15 Different Breakfasts From Around The World (Part 1)

When you travel, you eat and you experiment with different food. Since breakfast has been the most important meal of the day, we decided to look into different meals served around the world in the morning. We asked certain travel bloggers to share their breakfast experience with us. Here is what we came up with:

1. Northern Irish Breakfast

“In Northern Ireland, local people take great pride in the national morning dish, known as an Ulster Fry. Although the items can vary, generally a generic Ulster Fry consists of the following: eggs (scrambled or preferably fried), soda bread, potato bread, fried bread, fried tomatoes, pork sausages, bacon, black pudding (dried pork blood and spices in a sliced circle). Other options: pancakes, beans and mushrooms. It’s normally washed down with a glass or orange or apple juice, following by an Irish Tea. Local brands of tea include Nambarrie and Punjana”. 

Jonny Blair is a travel writer at Don’t Stop Living. He is in his early thirties and has an absolute passion for people, places, travel, beer and football. Sometimes all at the same time. He grew up in the town of Bangor in Northern Ireland but since leaving a decade ago,he has managed to travel, work and live around the world, visiting all 7 continents and over 70 countries in the process.

2. Hawaiian Breakfast

“Loco Moco is a Hawaiian style breakfast that is a local favorite. There are many different variations of breakfast Loco moco, but basically the dish includes eggs, some type of meat (typically hamburger or Hawaiian sausage) over rice and gravy as an option. Of course breakfast is not complete without some tropical fruit and fresh papayas are grown in every backyard and always available”.

Noel Morata is a Hawaii based photographer provides photography services for event and lifestyle, corporate, portraits, editorial, personal, and stock photography for personal or commercial use.You can come and visit her photography website at Travel Photo Discovery. 

3. Norwegian Breakfast

“From left to right, there’s chicken curry, Jarslberg & mayonnaise and Jarlsberg, salami & mayonnaise. All on warm bread bought in the morning. Yum!”

Lew, from Planet Lew, is a bucket lister who is traveling, eating and listening her way around the world. Originally from Australia, she’s spent the last year based in Norway and used it as a launchpad to explore Europe. A foodie at heart, the best way to understand a city is by getting to know the food. Also a bit of an adventurer, with many travels involving hiking, cycling, diving and more!

4. Italian Breakfast

“Like every other part of the planet, Italian breakfast is a very important part of the day. To have a good start it’s important to dedicate some time, even if only few minutes, to sipping some good coffee whilst reading the daily paper, watching the news on TV or simply having a quick chat with your loved ones. At home or at the bar, the Italian ‘colazione’ is sweet.

The typical breakfast consists of an espresso or cappuccino accompanied by cookies or a sweet pastry – usually a ‘cornetto’ – which is a lighter version of the French croissant, it’s less buttery and slightly crispy on the outside with a soft middle that could be either empty or filled with cream, chocolate, jam or a combination of fillings.

There is a big diversity of breakfasts though, in fact depending on which region you are there will be different kind of sweet specialties, cakes, donuts, cookies and more to have with your morning coffee. At home people usually will make espresso using the traditional ‘caffettiera’ (mocha) and any combination of the above”.

Angloitalian, Follow Us! is the British-Italian couple of Dale (ANGLO), a mid-twenties male born in the Midlands of the United Kingdom who during the summer of 2011 on a surprise birthday trip to Venice decided “this is the life for me” and Franca (ITALIAN), a early-thirties female born in the south of Italy (the heel of the boot) who has always had a dream to travel and finally left her job, her comfort zone and sold everything she owned to set off on the journey of a lifetime.

5. Louisianan Breakfast

“Growing up, my parents would make us grits and eggs– usually with bacon and toast – almost every morning before school.  Grits are a breakfast staple in America’s South. When I went to college and moved out of my parents’ house, I perfected jalapeno cheese grits. Grits are a ground-corn food of Native American origin. Modern grits are made of alkali-treated corn known as hominy”.

Lindsay is an Anthropologist and Geographer, an author and inventor of The Travel Luster where she shares stories with her readers, as well as advice and tips she comes across on her quest to be a global citizen and to better herself through travel, experience, and adventure.  Lindsay has a real passion to travel. She loves to take long trips (so far six weeks in Africa is the longest stint), but she also loves to come home, too! Sometimes she is out the door, and the country, a mere three weeks later on another four week jaunt!

6. Spanish Breakfast

“Growing up in Spain, my parents would take me for a special breakfast treat to the Plaza de Castilla, to an old wooden shack in which they sold chocolate con churros (these days the shack is gone, replaced by highrises). The churros are a doughy type of deep-fried donut, pushed through a cooking syringe with a ridged nozzle. They are often served with a sprinkle of sugar, and the best accompaniment is a cup of piping hot chocolate so thick you could stand your spoon in it. There are many fantasticchurrerias in Spain but this shot was taken earlier this year at the Chocolateria San Gines, in Old Madrid”.

The author and creator of Women on the Road, Leyla Giray Alyanak is a former foreign correspondent with a passion for travel and improving people’s lives in developing countries. At 43 she made a major decision to reinvent herself and travel the world solo for six months. She was gone more than three years. Leyla now works for an international development agency in Geneva and she blogs at Women on the Road.

7. Malaysian Breakfast

“I have never been much of an early riser, but while traveling through Malaysia that quickly changed. Staying in the multicultural heart of Chinatown, my mornings began at 5 am when the nearby mosque would send out a call to prayer. My boyfriend Sam interpreted this as his personal wake up call and he would proceed to drag me out of bed in order to go and get breakfast. You’re probably wondering, “who could possibly be serving breakfast at this ungodly hour?” Well, it turns out that the Chinese tea houses were open at this time to serve dim sum to their hungry patrons. Some of my favourites included shrimp dumplings (har gow), barbecue pork steamed bun (char sui baau), and pork dumplings (siu mai). Add a cup of tea to that, and it was the perfect way to start the morning”.

Audrey is currently traveling around Asia on her quest to try new foods and collect more stamps for her passport. When she isn’t wandering around markets and making travel videos, you can find her blogging at ThatBackpacker.com.

8. Standard International Breakfast

“The Guy’s  standard international breakfast normally consists of porridge (or some form of cereal) plus juice and a cup of coffee (picture). A more traditional English breakfast would be a full “fry up” which can consist of sausages, bacon, egg (scrambled/fried/poached), beans, hash browns and mushrooms with a side of toast“.

The Guy is the author and creator of Flights And Frustration. A travel blog which is titled as “The rants, ramblings and ruminations of a frequent traveller.”

9. South California Breakfast

“While house sitting in Santa Barbara, California we were spoiled with the local, organic ingredients in so many wonderful restaurants. Avocado is a staple in southern California, so no meal would be complete without one!  We had breakfast tacos that included organic eggs, peppers, avocado and yummy salsa!” 

Kathleen is the one half of Our Favorite Adventure where she and her husband blog about their adventures since they decided to leave behind a conventional life to live a life of perpetual travel. They hope to inspire others to follow their own dreams by sharing their journey!

10. San Diego Breakfast

“Breakfast is my absolute favourite meal of the day. In fact I could have it three times a day and often do! I’m a sucker for eggs done any style – scrambled, poached, as an omelette or easy over. But my all time favorite has to be eggs benedict with smoked salmon and wilted spinach with a side of roasted potatoes (home fries)”.

Natalie Sisson is a New Zealand entrepreneur and adventurer who lives in her suitcase, traveling the world and running her business, while ensuring she helps others to create freedom in business and adventure in life. She’s dedicated to playing Ultimate Frisbee, singing and dancing wherever possible and pushing her boundaries. You can read the Suitcase Entrepreneur Blog packed with articles, videos and podcast episodes on creating your ideal lifestyle and a thriving online business.

11. Hong Kong Breakfast

“You’ll find a day doesn’t start in Hong Kong without drinking tea and eating dim sum. Dim sum (點心) meaning, “touch the heart”, are small, bite-sized portions of food that are often served in traditional bamboo steamer baskets. Typical dim sum items include various steamed buns, dumplings and other light snacks. Each order is normally served in 3-4 pieces so that you share all the dishes amongst everyone at the table, making it a social affair”.

Originally from Chicago, Beth got her first true taste of travel when she studied abroad in Japan during her final year of university. She ended up loving Asia so much, she found herself moving right back upon graduating and is currently teaching English full-time in Hong Kong. Armed with her camera and a passion for travel, she is currently on a mission to photograph the world– proving that you can work the normal “9-5” and still find time to travel on her blog Besudesu Abroad.

12. Chinese Breakfast

A traditional Chinese breakfast consists of dumplings (baozi) which go with various fillings. They are steamed or fried. They are usually stuffed with pork, beef and vegetables, and in addition provides a variety of Asian sauces such as soy-based sauce, chili, vinegar and sesame oil.

For more more options of breakfast in China you can check out our Mini Guide to Chinese Breakfast with prices attached.

13. Vietnamese Breakfast

In Vietnam you can treat yourself with a bowl of hot Vietnamese soup called Pho in the morning. The soup consists of broth, rice noodles, a few herbs and a meat of your choice- beef or chicken. 

14. Tibetan Breakfast

Momos are traditional dumplings (very similar to Chinese jiaozi or baozi) filled with meat or vegetables. You can get them fried or boiled depending on your preferences. They are served with oil and pepper sauce, yummy! The best drink for momos is hot chocolate. The one I had was very nice, milky and sweet, great to start your day! 

 15. Sri Lankan Breakfast

Sri Lanka in a land of cakes and donuts so locals consume them every morning.  The most famous sweet is an oil cake made with rice flour and treacle, then deep-fried to golden brown color. There are plenty of pudding-like dishes made from coconut milk. Most of the cakes contain chilli peppers and lots of sugar. As for the drink, it’s very common to have a milky tea with plenty of sugar!

Wow, that was a proper journey across the World discovering different breakfast options! We would like to say thank you to all bloggers for contributing! If anyone would like to participate representing your country for the part 2 of the post, please can send me your ideas at [email protected].

What is your favourite breakfast and where did you have it?