Bucharest ranked one of Europe’s best food capitals

Uswitch.com wanted to find best European capital cities for foodies to live in. By analysing the number of restaurants with four stars or more in each city, the average price of a meal and the average rating for fast food, cafes, pubs, brunch, and vegetarian restaurants in each area – they can now reveal all.

The ancient city of Athens comes in first as the best European capital for food lovers, with an overall score of 88.47 out of 100. With the third highest cafe rating of all cities analysed (9/10), beating other bustling capitals such as Madrid (8.05/10) by 0.95, it is unsurprising to see them take the top spot.

Ranked as the best capital for vegetarian restaurants (8.85 out of 10), Serbia’s Belgrade is also the second-best capital city for food lovers, with an overall score of 83.06/100. The Eastern European capital is also the second cheapest for food, at just €15.98 for a meal, over half the price of Romania’s capital, Bucharest (€32.52).

Another eastern European capital, Sofia, takes third. With the best cafes across Europe (9.19/10), Bulgaria’s capital is second for the highest rated fast-food restaurants (9.02/10) – 13 % more than Dublin in last place (7.76/10).

Albania’s capital, Tirane, takes fourth with an overall score of 78.76/100. Home to the best brunches in Europe with a rating of 8.95/10, this capital city also has the second highest rated pubs (8.94/10), only behind Belgrade with a score of 8.81/10.

Paris fails to make top 15

Despite once being dubbed the ‘food capital of the world’, Paris falls closer to the bottom in 24th place with a dismal score of 38.20/100. The average price of a meal in the city is €27,03, almost double that of North Macedonia’s Skopje who offers the cheapest (€14,10). The French capital also ranks poorly for their cafes, with a rating of 8.39 out of 10, the fifth lowest in Europe.

Stockholm, Sweden is the lowest rated European capital

With a disappointingly low score of 15.99/100, Stockholm is the lowest rated European capital for food lovers. With the second highest average price of a meal (€61,28) behind Denmark (€67.89), the Swedish capital also ranks in last place for their pubs, with a score of 7.83/10 – 1.22 behind Belgrade in first place.

The second lowest score goes to the capital of Norway, Oslo (19.51/100). With a rating of 7.88/10, their pubs are the second worst across Europe, only behind Stockholm. A meal out will also set customers back at an average of €57.09, almost four times the average price of a meal in Skopje, North Macedonia (€14,10).

Third from the bottom is Luxembourg with 21.11/100. The lowest rated dining experience is fast-food which scored 7.92/10, the fourth worst across Europe.

The complete database of points and figures can be found here.