The star of Somebody Feed Phil has eaten lavish meals around the globe, but prefers street food every time. From New York City to Chiang Mai, here are his top street eats.
For Phil Rosenthal, it all started with a baguette and some Brie in Paris.
It was 1983 and the 23-year-old future creator of Everybody Loves Raymond was on his first trip overseas. And he had just learnt that nothing could match the simple joy of eating outdoors.
Phil Rosenthal is a writer and media personality who has won two primetime Emmys and a James Beard award. He is the host of I'll Have What Phil's Having and Somebody Feed Phil , a culinary docuseries exploring local cuisines and culinary traditions around the world, now on YouTube.
"I said, 'Oh, this is what your money's for!'" Rosenthal told the BBC. "[It's] for these experiences, not the fancy stuff. For a baguette and a piece of cheese in the park."
Four decades – and two hit culinary docuseries – later, Rosenthal has eaten lavish meals in more than 90 countries. But he considers street food the "quintessential food of mankind".
"It's the thrill of being surprised," he said. "The unexpected pleasure. Great street food strips away the pretensions of sit-down fancy restaurants. And it's all about the flavour of the dish."
Here are five street foods Rosenthal can't stop thinking about.
I went to Chiang Mai with chef Ian Kittichai, to his favourite place for khao soi , a northern Thai noodle soup. This is a shack with chickens running around inside and outside, it's called Khao Soi Loong Prakid Gard Gorm. This man makes one thing, and it's khao soi.
There's a coconut curry broth, fresh hand-pulled noodles like the best pasta I ever had and then whatever protein. I started with chicken.
Now in the show, I take maybe two, three bites and pass it on. Why? Because I'm going to eat a lot. Also, I love sharing it with the crew who are looking at me with their tongues hanging out.
[This time,] I said, "Get your own!" With the pickled mustard greens and the chillies and the onions and then the crispy noodles on top, oh my God. It ticks all the boxes for texture and flavours. It's squirted with lime on top. So, it's salty, sweet, bitter, sour, everything in a bowl. I finished that bowl. I've never done this in the show.
And then I finished an entire second bowl with the beef. That has to be at the very top of street foods that I've ever had. It might be worth another trip to Chiang Mai.
I love the portability of [a New York City hot dog]. I love eating with my hands. There's something primal and satisfying about that.
My favourite is Gray's Papaya, which is a storefront, but barely, on 72nd and Broadway. You get two hot dogs and a [medium] papaya drink for a deal [$8.50].
"A queue is usually a good sign," says Rosenthal. "If they were poisoning people, the queue wouldn't be so long. One caveat – a queue today might also mean Instagram sensations, food that looks great but may actually not be great. I've been fooled."
Gray's Papaya is an institution. Bourdain loved them – everyone in NY loves them. First, the snap is real, I love the snap of a good hot dog. They're griddled, not "dirty water dogs" like the ones in all the carts. They taste terrific. They're dressed with sauerkraut and onions in light tomato sauce and good mustard and served in a perfectly sized, soft roll.
It's as good a meal, I think, as I've had anywhere in my life. Delicious has no price. And at my age, having done some travelling and had the good fortune to eat in fine restaurants, I'd rather have a great hot dog than a four-hour sit-down tasting menu at this point. My back hurts just thinking about it.
Oaxaca is gorgeous, it's like if Mexico City had a Greenwich Village. It's the artistic centre of Mexico, so lively and colourful, beautiful architecture and very walkable.
[It's also] arguably Mexico’s capital of street food , thanks to dishes like empanadas Oaxaqueñas and tlayudas, but the one that stood out to me wasn’t even Mexican. There's this central plaza, Paseo Juarez El Llano, with different stands and people making things and there was a guy making burgers.
What we noticed about this burger was that there was every single thing you could think of to put on a burger and every kind of vegetable you could imagine, stacked high. And he's got this griddle going, there's smoke coming off.
There were all the sauces, every condiment. Melted local quesillo cheese, home-made hot sauce, chipotle mayo, caramelised onions, chopped pineapple, diced tomato, crispy bacon, ham, eggs – and many more.
So this thing was, like, eight inches high, maybe more. How are we going to eat this?! But you know what? It was so damn good. It was carefully considered because you tasted everything. I think that's the key.
The burger stood out precisely because it was something familiar – a burger – done in the most outrageous way I'd ever experienced. And it happened to be delicious.
Taipei has phenomenal, amazing street food, some of the best in the world. There's a lady who has a tiny cart [ Huang Fulong Crispy Scallion Pancake ] in a business district near Taipei Main Station, which seems to be from another era.
In the morning, I went to see this lady, who was making fresh scallion pancakes. Every pancake is made fresh and cooked to order on the spot.
Next to the dough with the scallions, she cracks two eggs in oil, frying them up on a griddle. She then takes the scallion pancake, drops the two eggs in there and then puts a spicy sauce and a savoury sauce inside, rolls it up, and gives it to you like a breakfast wrap.
That's where the genius is. All food is a vehicle for sauce and seasoning. What separates a good chef from a great chef is what are they doing with ingredients that everybody has – an egg and a piece of bread. It's the simplest thing in the world.
The texture is hot and soft, a slightly crisp crust on the outside, then high quality, fresh eggs on the inside. The two sauces complement each other – it's so simple but so perfectly satisfying. I could eat this every morning.
Jay Fai is a Thai street food icon, which is saying something given the country's incredible street food culture.
It's the name of a [Michelin-starred] street-side stand in an old Bangkok shophouse and also the nickname of the owner. Jay Fai is now 81; she's got aviator goggles on while she cooks so it's a real show.
There's also a long wait to be served – unless you come in with cameras!
I think we can call her crab omelette the world's most expensive street food. When we were there, it was around $75 (£56) but in the UK or in the US, it would be prohibitive, $300 (£226) because of the fresh shelled crab.
Watching Jay Fai is like watching a beautiful acrobat with a wok. She withstands tremendous heat and stands and concentrates for hours making perfect omelettes for the gigantic line.
The crab is so fresh and there's so much of it, that it's an ultimate luxury. And because of that, you'd forgive if the eggs weren't perfect, but then they are – soft and delicious on their own. Worth every penny and any wait time.
The tom yum soup that came with it [was] the most glorious one I've ever seen with giant prawns hanging out the top like a crown. If you were served either of those dishes in a fine dining restaurant you'd be like, this is one of the best restaurants in the world.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.
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