Get These Insane European Eats Into Your Gob Next Time You Go Travelling

european food

Take it from someone whose diet consists of 90% Italian food – when you’re travelling in Europe, you’re going to be dining on some bloody beautiful treats. It’s another world there, where pasta, paella, pizza and all the best two-syllable P words reign supreme (hey, mind out of the gutter pls).

But seriously, start your pre-Euro diet now because your stomach is going to require training for all of the food you’re inevitably going to shove down your gob with reckless abandon.

Here’s a bunch of top quality eats that you’ll 100% want to conserve some tummy space for, because trust us when we say you’ll wanna avoid the tourist traps. It’s too easy to fall into the habit of just grabbing the first treat you see on the street, but these are worth wandering a little further for.

Apple Strudel Trdelnik, Prague

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Please would you look at this beast of a dessert. Look. Gaze upon its sugary sweet shell and feel your stomach wrap itself into the shape of a fist so it could punch through your computer or mobile and take this treat within itself, like a bonafide Alien. Seriously.

Trdelnik is a pastry coated in almonds, cinnamon and sugar – and yes, we want at least 12. They’re generally spotted cropping up around Christmas, in adorable little market rows where you crunch snow underfoot. Bloody beautiful, it is.

Moules Frites, Nice

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Show us ya mussels! This ain’t for everyone – we know some people are squarely anti-seafood. We know because this little writer used to be one of them. But ya know what? These shell-covered suckers have a sneaky way of growing on you.

Moules frites directly translates into ‘mussel fries’, and really this meal does what it says on the tin. Mussels and fries. You’re a winner every time.

Grilled Octopus, Spain

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More seafood for your tentacle-slurping soul (again, minds out of the gutter). Look at that little curly boi! It’s just asking you to indulge. Beckoning you to come closer and chow down on some good ol’ occy.

And hey, if you’re gonna do it anywhere, you might as well do it in Spain. Imagine the flavours, the spices, the SAUCES. It’s enough to make the mind boggle. Boggle, I tell you.

Smørrebrød, Denmark

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Smørrebrød is more than just a fun word to say, and it’s far more than the sum of its parts. Probably the simplest item on this entire list, these beauties are open rye sandwiches. Yep – you wouldn’t think they’re as special as they are, but just you wait.

In Denmark they’re piled on with toppings up the wazoo, and you’ll spot them stuffed into custom lunchboxes with decadent garnishes and just damn good food. Now, look back at the dodgy lunch you packed today in regret, because it doesn’t compare.

Gyros, Greece

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Oh boy. OH. BOY. Gyros are a pita-wrapped splash of heaven and yes, this is the hill we die on. You’ve probably tried one here before, but in Greece, mate. It’s beyond what you could imagine.

Gyros are meat dishes that traditionally consist of pork, chicken or lamb, but you know what? You do you, put whatever you like in the pita goodness. Smother it in sauce (tzatziki or aioli is my -ahem- professional recommendation).

Zapiekanka, Poland

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Well this one is a doozy. Sure it’s another open-face sandwich (love a good sambo, don’t we?), but this one is, once again, many levels of amazing. They’re looooong, usually made on a baguette or similarly lengthy bread. So more for your tum!

Usually the standard topping for zapiekanka is sautéed white mushrooms, cheese and a shitload of ketchup, toasted until the cheese melts. Excuse me while I scoop up the drool that has escaped from my ravenous, slack-jawed mouth while looking at this beast of a sandwich.

Pizza, Italy

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Mates, I did say I survive on 90% Italian food so it absolutely behooves me to wax lyrical about the miracle that is good Italian pizza. Woodfired beauties with so many toppings you almost become overwhelmed.

This is truly how pizza was meant to be consumed. I will hear no word to the contrary.

If you wanna give any of these delicious treats a try – or all of them, we don’t judge – you can have a crack at a Topdeck tour. You’ll be able to knock out most of these dishes in just one trip if you’re feeling adventurous, plus you’ve got more chance of that at the mo’ because their earlybird sales are still pumping. Cheap trips, cheap eats. Cheerin’.

So whether you want a picnic under the Eiffel Tower or an open-face sambo somewhere too pretty to even describe, you best feed your tum ASAP. If it’s anything like ours, the grumble sounds like it could move the earth.

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