicious scoops.
But my top three Edinburgh restaurants combine excellent Scottish produce with the kind of flair that could only come from a city as effortlessly cool as Edinburgh: The Palmerston, Skua and Noto. Just go taste and see.
And last but certainly not least is Rome. It’s a classic that’s a classic to this day for a reason. Top of your hit list must be the four classic Roman pastas: cacio e pepe, carbonara, alla gricia and amatriciana. Almost every restaurant in town will have these styles on offer in some form. Mimi e Coco is a fun little family-run spot on the winding Via del Governo Vecchio serving all of the great Roman dishes and conveniently located opposite Two Sizes, a hole in the wall spot for Tiramisu.
If it’s not pasta, it must be pizza and the Romans do it quite differently than the version from Naples that you might be more familiar with. Bonci Pizzarium is a famous spot close to the Vatican making traditional Roman style slabs of pizza and other iconic street foods like Suppli (a deep fried rice ball) or even Suppli Alla Carbonara (a deep fried ball of pasta). It might sound heavy but when in Rome, right?
If you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the tourist centre, Ristorante Angelina a Testaccio is a short journey along the River Tiber and is a great spot to try other local delicacies like polpette (meatballs), porchetta (rolled and stuffed pork belly) and grilled octopus. Belissimo!
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