Top chef Anthony Bourdain explains why he never eats aeroplane food, and where you should travel.

The culinary master, author and television personality has eaten raw seal eyeball, maggot fried rice and a still beating cobra heart. But aeroplane food? Nope. That’s where he draws the line.

In an interview with Bon Appétit, the Parts Unknown host said he “never” eats the food served up mid-flight.

“No one has ever felt better after eating plane food,” Bourdain said.

“I think people only eat it because they’re bored. I don’t eat on planes. I like to arrive hungry.”

And that rule applies to long-haul flights too. In a worst-case scenario where he finds himself famished on a plane, he said he would only order cheese and port.

“I’d eat some cheese and drink myself stupid,” the chef told Bon Appétit.

Anthony Bourdain has eaten balut, a fertilised duck egg which has been boiled, but he won’t eat his in-flight meal.Source:Supplied

Bourdain’s love of food has taken him across the globe, as the host of many of his own food and travel shows. So when it comes to travel advice, his word is just as golden as his cooking advice.

And the place Bourdain thinks you should travel to right now? Beirut. But it might not be for the reasons you’d expect.

“The food’s delicious, the people are awesome. It’s a party town. And everything wrong with the world is there. Hopefully, you will come back smarter about the world. You’ll understand a little more about how uninformed people are when they talk about that part of the world,” he said.

“You’ll come back as I did: changed and cautiously hopeful and confused in the best possible way. Travel at its best defies expectations. Yes, it’s divided. There are Shia neighbourhoods, Christian areas — but they all go to the same restaurants. You can go from bikinis by the pool to Hezbollah in an 8-minute cab ride. They all coexist in a weird way. That’s part of the thing that makes Beirut so interesting.”

Anthony Bourdain in Brazil when he was the host of No Reservations on the Travel Channel.Source:SBS

The place the travelled chef hasn’t yet been to but would love to visit is Afghanistan.

“I’m looking for a window where I can safely get in there with my crew. The north in particular is relatively safe,” Bourdain said.