Eat the Best Food in the World for Less Money at These 10 Spots

Chefs Janaina Torres Rueda and Jefferson Rueda are Brazil’s leading pork specialists thanks to their sustainable hog-led tasting menu at A Casa do Porco (ranked 7th on the 50 Best List). Located around the corner from the restaurant in São Paulo’s urban Centro neighborhood, Hot Pork (pronounced “hochi porki”) serves up 100% free-range pork dogs in homemade potato buns that are topped with pickled red onion and cucumber, apple and tomato ketchup, and house mustard, with each dog seared with a characteristic snout. Vegetarians can savor the “Not Pork,” tofu, and mushroom sausage dog with the same toppings. Finish up with O Merengão, a strawberry and meringue sundae at the Ruedas’ Sorveteria do Centro ice-cream parlor next door.

The brainchild of avant-garde avenger Dabiz Muñoz—who was voted number one by The Best Chef Awards 2022 and whose Madrid restaurant DiverXO holds three Michelin stars and is number four on the 50 Best List—the Spanish chef also unleashes culinary energy at StreetXO. While the walk-in spot is moving premises and is due to reopen in November 2022, start planning what you will chow down on by drooling over its Instagram account. We’re highly tempted by black cod cured in Pedro Ximénez wine with a foamy Vietnamese soup and chili bogavante, or the grilled lobster in a spicy tomato sauce, Oloroso sherry, and chipotle.

Multi-award-winning Colombian chef Leo Espinosa is known for sourcing ingredients from remote Afro-Colombian communities and taking a sustainable approach in her kitchen at LEO (ranked as the 48th best in the world); she was also named the World’s Best Female Chef in 2022. At El Casual de Leo, which opened in Chapinero in 2021, she takes a relaxed approach to cooking, serving up zingy ceviche and tacos while also giving a twist to traditional Colombian dishes such as catch of the day baked in the banana leaf then slathered in a seafood and coconut milk salsa. Enjoy tasty and unpretentious pan-Latin American flavors accompanied by a cocktail list created by sommelier Laura Hernández Espinosa, who is Leo’s daughter. Like her mother, Laura is also making waves with her craft, leading a World’s 50 Best Bar, La Sala de Laura, on the patio or in the charming salon.

Tender, delicious skirt steak, seasonal sides, and an epic wine cellar have long ensured this Buenos Aires steakhouse is a legend. Don Julio’s (number 14 on the list) sister establishment, El Preferido de Palermo, is a traditional bodegón dating back to 1885. Executive chef and charcuterie guru Guido Tassi cures his wares in-house. Start with a plate of bondiola before moving on to the house classic, a milanesa de bife de chorizo (free-range strip steak) with asparagus gratin and moreish confit French fries. Leave space for the Jersey milk gelato tasting menu, featuring dulce de leche, pistachio, and strawberry with roses.

Buenos Aires Bonus Restaurant: For a fast, no-frills experience, you can now enjoy Mishiguene’s (number 88 on the World’s Best List) delicious contemporary Jewish dishes, such as chicken liver terrine and baba ganoush at Mishiguene Café.

Chef Jaime Pesaque opened his Lima-based restaurant, Mayta, to rave reviews, earning it a spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant List. Now, he has opened a burger joint at MAD Burger, with three locations in the Peruvian capital in the Miraflores and La Molina districts. His handmade burgers are bursting with classic American flavors—it’s hard to choose between the portobello mushroom burger and the double cheeseburger, bathed in MAD’s secret sauce and served with a side of sweet potato fries.

Chef Mitsuharu “Micha” Tsumuru put Nikkei cuisine on the global culinary map at Maido, which is currently ranked number 11 on the 50 Best’s World–it’s regularly prominently featured on that list, as well as numerous restaurant rankings throughout Latin America. Nikkei cuisine is a delicious fusion bringing together both his Peruvian and Japanese heritages. Tsumuru’s latest endeavor, which he set up during the pandemic, is a direct line to Peruvians’ favorite fast food, rotisserie chicken. Based out of the trendy Miraflores district, Tori Polleria is a finger-licking crowd-pleaser. Choose from super-crispy Korean-style legs, Nikkei wings, or yakitori brochette with teriyaki sauce. Eat in or take away to the privacy of your hotel room.

Tucked away in the heart of the Soča Valley, chef Ana Roš runs the rural Hiša Franko restaurant (number 34 on the World’s Best List) and lodge, whose sibling establishment is Hiša Polonka in the small town of Kobarid. Adhering to the same philosophy of working with small local farmers, producers, and foragers, Polonka’s casual and seasonal menu features hearty Slovenian dishes such as venison goulash and bread soufflé, wild boar shank cooked in beer with bread dumpling and green beans, and Žlikrofi ravioli with wild garlic pesto. Order a cheese platter; owner and sommelier Valter Kramar lovingly ages Tolminc—a full-fat, raw cow’s milk hard cheese—for years in Polonka’s cellar. He has also created a fantastic natural and skin-contact wine list of Slovenian vintages.

At Baan, which translates as “home” in Thai, chef ThiTid Tassanakajohn of Bangkok’s Le Du (number 65 on the list) brings together a range of family recipes and home cooking with his usual elegant flair. Taking care to source sustainably raised meat and line-caught seafood from a group of fishermen in south Thailand, many dishes are designed to share family style. Give the spicy pork jowl salad and the hot and sour soup a whirl, though a must-order is beef kapro, Baan’s most popular dish by far.

In the case of chef Junghyun “JP” Park, the more informal Atoboy that he runs with his wife and hospitality manager Ella Park came before their 14-seater New Korean fine dining restaurant Atomix (number 33 on the World’s Best List) in New York’s NoMad. Inspired by banchan, or Korean sides, the five-course prix-fixe menu (from which you can choose) might start with scallops and XO sauce before moving on to shrimp mandu, then lamb with chimichurri. If it’s an option, order the spicy fried chicken with peanut sauce and gochujang sauce as an add-on. Given that the couple won the 50 Best’s Art of Hospitality Award 2022, the Atoboy experience is sure to be both hospitable and artful.