Ho Chi Minh City drops off 2025 best food cities list

Foreign tourists try food and drinks at Ben Thanh Market in HCMC, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Tam Linh

This year, New Orleans claimed the top spot, followed by Bangkok and Medellín. Cape Town and Madrid rounded out the top five.

Other cities on the list include Mexico City, Lagos, Shanghai, Paris, and Jakarta.

The rankings were based on a global survey of over 18,500 respondents who rated their city's food scene across 18 criteria, including quality and affordability. Panels of editors, food critics, and chefs provided additional insights, with only the highest-scoring city per country making the final list.

According to Time Out, these cities offer "the best of the old-school and the new."

Despite being left out of the 2025 rankings, Ho Chi Minh City remains a culinary destination.

Last year, international food magazine TasteAtlas named it one of the world's top food destinations. In the 2024 Michelin Guide, the city continues to make its mark with three Michelin-starred restaurants: Anan Saigon, AKUNA, and Long Trieu.

Meanwhile, Da Nang, a tourist hotspot in central Vietnam, was recently named one of the world's 10 most exciting foodie destinations to explore this year by The Michelin Guide.