Better than pizza in Italy and dim sum in Hong Kong, a crayfish caravan on the Kaikoura coast has beaten some world favourites to make the top 10 in Lonely Planet’s list of 500 ultimate eats from around the world.
Lonely Planet's Chris Zeiher spoke to TVNZ's Breakfast this morning about how Nin’s Bin came in at number seven – the only Kiwi eatery to make it to the top-10.
Mr Zeiher explained how Lonely Planet decided they needed to create a criteria for the listings.
"We decided, first of all, to think about, 'OK, what cultural significance does the dish have to a particular destination? Does it taste any good?' Also, is it a travel-worthy experience and, I mean, being from Lonely Planet, things kind of have to be anchored in travel, and Kaikoura’s named after the dish, so it’s kind of a little bit obvious," he said.
"It's the way [Nin’s Bin] treat their dish – the way they treat the crayfish is absolutely delicious, so they do it with a little bit of butter, some parsley, served like a whale – nothing better, right?"
Mr Zeiher said the list is about travellers' "essential food experiences", using the example of New Zealand and whitebait fritters, which is "is a key one because it's an essential kind of dish".
"The other big one that came up was the Hokitika Wild Food Festival, because that's a great one to sort of showcase the West Coast kind of bizarre type, out there kind of stuff. I think bulls’ testicles are in there as well."
Rather than focusing on fine dining like their Michelin star list, Lonely Planet’s ultimate eats list looks at broader criteria.
"The whole idea here is to kind of go, again, what's culturally significant and what's going to connect you to a destination via that food experience? So eating sushi in Tokyo, for instance, is a very culturally connecting kind of experience."
Mr Zeiher said Lonely Planet also recently released his ratings for New Zealand destinations, with the capital coming out on top.
"We're kind of a bit obsessed with Wellington," he said.
"In 2011, we named it as the world's coolest little capital. We think it's a really compact package. It's kind of got so much going for it in terms of its food scene, very family-friendly, which is a great one, really good for couples, really good for slightly older travellers as well, so it's got that really broad base, which means that it's very attractive to a great, wide demographic which is something that's really cool. It's also got some of the best coffee in the world, in my opinion.
"It's one of those places that we're happy to shout about."
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