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The world’s best late-night dining capitals revealed
A new study has revealed the best cities in the world for diners looking to eat late, with restaurants in one capital taking last seatings at midnight.
Finding a restaurant table later in the evening can be challenging, and different cultures around the globe can be more strident than others about the point of no return, after which new customers will not be admitted.
A study carried out by Chef’s Pencil has analysed the reservation data from more than 4,000 restaurants in 89 different countries in an attempt to ascertain which cities are best for late-night dining.
The date relates specifically to weekend bookings, and an average was taken for the last seating time at each restaurant in order to rank cities from best to worst.
Midnight feast
Coming out on top was Cairo, with the average last seating in the Egyptian city’s restaurants being midnight.
Bottom of the list was Auckland, New Zealand, where you’ll need to be seated by 8.30pm in order to get a menu.
In Luxembourg, you’ll have to grab a table by 8.45pm, while in Cape Town, Helsinki, Tallin, Riga, and Vilnius, you’ll need to cross the threshold by 9.00pm.
Travellers visiting Melbourne, Vienna or Oslo have an extra 15 minutes with admissions granted until 9.15pm, while in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Reykjavik, Stockholm, Sofia, Geneva and Munich tables remain open until 9.30pm.
As for London diners, it’s best to sit down by 9.45pm, the study shows, the same time as in Manila, Lima, Lyon, Warsaw and Berlin.
You might think of New York as being the city that never sleeps, but surprisingly the average last seating time in the Big Apple’s restaurants is 10pm. It has that in common with Santiago, Chile.
Toronto will seat new arrivals until 10.15pm.
Party city Las Vegas must want visitors out of restaurants and into its bars, clubs and casinos as last seating is at 10.30pm. This also applies if you’re eating out in Miami, Rome, Tel Aviv, Lisbon or Barcelona, all of which also admit last diners at 10.30pm.
If you’re looking for a table at 11pm, restaurants in the following cities should squeeze you in: Madrid, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Marrakech, Athens, Mexico City, Muscat, Doha and Montevideo (Uruguay).
Night owls have a little longer for last orders in Mumbai, New Delhi and Jedda in Saudi Arabia, where restaurants will seat last tables at 11.30pm.
In August the drinks business reported that New Zealand is targeting NZ$13.2 billion in food and drink tourism by 2028, and plans to reach its goal by encouraging more travellers to visit out of season. However, with one of New Zealand’s main cities (Auckland) taking last seatings at 8.30pm the country might have its work cut out for it to hit those numbers.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s new night economy plan was derailed late last year when a typhoon threatened to scupper its plans to hold weekly after-dark bazaars.
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