Best Breakfasts Around the World

By Travel + Leisure and Travel + Leisure Staff
March 07, 2013
Credit: Courtesy of CakeSpy.com
Maple-bacon biscuits. Chocolate-dipped donuts. A lavish spread of eggs. Is there any meal more comforting than breakfast?

Whatever time zone you wake up in, the best breakfasts will brighten your mood, fortify you for the day, and give you a taste of daily life in that destination. Our short list of memorable breakfasts, part of T+L’s coverage of the Best Places to Eat Like a Local, includes a Middle Eastern–inspired London café where platters of baked breads are served with the morning newspaper and a Tokyo fish market where early risers clamor for the freshest breakfast sushi.

See more Best Places to Eat Like a Local

Each was chosen not just for its standout food, but also for being a part of its hometown’s cultural fabric. So don’t settle for the hotel buffet; these breakfast joints are worth the trip.

—Nikki Ekstein

Restaurant Pricing Key
$Less than $25
$$$25 to $75
$$$$75 to $150
$$$$More than $150
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Credit: Emily Hart Roth/Courtesy of Huckleberry

Start the day as locals do with these decadent breakfast dishes.

Maple-bacon biscuits. Chocolate-dipped donuts. A lavish spread of eggs. Is there any meal more comforting than breakfast?

Whatever time zone you wake up in, the best breakfasts will brighten your mood, fortify you for the day, and give you a taste of daily life in that destination. Our short list of memorable breakfasts, part of T+L’s coverage of the Best Places to Eat Like a Local, includes a Middle Eastern–inspired London café where platters of baked breads are served with the morning newspaper and a Tokyo fish market where early risers clamor for the freshest breakfast sushi.

Each was chosen not just for its standout food, but also for being a part of its hometown’s cultural fabric. So don’t settle for the hotel buffet; these breakfast joints are worth the trip.

—Nikki Ekstein

Restaurant Pricing Key
$ Less than $25
$$ $25 to $75
$$$ $75 to $150
$$$$ More than $150

See more Best Places to Eat Like a Local

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Al Soussi, Beirut, Lebanon

Credit: George Haddad

For more than 50 years, this pint-size kitchen in West Beirut has been serving an irresistible version of fatteh, made with layers of toasted pita, chickpeas, yogurt, and pine nuts. 961-1/312-145. $

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Tasty Congee & Noodle Wontun Shop, Hong Kong

Credit: Courtesy of Luxessed.com

Wake up with a bowl of rice porridge at this Happy Valley institution—and pair it with an order of fabulously crisp youtiao (Chinese crullers). tasty.com.hk. $

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Mangerie, Istanbul

Credit: Courtesy of Mangerie

It’s the best breakfast on the Bosporus: a lavish spread of eggs, sheep’s-milk cheeses, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, warm sourdough bread, local honey, and chai, on a rooftop terrace with postcard-worthy views. $$

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Ottolenghi, London

Credit: Courtesy of Ottolenghi

Follow Islington’s beau monde to this high-end Middle Eastern bakery and café, where the tantalizing bread platter (toasted tableside) is a full meal in itself. $$

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Big Bad Breakfast, Oxford, MS

Credit: Caroline Allison

Southern chef John Currence’s motto? “Lard have mercy!” Flour biscuits slathered with sausage gravy and the burrito filled with house-made chorizo will have you praying for more. bigbadbreakfast.com. $

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Huckleberry, Santa Monica, CA

Credit: Emily Hart Roth/Courtesy of Huckleberry

The perpetually crowded joint is famous for its maple-bacon biscuits, Valrhona chocolate–dipped doughnuts, and egg sandwiches stuffed with bacon, cave-aged Gruyère, and tangy aioli. $$

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Sushi Dai, Tokyo

Credit: Tom Lin

Join vendors and tuna auctioneers from the neighboring Tsukiji Fish Market queuing up at dawn for a post-shift sushi breakfast at this 13-seat spot. You won’t find fresher toro in all of Tokyo. 81-3/3547-6797. $$$

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Morning Call, New Orleans

Credit: Christine Tsai

The airy beignets (made from a 143-year-old recipe) and café au lait at this 24-hour, wood-paneled Metairie haunt leave the better-known Café du Monde in their sugar dust. morningcallcoffeestand.com. $

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Bar Coluzzi, Sydney

Credit: Travelscape Images / Alamy

Founded by Roman immigrant and former boxing champion Luigi Coluzzi, the curbside café has been Darlinghurst’s de facto community center since 1957. Order a flat white (the espresso is as powerful as Luigi’s uppercut), claim one of the foot-high sidewalk stools, and watch the entire neighborhood pass by. $

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Café Central, Vienna

Credit: Jessica Sample

Though it’s welcomed plenty of tourists over its 137 years—not to mention habitués like Freud, Lenin, and Trotsky—the utterly grand café inside the majestic Palais Ferstel is known among pastry-obsessed Wieners for serving the best, flakiest strudel in town. $$

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Wayané, Mérida, Mexico

Credit: Adam Wiseman

Yucatecans believe that the biggest meal of the day should be the first. So they arrive in droves to this corner stand come seven in the morning for addictive tacos such as chaya con huevos (eggs with chaya leaf) and castakan (twice-fried pork belly). 52-999/927-4160. $

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Russ & Daughters, New York City

Credit: Evan Sung

Try a classic bagel sandwich that comes with Scottish smoked salmon, cream cheese, and red onion on a poppy-seed bagel at this Lower East Side institution. $$

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Ten Belles, Paris

Credit: Celine Clanet

A new-wave coffee shop in the 10th arrondissement from rock-star barista Thomas Lehoux, whose cappuccinos are made with cult Telescope beans. tenbelles.com. $

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Mr. Minsch, Berlin

Credit: Courtesy of Mr. Minsch Torten

The vibe is Mad Hatter meets 1950’s hausfrau at this Kreuzberg takeout bakery, where master pastry chef Andreas Minsch turns out his extravagant confections. You’ll be hard-pressed to choose between an enormous cinnamon roll or a slice of the popular Black Forest cherry cake. 49-30/2845-0894.

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Cristalli di Zucchero, Rome

Credit: Joe Tullio

Adjacent to a farmers’ market just off the Circus Maximus is a pretty-in-pink pasticceria where Parisian-style tartlets are made with regional ingredients like apricots and pistachios. Order the flaky ricotta-and-chocolate-filled Romanella at the counter with an espresso—then get another one to go.

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Tecolote, Santa Fe

Credit: Courtesy of CakeSpy.com

“I love to eat at Tecolote for breakfast. Get the burrito with sausage or bacon smothered in green chiles, and plenty of the mini cinnamon rolls.” tecolotecafe.com. $ —Kelly Urig, CNN iReporter

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By Travel + Leisure and Travel + Leisure Staff