• Colombo, Sri Lanka ranks #1 as the cheapest city in the world for foodie lovers!
• Oslo, Norway ranks as the most expensive foodie city in the world for a meal!
• Vancouver, WA ranks #1 as the cheapest city in the US for your next bite!

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka ranks #1 as the cheapest city in the world for foodie lovers!

It’s official – Colombo is the cheapest foodie city in the world! This capital city comes in first for both our Inexpensive Meal and Mid-range Meal for two people categories, contributing to a large part of its success in the ranking. You won’t want to miss their mouthwatering Dhal curry or Kiribath (Milk Rice) and you won’t have to break the bank! Make Colombo the next stop on your foodie adventure.

Oslo, Norway

Oslo, Norway ranks as the most expensive foodie city in the world for a meal!

On the other end of the spectrum, Oslo comes in as the most expensive foodie city in our world list! This Norwegian hub ranks high across the board, but especially when it comes to a Mid-range Meal for two. Although a bit pricier, they uphold a high level of quality. Be sure to indulge in their smoked salmon or Kjøttkaker. Make sure to save up for your next trip if Oslo is on your foodie destinations list.

Foodie Index US Ranking

Vancouver, WA

Vancouver, WA ranks number 1 as the cheapest city in the US for your next bite!

Taking the number one spot for cheapest cuisine, is Washington’s Vancouver. Ranking with consistently lower prices overall and especially strong in market prices, it is easy to see why Vancouver takes the top place. Enjoy a bite from one of their many food carts, or check out one of their Waterfront dining restaurants. Afterwards, head to a local wine tasting rooms for a relaxing evening, Vancouver really has so much to offer!

New York, NY

New York, NY comes in as the most expensive foodie city from the US!

If New York is on your list for your next trip, be prepared for the sticker shock that may come! It is no surprise that New York comes on top as the most expensive foodie city in the United States for a meal, even beating out other expensive cities like San Francisco and Honolulu. New York is a city filled with some of the best restaurants in the world, so it is understandable it comes with a big price tag! New York ranked the most expensive in most categories, but Mid-range Meals for 2 is where it really breaks the bank. If you are seeking some cheap alternatives, try grabbing a classic New York slice of pizza from a local shop or check out one of the restaurant’s many happy hour deals to help reel in your budget. Some may say it is a small price to pay for such an exciting city, but what do you think?

Methodology

To create the Foodie Destinations Index, we first collated a list of over 150 cities using ‘The world’s 100 best cities’ from bestcities.org and other various sources.

We then analysed each city on the below factors:

Restaurant:

• Meal, inexpensive restaurant
• Meal for 2 people, mid-range restaurant, three-course
• Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught)
• Imported Beer (0.33 liter draught)
• Cappuccino (regular)

Market:

• Bottle of Wine (Mid-Range)
• Local Cheese (1kg)
• Loaf of Fresh White Bread (500g)

We used Numbeo’s Cost of Living database as the primary source of data for this ranking, extracting the data in March 2022. Only cities with data available for all data points were considered. We then ranked the cities from first (cheapest) to last (most expensive) based on this data.

As some factors are more important than others, the scores from ‘Meal, inexpensive restaurant’ and ‘Meal for 2 people, mid-range restaurant, three-course’ are double weighted as being the two most important factors.

We then added the scores together to get a total score, before ranking the cities based on this overall, final score.

Sources:
www.bestcities.org/rankings/worlds-best-cities
www.nomadlist.com
www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living