THE culinary battle between Malaysia and Singapore has been never ending. After all, no country is willing to concede that they have the greatest cuisine.
However, many Malaysians are amused by a recent food destination ranking.
The “Top 10 Foodie Destinations in Southeast Asia” list was recently posted on World Index’s Twitter feed and the top three cities on the list are Bangkok, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, in that order.
Melaka came in seventh, and is the only other Malaysian city on the list.
Although many Malaysians were pleased to see two of their cities included among the top 10, many also took pleasure in poking fun at Singapore’s “questionable” second place ranking. The order of the list is as follows:
Top 10 Foodie Destinations in Southeast Asia
1. Bangkok
2. Singapore
3. Kuala Lumpur
4. Chiang Mai
5. Ho Chi Minh City
6. Ubud
7. Melaka
8. Hanoi
9. Seminyak
10. Patong Beach
Many local internet users also joked that Singapore could have funded the study to rank higher than Malaysia. Some online users additionally claimed that Singaporeans would travel to Malaysia just to sample the local cuisine.
Although, multiple people referred to the list as fake, others questioned why food-loving local places like Penang and Ipoh aren’t even included.
It is important to remember, though, that the brief tweet could have omitted key details. The cities on the list weren’t picked because they had the greatest food, according to data collection website Statista.
Rather, the list shows how many international visitors have rated the destination’s “food,“ “local food,“ and “restaurants.”
Thus, it’s possible that reviews were left out of the figures, making the claim that Singapore offers superior cuisine than Malaysian inaccurate.