Saigon among top five global cities for street food: survey

By Nguyen Quy   October 11, 2019 | 12:50 am PT
Saigon among top five global cities for street food: survey
Grilled skewers are one of the most popular street foods in Saigon. Photo by Shutterstock/Andy Tran.
Ho Chi Minh City has beaten many of world-famous food hubs to break into the top five cities for street food-obsessed travelers, says a new survey by CEOWorld.

Vietnam’s southern metropolis ranked fourth among 50 best cities in the Street Food City Index 2019, the first of its kind released on Thursday by the U.S.'s leading business magazine.

HCMC has surpassed many Asian metropolises, better known as street food paradises in the world such as South Korea’s Seoul (13th), Japan’s Tokyo (19th), Taiwan’s Taipei (25th), India’s Delhi (42nd) and Indonesia’s Bali (45th).

The survey measures the cities on four parameters: number of street food vendors, affordability, number of street food experiences, and food hygiene.

To get a figure for the number of street food vendors in each city, the U.S. magazine analyzed street food data in Google Maps and used date from Numbeo, the world’s largest database on countries and cities in the world, to find out the current price of an inexpensive meal in each city. Data from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was used to rank the cities by food hygiene.  

The list was dominated by famous Asian food paradises that receive millions of tourists every year. Singapore has been recognized as the world’s best city for street food-obsessed travelers in 2019, followed by Bangkok in Thailand and Hong Kong.

Grilled quail eggs are favored by young people and are one of the best snacks in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock.Andy Tran. 

Grilled quail eggs are favored by young people and are one of the best snacks in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/Andy Tran. 

India’s Mumbai rounded out the top five. The remaining top 10 were Italy’s Rome, Tel Aviv in Israel, Australia’s Sydney, Mexico City and Portland, Oregon in the U.S.

Vietnamese cuisine has become better known in the world over the last couple of years, with international chefs and prestigious food magazines praising several national dishes.

Foreign tourists enjoy Vietnamese dishes at a food stall in Ben Thanh Market. Photo acquired by VnExpress.

Foreign tourists enjoy Vietnamese dishes at a food stall in Ben Thanh Market, HCMC. Photo acquired by VnExpress.

CNN last Wednesday named Vietnam’s pho noodle soup and fresh summer rolls among the world’s 50 best dishes.

Earlier this year, the cable TV channel made five recommendations for a food tour in Hanoi to foreign tourists and international reporters covering the Trump-Kim summit where the U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un found ways to advance peace on the Korean peninsula.

Vietnamese ranked among the world’s 15 favorite cuisines in a survey released earlier this year by YouGov, a British online market research company.

Some of the dishes found on street corners here have made it to all corners of the world, like banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich which has been listed in the top 20 street foods in the world by Fodor’s Travel, a U.S travel site.

 
 
go to top