Andrew Zimmern Says This Is The Best Food City In The World

He's tried everything from roasted bats in Samoa to rotten shark in Iceland. But, he's also dined in incredible fine-dining restaurants around the world.

As the host of the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods," it's his job to travel the world and suss out the best, most authentic dishes a destination has to offer. So when he says that a city has the world's best food, we perk up.

We spoke with Zimmern recently about his favorite places to eat, and he said that New York City is the world's best city for food.

"New York is the best city for food," Zimmern said. "It's not even close. It's got the most diversity and greatest quality in any food city on the planet."

Zimmern said that while it's easy to be wowed by a meal at any 3-star restaurant in Manhattan, he is most excited about the varied culinary scene in the outer boroughs - especially Queens.

"Queens is unexplored territory for lots of people," Zimmern said. "There are Russian meats, Kazakh foods, incredible Chinese food in Flushing, and more."

With more than 132 nationalities represented by its residents, Queens is, in fact, one of the most diverse places in the world. And that means that Queens is also home to an incredible array of global cuisine.

Flickr/andrea_nguyenChinese dishes from Xi'an Famous Foods in FlushingEven though he now resides in Minnesota, the New York native said that he "can't stay away from" Queens institutions like Muncan Food Corporation, a "three-generations-old family deli that makes 400 different types of cured and smoked meats from scratch."

In Flushing, he likes Xi'an Famous Foods, Biang, Fu Run Restaurant, Beautiful Memory, and the Golden Mall for authentic Chinese food. In Rego Park, he raves about the Rokhat Kosher Bakery, a Bukharian Jewish shop, and in Jackson Heights, he frequents Tawa Food and Phayul for Nepalese cuisine.

Read more about Zimmern's favorite places in Queens here.