This Nordic City Is the Top Culinary Destination of the Year, According to Restaurant Guide World of Mouth

Copenhagen, London, and New York City top the list.

Searching for the ideal place to eat while traveling has become an increasingly daunting task. With so many online reviews to wade through, Finnish entrepreneur Saku Tuominen and food writer Kenneth Nars sought to create an independent platform, based strictly on personal recommendations from trusted experts.

So in 2019, they launched World of Mouth. This restaurant guide app now has more than 13,200 recommendations spanning 2,200 destinations from its carefully selected roster of 600 culinary experts and 90,000 members — and used the data to release its top 10 culinary destinations of the year, as part of its 2023 Global Culinary Report.

“We are committed to maintaining a platform that is not manipulated by ratings or other forms of noise,” Tuominen and Nars said in the report. “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.”

Copenhagen took top honors as the year’s top culinary destination, with the report noting that the Danish city has become the “restaurant capital of the Nordics” in the last 15 years, thanks to the influence of Noma. Nowadays, Korean-Danish Koan, immersive dining Alchemist, pastry haven Juno The Bakery, and Cantonese-inspired Goldfinch, all help boost its flavors.

“Copenhagen keeps on evolving, now in its third phase after the New Nordic-movement,” a World of Mouth expert wrote in the questionnaire. “Plenty of offspring from the top restaurants are opening their own small places, often with a personal story or influenced by an ethnic cuisine.”

Second place went to London, which World of Mouth called “one of the world’s great taste-making cities” and a “melting pot and bastion of tradition” where “you can find both traditional eateries and innovative young chefs experimenting with new techniques.” Among its top spots are Basque-Wlesh Mountain Beak Street, British St. John, Mexican KOL, and contemporary Ikoyi.

The third spot marked New York City, the only American city on the list. “Crowded, competitive, and challenging, New York City continues to be on the vanguard of restaurant culture,” the report said. “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.” The top 10 list included the bistro Estela, Peruvian-Japanese Llama San, Asian-style Thai Diner, and Korean Atomix, as well as long-time city staples Katz’s Delicatessen and Balthazar.

The remaining hailed dining destinations span the globe, including Tokyo, Bangkok, Paris, Barcelona, Dubai, Berlin, and Stocklin.

In addition to the top culinary cities, World of Mouth also honored Table Bruno Verjus in Paris as Restaurant of the Year, Mountain Beak Street in London as Newcomer of the Year, open fire as the Culinary Trend, and Lima, Peru, as the Bubbling Under Destination.

“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,” the co-founders said in the report. “ As we look to the next year, we're excited to continue this journey and sharing great eating experiences together.”

To access the full report, visit worldofmouth.app.

For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.