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Published: September 30th 2017
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Geo: 1.28941, 103.85
My suspicions have been confirmed - if there's a true food mecca in the World, it probably is somewhere in Asia. I was once asked what I thought was the best city in the World for food, which is a very tricky question to answer - how exactly would you define that? My first thought was some place like Paris or Rome, but as much respect and love I have for the food of those cities, I quickly realized that they really don't quite cut it.
The issue with those cities is that, for the most part, the cuisine they are famous for is of a single type, albeit an amazing one, and neither city offers much in the way of culinary diversity. Sure, Paris has some killer falafel joints, and a surprising number of Chinese and Vietnamese options, but they simply can't compare to what you would find in Asia, or even in North American cities like Vancouver or San Francisco. While you can find all manner of incredible Italian delights in Rome, the city is quite lacking on the international front, particularly when it comes to the Asian palate.
So to truly determine where this food mecca is, you
Spoiled ...
... normally a food court isn't where you would go for a top-notch meal, but perhaps you've never been to Singapore! Absolutely spoiled for choice, you can pretty much get any type of Asian food you want at a typical food court - different variations of Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Malaysian, Taiwanese, Thai, Vietnamese, in addition to Singaporean specialties ... it's enough to make your head explode! have to take more of a broader view and consider cuisines that originate outside of the city in question, and the quality of them. Most Asians are of the same mindset - with only a handful of exceptions, we simply don't believe that truly excellent Asian food can be commonly found outside of Asia, as there is a certain technique to it that really isn't commonly known outside of that continent.
We had already begun to realize yesterday that Singapore's food offerings were amazing in both diversity and quality, but today Singapore emphatically staked its claim to being the true culinary mecca of the World. The variety of Asian food here is astonishing, and deciding on what to eat can give you a headache, as it's truly difficult to choose between all the awesome options, as we found out today at a typical Singaporean food court.
In two days here, we've barely even scratched the surface of what Singapore has to offer - just check out this blog to get a small idea of what Asian foods are available. Chances are that, whatever you are craving, you will not only find it here, but more than likely find a superior
Bruno Catalano ...
... his super cool sculptures were on display at the ION mall, as well as for sale in one of the art galleries. From a series called The Travelers, these works grab your attention, as they seemingly defy gravity. A picture simply doesn't do his works justice, as they are far more impressive in person. version of it. Singapore feels like a city where you could eat out every day for a year, and never eat the same thing twice.
Beyond Asian food, Singapore also has seemingly any other World cuisine you could possibly want, from Middle Eastern to Latin American to European. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time for us to sample anything non-Asian, and quite frankly, we didn't want to during such a short visit, as we tried our best to take advantage of the excellent Asian food on offer here.
Perhaps that's the only thing preventing Singapore from claiming the title of food mecca outright, as we weren't able to see how good the international selections were. But I'd bet that they are at least very good facsimiles of the real thing, since Singapore is such an international city, with a large enough expat population to support those types of cuisines. Beyond that, food is also so ingrained in the local culture here that bad restaurants simply cannot survive here, as there is far too much competition.
So we don't really know if Singapore is the World's preeminent food mecca, but it's definitely a top contender. By all accounts, Hong Kong and
Simple ...
... we settled on some Hainanese-style chicken, simple slow-boiled chicken that, when done right, borders on the sublime - juicy and tender, with a scoop of awesome rice, it's Asian-style comfort food at its finest. Taipei are also strong challengers for the title, and we also know firsthand that Tokyo is, as well. Unfortunately, we have no idea how Tokyo really stacks up in this competition, because we were so enthralled with the Japanese cuisine they dished up, that we didn't get to try anything else. It just means that one day we'll have to come back to Asia and spend a month in each of those four cities, and eat, and eat, and eat ... until the true champ is crowned!
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