AsiaVela

What to eat in Asia, country by country

Food guides for each Asian country: the regional dishes, where to eat them, how to order and what a meal costs.

Food

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A small ramen shop in Tokyo seen from the street, with a ticket machine beside the entrance, white curtains printed with a bowl and four diners on stools at the counter
Japan · One planned sit-down meal a day at each stop; book only kaiseki, top sushi counters, temple meals and adapted set menus

Food in Japan

What to eat from Tokyo to Hiroshima and on to Kanazawa or Sapporo, which meals to book, how ticket machines and the otoshi work, and eating vegetarian or halal.

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A bowl of khao soi: egg noodles in yellow coconut-curry broth under a tangle of crisp fried noodles
Thailand · One regional kitchen per stop: two or three days in a region is enough to eat its breakfast, its noodle lunch and its evening table

Food in Thailand

Thailand's four regional kitchens and its Thai-Chinese table, where to eat each, how to order at a stall or curry shop, what meals cost, and halal and jay advice.

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A table in a Padang restaurant covered with small plates of curries, greens, fried chicken and sambal around a bowl of rice
Indonesia · No extra nights needed: eat each kitchen on the stops your route already makes, two or three days per base

Food in Indonesia

Indonesia's Javanese, Padang, Balinese and Makassar kitchens, how to order at a warung and pay at a Padang table, sambal, meal prices, halal rules and Ramadan.

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An overhead view of a bun cha meal on a red table: grilled pork in a bowl of dipping sauce, a plate of rice noodles, fried spring rolls and a dish of herbs
Vietnam · One or two stall meals a day plus one sit-down dinner at each stop; nothing needs booking except a food tour or a cooking class

Food in Vietnam

What Vietnam eats from Hanoi to the Mekong Delta, how to order at a street stall or a com binh dan canteen, what meals cost, and eating chay, halal or with an allergy.

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A brass bowl of Jeonju bibimbap topped with seasoned vegetables and an egg yolk, with side dishes behind it
South Korea · One regional dish a day, with markets and noodle counters filling the gaps; book a templestay or a temple-food class ahead

Food in South Korea

What to eat in Seoul, Jeonju, Busan and Jeju, how barbecue and ordering work, a costed food day, and eating vegetarian or halal in South Korea.

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Braised pork served over rice in Taiwan
Taiwan · Three days and two nights in Taipei for an introductory food stay; add at least two nights in Tainan for southern cooking.

Taiwan food and night markets

Explore Taiwan’s night markets and food streets: Shilin, Raohe and Ningxia in Taipei, beef noodles, tea and desserts, Tainan breakfasts and a three-day stay for two.

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Rice, vegetable dishes, fried fish and bowls of curry served on banana leaves
Malaysia · No fixed length: three days in Kuala Lumpur and three in George Town reach all four kitchens; Sabah and Sarawak need their own trip

Food in Malaysia

Malaysia's Malay, Chinese, Indian and Nyonya kitchens, Sabah and Sarawak, how to order at a hawker centre, kopitiam or mamak, prices and halal tips.

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Lau Pa Sat's Victorian ironwork and food hall beneath modern office towers
Singapore · 3 eating days (2 nights) from one central base

Singapore hawker food

Nine Singapore hawker centres with MRT stations and stall hours, ten classic dishes, tray, seat and payment rules, and a dated food budget for two.

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Trays of cooked dishes lined up on the counter of a carinderia in Cebu City
Philippines · No extra nights: the eating fits into any route, with one city day for Cebu's lechon and one afternoon for merienda

Food in the Philippines

Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao kitchens, adobo to Cebu lechon, how a carinderia works, merienda and halo-halo, what meals cost, and halal and vegetarian tips.

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Fish amok in a banana-leaf cup beside a mound of white rice
Cambodia · Eat as you go: the four Siem Reap nights and two Phnom Penh nights of a first week give you enough mornings and evenings for the Siem Reap and Phnom Penh dishes below

Food in Cambodia

Cambodia's Khmer kitchen dish by dish: amok, lok lak, prahok, num banh chok and pepper crab, where to eat each, what a meal costs, and water and diet advice.

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Lao beef laap with mint, herbs and two chillies in a white bowl
Laos · Eat as you travel: three Luang Prabang days are enough for its markets, its noodle breakfasts and one long Lao dinner

Food in Laos

Laos' shared table of sticky rice, jeow and laap, Luang Prabang's markets, khao piak sen and Bolaven coffee, how to order, what meals cost and vegetarian advice.

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A bamboo steamer holding eight kinds of dim sum, including shrimp dumplings, siu mai and steamed buns
Hong Kong · No separate days needed: one breakfast, one lunch and one late bowl on each day of a four- or five-day city stay cover the dishes in this guide

Food in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Cantonese table from yum cha and the dim sum order sheet to siu mei, wonton noodles, cha chaan teng and dai pai dong, with prices, Octopus and halal advice.

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Minchi with rice, a fried egg and cod cakes
Macau · 1 night / 2 days; depart on day 2

Macau food

Plan one night around minchi, African chicken, Portuguese seafood rice and bacalhau, with Taipa pork-chop buns and Coloane egg tarts.

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A vegetarian thali in Kolkata: rice, papad, dal and small bowls of curries on a wooden table
India · One kitchen per region: two or three days in each stop of the route is enough for its breakfast, its lunchtime thali and its evening street food

Food in India

India's northern, southern, western and eastern kitchens, where to eat each, how thalis and langars work, the green and brown veg marks, eating by hand and meal prices.

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A plate of dal bhat with rice, greens and fried meat on a brass plate, with a bowl of dal, in daylight
Nepal · Three kitchens on one route: Newar food in the Kathmandu Valley, the Thakali set in Pokhara and on the Annapurna trails, and momo and thukpa wherever you are

Food in Nepal

What to eat in Nepal and where: dal bhat, Newar and Thakali kitchens, momo and thukpa, lodge food on a trek, meal prices and safe water.

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Lamprais opened on a banana leaf in a woven basket, with rice, curries, egg and fried brinjal
Sri Lanka · Rice and curry once a day, hoppers or string hoppers at breakfast, kottu on at least one evening: the loop's nine nights leave room for each dish in this guide

Food in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's rice and curry, hoppers, kottu and short eats, the Tamil cooking of Jaffna, where to taste each on the loop, how to ask for less spice and what meals cost.

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A plate of plov with meat, rice and carrots on a patterned plate
Uzbekistan · Two nights: Tashkent, then Samarkand by Afrosiyob train

Uzbekistan food

Where to try plov, samsa, lagman, shashlik and non in Uzbekistan, with named places in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva and what a day of meals costs.

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Sliced Peking duck beside a steamer of thin pancakes, dishes of sauce and strips of cucumber and spring onion
China · A food plan for ten days and four cities

Food in China

Peking duck, Sichuan mapo tofu and hotpot, Xi’an noodles and Shanghai soup dumplings: where to try them, how to order, and what food costs a day at three levels.

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Plate of beshbarmak with boiled meat, wide noodles, potatoes and spring onion
Kazakhstan · Two days in Almaty, with Astana’s restaurants if your trip continues there

Kazakhstan food

What to eat in Kazakhstan, from beshbarmak and horse-meat kazy to baursak, plov, lagman and kumis, with named places in Almaty and Astana and what a day of meals costs.

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A plate of chopped meat and thin noodles in broth
Kyrgyzstan · Three days: one in Bishkek, two in Karakol

Kyrgyzstan food

What to eat in Kyrgyzstan, from beshbarmak and kymyz to Karakol’s cold ashlan-fu, with named places in Bishkek and Karakol and what a day of meals costs.

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A Maldivian lunch set of rice, rolled roshi flatbread, fish curry, red onion salad and lime in lacquered bowls
Maldives · A day of meals in Malé or Hulhumalé, then the guesthouse kitchens and cafés of a local island

Maldives food

What to eat in the Maldives, from mas huni and garudhiya to the hedhikaa of evening tea, where to find them in Malé and on the islands, and what a day of meals costs.

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Strings of red chillies hanging to dry across the painted wooden window of a Bhutanese house
Bhutan · Three meals a day on a guided week in Thimphu, Punakha and Paro, with a farmhouse lunch or a regional dish where your route allows

Bhutan food

What to eat in Bhutan: ema datshi, red rice, paa, momo and suja, how meals work on a guided tour, regional dishes and what a day of meals costs.

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Piles of fruit and vegetables on a market stall at Tamu Kianggeh
Brunei · Two or three days of meals in Bandar Seri Begawan, plus a snack stop on a Temburong day

Brunei food

What to eat in Brunei, from ambuyat, the sago national dish, to nasi katok and beef soto, with named places in Bandar Seri Begawan and what a day of meals costs.

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A small plate of steamed buuz dumplings in Ulaanbaatar
Mongolia · Two or three days of meals in Ulaanbaatar, then the camps' kitchens on a countryside trip

Mongolian food

Buuz, khuushuur, tsuivan, khorkhog, milk tea and summer airag: where to eat them in Ulaanbaatar and at ger camps, vegetarian options and a day's meal costs.

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