Love travelling for food? Need cooking inspiration from around the world?
Sure, there are some fantastic shows on mainstream TV and platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, but for me, the ultimate destination for the best food & travel shows is without a doubt, YouTube.
What’s so great about YouTube Food & Travel shows?
The vast majority of YouTube food & travel shows are independently run which means you get a unique and uncensored perspective through the eyes of the creator/s.
As someone who, by many people’s definition, is a professional chef, I attribute the vast majority of my culinary education to watching food & travel YouTube shows, particularly the ones I list below.
I also use these shows as inspiration for my future travels and to help me plan my trips around the best food a country or city has to offer.
Food Travel YouTube has literally opened my eyes to a whole new world of culture and flavour and given me wanderlust more than ever before.
If you’re a foodie and you want regular inspiration – here’s a list of the very best YouTube Food & Travel Channels:
The Best Ever Food Review Show
Founded and hosted by William Sonbuchner (stage name “Sonny Side”), the Best Ever Food Review Show team literally take us on a perpetual journey around the world, exploring some of the most unique and interesting food culture that the world has to offer.
Sonny doesn’t go on your stereotypical food tour. You will find him going deep, exploring tribal foods in Africa, tasting his way through remote villages in Asia, and going on adventures that most people would be nervous to undertake.
For all intents and purposes, this show is so much more than a food show. Sonny pulls back the curtain on cultures that many in the West have just not been exposed to.
He has a super open-minded approach and will try anything once (actually, I have seen him try things he doesn’t like multiple times – a true hero!).
Sonny partners with super knowledgeable local guides who help him to do unique food tours through the eyes of a local.
He is fantastic at both expressing what he is eating and also the cooking process which he very often observes and documents. For me as a cook, this is great because I really get to understand the building blocks of a dish which always gives me inspiration for my own cooking.
The show is detailed, funny, un-filtered and truly inspirational. It’s firmly my favourite channel on YouTube – get subscribed!
Mark Weins
Mark Weins is a food adventurer based in Bangkok, Thailand. That said, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he has no permanent address as he is constantly travelling to some of the most interesting places in the world, uncovering some of the most amazing food that each culture has to offer.
Mark’s show is super family-friendly and a great way to gain inspiration for both your travels and your cooking at home.
Some of my favourite episodes have been where Mark travels to locations in Africa and the Middle East.
What I love about Mark Weins is that he travels to places that many of your traditional food & travel shows just wouldn’t go. Whether that is because they are simply not seen as “popular” or perhaps misunderstood as being dangerous or undesirable.
Another charm to Mark’s channel is the fact that he always travels with his wife and young son. It’s truly a family affair!
I highly recommend you get subscribed to Mark Wein’s channel and start working your way through his HUGE back catalogue of shows. They are truly bingeable!
The Food Ranger
The Food Ranger is another firm favourite when it comes to incredible YouTube food & travel shows. In fact, I’d say that The Food Ranger was one of the first food travel shows that I started watching on YouTube and really got me into the “street food YouTuber” scene (and now I am addicted!).
I started watching The Food Ranger (aka Trevor James) at a time when he was living in Chengdu, China. He had moved there and was studying in culinary school there.
But it was clear that his real passion was travelling and, as he often puts it, “going deep” into the street food markets of China. This lead him to traveling further and further from his home base in Cheungdu and exploring the world.
Trevor has such childlike wonder and giddy excitement when it comes to discovering and tasting new street food, it’s truly infectious!
If you are looking to get inspiration for where to travel for food, and specifically the hidden gems where you can experience truly local cuisine first-hand, The Food Ranger really is the show for you!
Again, Trevor James has a HUGE back catalogue of content which you could binge-watch for days!
Strictly Dumpling
Strictly Dumpling is another huge and well-known food & travel channel and for good reason.
Host Mike Chen is a knowledgeable and passionate foodie who LOVES checking out restaurants and doing food tours all over the world.
I’d say that for the most part Strictly Dumpling keeps more to the “beaten track” than other channels I have mentioned, however, that should not diminish the awesomeness of this channel one bit.
Mike has got a real eye for finding absolutely amazing foodie spots in cities all over the world and is super gifted at documenting his visits and sharing his excitable and honest feedback on everything he eats.
If you’re travelling to major destinations and are looking for restaurant inspo, definitely check out Strictly Dumpling to see if Mike has been there, and if he has, watch the content and take notes!
Desi Chris
Desi Chris is one of the newer channels I have subscribed to but man it is SO good!
Chris is an American living in Vietnam, but his true passion is Indian food! He speaks Hindi fluently so has the most amazing interactions with locals as he travels the length and breadth of India searching for the most amazing Indian street food.
Desi Chris is different from most travel food shows in that, it has a very minimal amount of editing. Chris will make his way to a market looking for food, hit record on the camera and give almost a POV documentation of how his adventure goes.
You’ll find videos of him interacting with locals, getting restaurant recommendations, jumping on the back of newfound friends’ motorbikes and all sorts! Every episode truly is an adventure.
In many ways, Desi Chris reminds me of YouTubers like Bald and Bankrupt and Harald Baldr, except Chris is ALL about the food.
I find Desi Chris an extremely therapeutic watch which means for me it’s the perfect show to put on before bed as I am winding down.
travelgeek
This is somewhat of a bonus show as I wouldn’t count this strictly as a food and travel show. That said, this show features plenty of food and is a very unique format.
How can I describe travelgeek? It’s a non-cringe POV ASMR channel all about travel in Japan.
Each episode features the host going on a different trip – whether that is a night train, a ferry, or an overnight stay in an internet cafe. It’s all shot with no talking and no music, but there are subtitles throughout where the host explains where they are and what they are doing.
These episodes almost always include food in some way – whether that is seeing the kind of food served up on various types of transportation in Japan, or local eateries where the host travels.
I find this channel hugely therapeutic to watch before bed – and one foodie to another, I imagine you will enjoy it too!
Missed Something?
This is my list – but I am always open to discovering new Food & Travel shows! Have I missed your favourite? Get in touch and let me know what I should be subscribing to (and potentially adding to this list!).