Food trucks, craft beer: Worldwide, cities now all taste the same

Remember that cult Paul Kelly song that was so loved by travellers, even though it was never released on an album? It’s called Every F---ing City, and it tracks a lovelorn protagonist’s journey through an increasingly unimpressive Western Europe.

“And I can order sandwiches,” Kelly sings, “in seven different languages/But every f---ing city looks the same.”

Food trucks are now ubiquitous, including in Paris (pictured).Credit: Alamy

That song was recorded in 1997, back before we even had wireless internet (I, a lovelorn teenager, was then travelling around Western Europe communicating with my friends via actual letters). If Kelly thought every city looked the same then, what does he make of things now, in the Instagram era?

What does he think of the city streets lined with Zara outlets and H&M stores and Uniqlo and Lululemon? What does he make of the signs with the city’s name in big letters for people to take photos next to? Where does he stand on the government-approved street art and the hastily arranged food festivals?

And those sandwiches? You don’t need to order them in seven different languages; everyone speaks English now. And if they don’t, you can just use the translator app on your phone to get your point across in real time.

Those sarnies themselves will also start to look the same pretty quickly because they are the same. The nature of the globalised world means food trends are adopted across continents and trans-hemispheres within weeks, if not days.

Which cities have great craft beer? All of them.Credit: iStock

Japanese katsu sandos are sold at Australian shopping malls. Avo on toast is being slung at San Sebastian cafes. Banh mi are popular in Canada. You can get a croque monsieur pretty much everywhere, from Paris, Texas, to Paris, France.

It’s a little sad for travellers who love the thrill of the unfamiliar and the new. Global trends mean that wherever you go, you will find at least some of the same things to eat – the Zara of the food world.

That’s partly because of social media and partly due to other factors. Consider the influence of the World’s 50 Best, an institution that set itself up as the anti-Michelin – the awards list that would ignore the traditional trappings of fine-dining and instead seek out restaurants offering something different.

You no longer need to order sandwiches in different languages: English will suffice.Credit: iStock

The only problem with that is that as soon as other restaurants see what sort of “different” is loved and awarded by judges, they start doing the same thing. So now you have essentially every fancy restaurant in the world serving lengthy, European-style set-menu meals of colourful, highly Instagrammable dishes. Chefs are all cultivating stories about their inspirational grandmothers and their rock-star rebel beginnings.

It’s tiring. It’s also happening everywhere from Colombia to Colombo, Rome to Rajasthan. This is what you need to do to become famous.

But these aren’t the only foodie cliches you will find now in country after country, city after city.

Are you familiar with craft beer? With IPA? Of course you are – every city in the alcohol-consuming world now claims itself as a hub of craft breweries. And if they don’t have that then they’re sure to at least have a gin distillery serving cocktails in mason jars. And if that’s not your thing, there’s definitely a natural wine bar.

“Would you like me to explain the menu to you?” the waiter asks in Cape Town, or is it Cape Verde, or maybe Cairo. “Everything here is designed to share …”

Of course it is. We’ve been to restaurants before.

We’ve been to plenty of Asian fusion restaurants, too – places that are combining the native ingredients the chef has grown up with, with the cuisine they were inspired by when they visited … let’s just say Japan, shall we?

Every city trying to attract a tourism scene also has some version of street food now, or at least a few food trucks that will suffice. It has farmers’ markets. It has cooks who are harnessing the power of fire, cooking meat and vegetables over hot coals. It has someone doing gozleme, for some reason.

But not all these globalist cliches are necessarily a bad thing. You will find, for instance, far more restaurants (and food trucks) worldwide catering to vegetarian and vegan diets. You will find far more interest from chefs in sourcing produce locally and cooking sustainably. You will discover, as you move around the world, places that actually think about non-alcoholic drinks, or that stay open serving food either early in the day or late into the evening.

And you will, of course, find restaurants and other eateries that pay absolutely no attention to what’s cool or in fashion globally at all. 50 Best means nothing. Michelin stars are just really good tyres.

When you get bored of the cliches, this is where you go. No fusion, no back story, no one to tell you how many bites chef recommends you eat this dish in.

Just good local food. Which, ah, every city should possess.