{"id":555312,"date":"2025-11-07T15:07:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T15:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/555312\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T15:07:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T15:07:10","slug":"the-surprising-capital-named-europes-most-authentic-food-city-and-its-not-in-italy-france-or-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/555312\/","title":{"rendered":"The Surprising Capital Named Europe\u2019s Most \u2018Authentic\u2019 Food City \u2013 And It’s Not in Italy, France or Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many travellers head to the likes of\u00a0Italy<\/a>,\u00a0France<\/a> and Spain<\/a>\u00a0for one thing and one thing only: food. After all, where can you find a more\u00a0authentic Neapolitan pizza than in its hometown of Naples<\/a>? Then you have\u00a0France\u2019s gastronomic capital, Lyon<\/a>, known for its bouchons and Michelin-starred restaurants, and Spain\u2019s sunny San Sebasti\u00e1n<\/a> for pintxos by the sea. <\/p>\n

But according to a new study, none of these countries\u00a0take the top spot for Europe\u2019s most \u2018authentic\u2019\u00a0food destination.<\/p>\n

The research, conducted by travel company Saga<\/a>, analysed more than 5,000 restaurants across 125 European cities using Google reviews, looking at how often the words \u2018authentic\u2019 and \u2018traditional\u2019 appeared, as well as overall customer ratings. Where to go for the best local cuisine? Well, perhaps save Lyon and San Sebasti\u00e1n for your next trip, as Budapest <\/a>came out on top.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best known for its ruin bars and thermal baths, the Hungarian capital is fast becoming a serious culinary contender too, with new Michelin stars added to its dining scene each year. It\u2019s also home to Central Europe\u2019s first Time Out Market<\/a>, opened just\u00a0over a month ago.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s signature dishes are hearty and flavour-packed: goulash, a rich beef and paprika soup; chicken paprikash with sour cream; and Gundel pancakes, filled with rum-soaked raisins and walnuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recommended: The best restaurants in Budapest<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Time Out\u2019s Budapest expert Peterjon Cresswell recommends booking a table<\/a>\u00a0at Borkonyha, a Michelin-starred restaurant serving inventive Hungarian cuisine, or Rosenstein<\/a>, where classic family recipes are the pride and joy of the chalkboard menu.<\/p>\n

In second place came another surprise: Piraeus in Greece<\/a>. Often overshadowed by the ancient history of nearby Athens<\/a>, this coastal city packs a serious culinary punch. As the country\u2019s largest harbour, it\u2019s a seafood paradise \u2013 think juicy mussels, grilled octopus, steaming fish soup and crispy fried cod. And for dessert? Fresh loukoumades, the golden honey-drenched doughnuts said to have been served to victorious Olympians in ancient Greece.<\/p>\n

Other European cities serving up tip-top \u2018authentic\u2019 cuisine include Vienna<\/a> in Austria<\/a>, Valletta in Malta<\/a> and Prague<\/a> in Czechia. Faring better than its foodie rivals, Spain and France, Italy did make the cut, but only just \u2013 with Milan<\/a> securing tenth place. Check out the full top ten below.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s top 10 \u2018most authentic\u2019 food cities, according to Saga<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n
  1. Budapest, Hungary<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  2. Piraeus, Greece<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  3. Athens, Greece<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  4. Vienna, Austria<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  5. Krakow, Poland<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  6. Prague, Czech Republic<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  7. Valletta, Malta<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  8. Warsaw, Poland<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  9. Munich, Germany<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  10. Milan, Italy\u00a0<\/li>\n

    \n<\/ol>\n

    Did you see that\u00a0four African cities have been crowned among the world\u2019s 20 best food destinations<\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Plus: The best young chefs in Europe\u2019s culinary capital<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Stay in the loop: sign up to our\u00a0<\/strong>free Time Out Travel newsletter<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many travellers head to the likes of\u00a0Italy,\u00a0France and Spain\u00a0for one thing and one thing only: food. After all,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[56477,56478,11648,2000,299,5187,11649,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-555312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-areas-europe","9":"tag-audience-location-audience-worldwide","10":"tag-categories-travel","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european","14":"tag-news-transport-travel","15":"tag-travel"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115509044532247643","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}