The best food and travel shows on Netflix

As ironic as it sounds, watching travel shows makes us feel better in these times when we can’t just board a plane and jet off to wherever our fancy takes us. These shows transport us to another world, make us feel less stuck and lift us from isolation doldrums. Doubling the vicarious thrills are shows that combine both travel and food. After all, nothing whets the imagination and stimulates the senses more than a plate of hearty fare served in some exotic, far-off destination.

Luckily, Netflix has more than enough shows that take us on a culinary journey around the globe and give us a peek into the world beyond the four walls of our homes or the closed borders of our country. We’ve listed some of the best ones to watch right now. Be forewarned, binge-watching these shows will definitely increase those #traveltoeat hankerings.

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 

Celebrity chef David Chang invites celebrity guests like Seth Rogen, Chrissy Teigen, Lena Waithe and Kate McKinnon to explore the cuisine of different cities around the world including Vancouver, Marrakesh, Los Angeles and Phnom Penh. 

Street Food: Asia 

Created by the brains behind Chef’s Table, this show takes viewers on a tour of the best street food spots in nine Asian cities including Bangkok, Osaka, Delhi, Yogyakarta, Chiayi, Seoul, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore and Cebu. Each episode gives a glimpse of what locals eat at each city, as well the everyday lives of street cooks all over Asia.

Salt Fat Acid Heat 

Based on food writer Samin Nosrat’s award-winning cookbook of the same name, Salt Fat Acid Heat focuses on the four elements essential to delicious food, the ingredients that embody each element and the places where the best of these ingredients are produced.

The Final Table 

Twenty-four talented chefs from across the globe are teamed up in pairs and challenged to come up with their own version some of the world’s most renowned dishes. Judging the contestants are celebrities and food connoisseurs from the birth country of each dish. The winner takes his or her place at “the final table” with the other culinary legends who have participated in the show. 

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories 

A group of late-night diners take turns telling their personal stories at a small eatery in Tokyo while the chef, known to those around him as “Master,” serves them traditional, home-style dishes. 

Ugly Delicious 

This show sees world-renowned chef and gastropreneur David Chang journeying all across the world with chefs, writers, and artists to discover how a certain dish evolved and earned its reputation as a global food phenomenon.