Eating out can cost less than expected in some of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. In places with inexpensive street food, family-run restaurants, and strong local food cultures, travelers can find complete meals for prices that make buying several supermarket ingredients and cooking them in a vacation rental surprisingly hard to justify.
That doesn’t mean restaurants are always cheaper than a carefully planned grocery budget. But for travelers buying small quantities, staying only a few days, or choosing the same inexpensive meals locals eat, dining out can be remarkably affordable. These 15 destinations are places where skipping the kitchen may make financial sense.
1. Hanoi, Vietnam
Typical Inexpensive Restaurant Meal: Around 52,500 VND
Hanoi’s street-food culture makes it remarkably easy to eat cheaply without cooking. Bowls of pho, bánh mì, noodle dishes, and rice meals are widely available at modest prices, while supermarket ingredients such as imported dairy and Western products can quickly increase a traveler’s grocery bill.
2. Bangkok, Thailand
Typical Inexpensive Restaurant Meal: Around 100 THB
Bangkok is famous for inexpensive prepared food, from pad kra pao and noodle soups to curries and grilled meats. A basic restaurant meal can cost around 100 baht, while buying several ingredients to reproduce the same dish in a short-term rental can easily cost more.
3. Bali, Indonesia
Typical Inexpensive Restaurant Meal: Around 50,000 IDR
Touristy beach clubs can be expensive, but Bali’s local warungs operate in an entirely different price range. Indonesian dishes such as nasi goreng, mie goreng, and nasi campur can cost only a few dollars, making local dining particularly attractive compared with shopping for imported groceries.
4. Chiang Mai, Thailand
Typical Inexpensive Meal: A Few Dollars
Chiang Mai combines a major tourism industry with a food scene that remains remarkably accessible. Night markets, food stalls, and small restaurants serve filling noodle dishes, curries, and northern Thai specialties at prices low enough that many long-term visitors routinely eat out instead of maintaining a fully stocked kitchen.
5. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Typical Inexpensive Meal: A Few Dollars
Like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City has an enormous network of inexpensive restaurants and street vendors. Bánh mì, cơm tấm, noodle soups, and other local meals require little searching to find, while travelers trying to recreate them may need to purchase sauces, herbs, spices, and other ingredients they won’t finish before leaving.
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6. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Typical Inexpensive Meal: Under $5
Malaysia’s mix of Malay, Chinese, and Indian culinary traditions gives Kuala Lumpur an unusually large selection of inexpensive prepared food. Hawker centers and casual restaurants make dishes like nasi lemak, roti canai, noodles, and curries affordable enough to compete with the cost and inconvenience of grocery shopping.
7. Penang, Malaysia
Typical Inexpensive Meal: A Few Dollars
Food is one of the main reasons travelers visit Penang, and fortunately it doesn’t have to consume the entire vacation budget. George Town’s hawker stalls serve dishes such as char kway teow, laksa, and Hokkien mee at low prices, allowing visitors to sample different meals without buying a refrigerator full of ingredients.
8. Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Typical Inexpensive Meal: A Few Dollars
Yogyakarta is generally less expensive than Indonesia’s major resort destinations, and that difference is easy to notice at mealtime. Local warungs sell rice, noodles, vegetables, chicken, and regional dishes inexpensively, while traditional markets and food stalls provide even cheaper alternatives.
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9. Mexico City, Mexico
Typical Inexpensive Restaurant Meal: Around 200 MXN
Mexico City offers restaurants at virtually every price point, but inexpensive local food remains widely available. Tacos, tortas, tamales, quesadillas, and comida corrida menus can make eating outside surprisingly affordable, particularly for visitors who would otherwise be buying groceries for only a short stay.
10. Oaxaca, Mexico
Typical Inexpensive Meal: Under $10
Oaxaca is a major food destination where experiencing the local cuisine is part of the trip itself. Markets and casual restaurants offer tlayudas, tamales, memelas, mole dishes, and other specialties at accessible prices, while reproducing Oaxaca’s ingredient-heavy recipes in a vacation rental can require a much larger grocery haul.
11. Istanbul, Turkey
Typical Inexpensive Meal: Under $10 at Casual Spots
Istanbul’s tourist restaurants can get expensive, but the city also has an enormous everyday food culture built around bakeries, lokantas, kebab shops, and street vendors. Choosing the places where residents eat can keep meal costs surprisingly manageable without spending vacation time shopping and cooking.
12. Tbilisi, Georgia
Typical Inexpensive Meal: Under $10
Georgia has become increasingly popular with international travelers partly because everyday expenses remain relatively accessible. Bakeries and casual restaurants make dishes such as khachapuri, khinkali, lobio, and grilled meats easy to find at modest prices, particularly outside the most tourist-oriented parts of the city.
13. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Typical Inexpensive Meal: Under $10
Sarajevo remains one of Europe’s more affordable capital-city destinations for food. Bakeries, cafés, and casual restaurants serve burek, ćevapi, soups, and other substantial meals at prices that can make stocking a temporary kitchen unnecessary for short-term visitors.
14. Kraków, Poland
Typical Inexpensive Meal: Around $10 or Less
Kraków is considerably more expensive than it once was, but budget dining remains possible through milk bars and casual Polish restaurants. Pierogi, soups, potato dishes, and daily specials can still provide filling meals without the restaurant premium travelers encounter in many Western European tourist cities.
15. Porto, Portugal
Typical Inexpensive Meal: Around €10 to €12
Portugal isn’t as inexpensive as Southeast Asia, but Porto still offers an interesting European example. Current cost data show the city’s restaurant price index below its grocery index, and bakeries, lunch specials, cafés, and neighborhood restaurants can make prepared food surprisingly competitive for short-term travelers.
