Kafka once said that so much time as you have food in your mouth, you had solved all questions for the time being. And that`s true, especially when people are traveling and visiting new places.
Planning out your lunch a day before and finding time to cook it can be a little tiring, I know, but it`s always harder to think about the things you should eat on your way to visit a new city. All of the excitement, the anticipation of seeing and doing everything on your travel list, all that can make you so tired and hungry that you might want to grab the first thing you`ll find that will satisfy your needs. But that`s not always a good idea.
When traveling to a different city, or even a different country or continent, you have to have in mind that people tend to crave different cultures, habits and living standards. What a bottle of water can cost in New York does not mean that you`ll find the same price of the product in Chicago, for example. And that`s logical; people have different standards of living even in the same countries. So, when traveling, you won`t certainly want to pay too much money for food, except when you want to try some local specialties.
Now, in case you`re the type of person that doesn`t plan on having lunch every day at a fancy restaurant but tends to spend the time visiting all the interesting places and events in the city, then fast food sold on the streets is what you need. A quick and delicious bite to fulfill your basic hunger needs and to give you energy for the rest of the trip. Here is a list of the most widely spread and most good types of fast food you`ll find in many cities around the world. Plus, they tend to be cheap and quite affordable for the tourists.
Table of Contents
Pizza
We start off with the most famous Italian invention called Pizza. It`s a flatbread topped with tomato sauce, cheese, mushrooms or simply whatever comes to your mind that will make the flavor even better. Originally it comes from Naples, but today you can find a slice of pizza sold at almost every corner of a lot of cities in the world.
Fun fact: Even though many people prefer putting ketchup, mayonnaise or something else on the pizza, have in mind when going to Italy to just not put ketchup on the top of the pizza! For some reason, the Italians find this annoying and offensive, thinking that you are destroying the art of the pizza.
Burger
We are all aware of the ease to find a McDonalds, Burger King or another famous fast food restaurant in a particular city but don`t miss on the chance to try out the burgers made in local fast food restaurants. It`s entirely possible that they can be even more delicious and even cheaper than the ones in the well-known restaurants. However, have in mind that you should be informed about the place where you`re buying your burger, to avoid having trouble with the digestion or even get poisoned.
Fun fact: If you are a burger lover, then you should know that the widest variety of burgers and also burger suppliers you will find in America, where the people simply adore eating burgers, consuming 50 million burgers a year.
Doughnut
If you feel like your sugar level has dropped low, then you need a doughnut! Or two, or ten, who cares – they`re delicious! There are many doughnut shops and stands that offer doughnuts with different tastes and different prices. If you are mad about this delicious sugary fried dough, make sure to attend at least one of the greatest doughnut festivals organized in Washington D.C., Lviv in Ukraine, Chicago, and many others.
Fun fact: Each year, the first Friday of June is celebrated as the National Doughnut Day in the United States of America, to honor everyone that has served doughnuts to soldiers during the World War I. Luckily, on this day many American doughnut stores offer free doughnuts. How cool!
Hot dog
A sausage in a bun, preferably accompanied by some ketchup and mustard, this straightforward and cheap fast food has taken over the world. A hot dog is something you can find in every corner of a city. Originally it comes from Germany, where people enjoy the taste of sausages and try to include it in almost every dish. Highly popularized in the United States, you will finish this meal in a few seconds, but its effect will last for hours.
Fun fact: The world`s longest meat hot dog has been produced in Paraguay in 2011, measured 203.8 meters.
Döner kebab
It is kind of interesting how there are different stories about the origin of this meal, some saying it comes from Turkey, others confirming that it has been an invention of Kadir Nurman, a Turkish immigrant living in Germany. Nevertheless, this delicious dish has raised the bar in the supply of delicious street foods. People are only mad about döner kebab, choosing whether they want it on a plate, in a dürüm or merely in a hot and crunchy bread. The “war” of the best döner kebab is definitely between Turkey and Germany.
Fun fact: This meal is practically the most famous fast food in Berlin, Germany. You can see that they`re crazy for doner kebab when you find out that Berlin alone features ca. 1,600 doner kebab sellers. They even make exhibitions about it!
Noodles
Noodles is a great meal to order when you don`t feel like eating something heavy like meat. This dish has its origin from China and is quite dispersed throughout the world. The interesting thing about them is that they can be cooked with many vegetables and fruits and they are one of the healthiest types of fast food.
Fun fact: Australians are known to be consuming more than 18 kilograms of noodles every year, which is almost one kilogram per person.
Pancake
This insanely delicious dessert is very well-known to everyone. Even though it`s not the main dish, you can always grab a sweet bite to keep the energy going. And the interesting part is that they don`t have to be sweet, you can always order a salty one. If you feel tired of your trip, just take a break and buy yourself a delicious pancake.
Fun fact: The first pancake recipe appeared in an English cookbook in the 15th century, while nowadays it is cooked everywhere around the world.
Whatever you choose to eat on the go, make sure to be safe and delicious. Food is not something we should mechanically fill our stomachs with, but also something that should cause pleasure. Before traveling somewhere, make sure to do a little research on the fast food restaurants, and maybe you will even find out some new types of fast food that you haven`t tried before. Don`t be afraid to taste new flavors. However, don`t experiment too much if you`re not open for new tastes. Enjoy your stay in a new city and fill your tummy with something yummy!
