Top Culinary Destinations of the Year According To World Of Mouth

According to the restaurant guide, World of Mouth, Copenhagen in Denmark is officially its choice for Top Culinary Destination of the Year. It turns out the Danish city beat out some impressive cities, including London and New York City. Read on to find out how the Nordic destination came out tops and what the city has to offer.

About the restaurant guide, World of Mouth

When traveling, it can sometimes be a daunting task to find the ideal place to eat. As they say, so many to choose from, so little time. Wading through the many online reviews takes so much time and can end up confusing you even more. For this reason, Finnish entrepreneur Saku Tuominen and food writer, Kenneth Nars, teamed up to create an independent platform. Cleverly dubbed World of Mouth, the platform gives reviews based strictly on personal recommendations from trusted experts.

The platform was officially launched in 2019 and the restaurant guide app now hosts more than 13,200 recommendations, in more than 2,200 destinations. These came from a carefully selected group of 600 culinary experts, and the platform’s 90,000 members. Meanwhile, the data has been utilized to release World of Mouth’s top 10 culinary destinations worldwide, as part of its 2023 Global Culinary Report.

In the report, Tuominen and Nars said:

We are committed to maintaining a platform that is not manipulated by ratings or other forms of noise.

We’ve built the World of Mouth on the pillars of transparency and inclusivity, fostering a space where trust is the core of our service.

Top Culinary Destination in the World for 2023

As mentioned, Copenhagen came out tops and according to the report, in the last 15 years the Danish city has become the “restaurant capital of the Nordics.” This is thanks in part to the Korean-Danish restaurant Koan, Juno the Bakery and the Cantonese-inspired Goldfinch.

In the questionnaire, a World of Mouth expert wrote that Copenhagen keeps on evolving and that it is now in “its third phase after the New Nordic movement.”

Plenty of offspring from the top restaurants are opening their own small places, often with a personal story or influenced by an ethnic cuisine.

Which city came in second place?

In second place is England’s capital, London, which the restaurant guide describes as “one of the world’s great taste-making cities.” It adds that it is a “melting pot and bastion of tradition” where “you can find both traditional eateries and innovative young chefs experimenting with new techniques.”

Meanwhile, of the best in London, the Basque restaurant Mountain Beak Street, the British St. John, the Mexican KOL and the West African restaurant, Ikoyi are top spots to dine.

New York City comes third place in top culinary destinations

The Big Apple, New York City is the only US city on the top 10 list. The report describes it as, “Crowded, competitive, and challenging, New York City continues to be on the vanguard of restaurant culture,” adding:

The full spectrum of restaurants, from quenelle-and-caviar fine dining to biryani and bureks, Ethiopian sambusas and Korean baps, caters to New Yorkers’ ever-evolving and endlessly restless tastes.

Of the top restaurants in New York City, World of Mouth listed a bistro named Estela, a Peruvian-Japanese blend Llama San, the Korean restaurant Atomix and the Thai Diner. Moreover, the report also mentioned some of the Big Apple’s long-time staples, Balthazar and Katz’s Delicatessen.

Other destinations on the World of Mouth report

Besides the top three, other top dining destinations were listed at Tokyo, Bangkok, Paris, Barcelona, Dubai, Berlin and Stocklin.

Besides the top culinary cities, the report also praised Table Bruno Verjus in Paris as the Restaurant of the Year. Meanwhile, Mountain Beak Street in London was given the honor of Newcomer of the Year. For the Culinary Trend, the report listed open fire. Moreover, Lima in Peru was dubbed the Bubbling Under Destination.

In the report, the co-founders noted, “From the very beginning, our mission has been to make a positive change in the static landscape of restaurant guides, and give great restaurants and eateries the visibility they deserve.” They signed off writing:

As we look to the next year, we’re excited to continue this journey and sharing great eating experiences together.

Readers can view the full Top Culinary Destination of the Year report on the website worldofmouth.app.