The one restaurant we would travel across the world just to eat at again

There are, I’m told, people who visit other countries to look at museums, sit on a beach, or – egad – go hiking. No thank you. Unless, of course, there are incredible dumplings at the top of the mountain or great ceviche by the beach. The Louvre, let’s be honest, is just something to do between lunch and dinner.

OK, I’m exaggerating (only slightly), but at Good Food, we reckon a holiday without at least one delicious meal isn’t much of a holiday at all – and the best trips happen when the whole itinerary is built around excellent places to eat and drink. Snare a reservation first, worry about accommodation later. Here are the team’s top picks for the restaurants, bars and markets more than worth booking a plane ticket for.

Callan Boys, The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide co-editor

MIL, Peru

A few years ago, I had the incredible fortune of a gig that had me travelling the globe looking for the world’s best restaurants. That gig resulted in a list published in Food & Wine magazine, and I stand by every entry on that list as a bucket list destination. But the one experience I think about most often, and that I most want to have again, is MIL in Peru’s sacred valley. Located next to Incan agricultural ruins an hour’s drive from Cusco, MIL is the project of Virgilio Martínez, the man behind Central in Lima (currently No. 1 on the World’s 50 Best list). A meal here consists of eight courses, each using ingredients from a different ecosystem found at different altitudes: you might get a flurry of small plates with ingredients from the plateau, or dishes showcasing the ways corn or potatoes can be wildly diverse. The light, the views, the lovely service, the remote location, and the delicious and thoughtful cooking will have you thinking, “How did I get here? And how did I get so lucky?” —Besha Rodell

Vía a Moray, Maras 08655, Peru, milcentro.pe/en/

El Cellar de Can Roca, Spain

It was not a stellar start to lunch at a restaurant that has twice been lauded as the best in the world. Our GPS had guided us to a cabbage patch on the outskirts of Girona, 75 minutes north of Barcelona. It was the right town, at least. When we finally sat down at our table, things were no less daunting. Unsmiling waiters strode past us robotically, and two glasses of cava landed at our elbows. But what we really needed was water and someone to explain how it all worked. Then, we were presented with a bonsai olive tree, caramelised olives stuffed with anchovies hanging from its tiny branches. We were hooked. Most of the dishes – such as lamb fillets with tiny, earthy wood-pigeon livers and a milk cloud resting upon a sheep’s milk caramel – would have left us dazzled if eaten alone. To consume 14 such dishes at a sitting made it an experience we will remember for the rest of our lives. —Ardyn Bernoth

Carrer de Can Sunyer, 48, 17007 Girona, Spain, cellercanroca.com/en/

¡Salud Tacos!, United States

It was mid-August in San Diego, and we abandoned our plan to eat at La Cuatro Milpas (the city’s first taqueria) after one look at the sweaty, sun-drenched queue. Salud was a short walk away, through historic Chicano Park and into Barrio Logan, a hub of Mexican-American culture. Lowriders were parked out front, and inside, stickers and colourful murals covered every surface. And the tacos? Well, it’s been two years and I still think about them. You won’t find a better quesa birria: a tortilla dipped in pork consommé, grilled until crispy, then loaded with melted jack cheese, white onion, coriander and the most tender, flavour-packed braised pork. Take me back. —Bianca Hrovat

2196 Logan Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113, United States, saludtacos.com

Le Doyenne, France

After a wander through the greenhouse and drinks on the terrace, we took our seats under a cathedral ceiling that dwarfed the lucky few diners dotted among air-dried posies and gorgeously weathered sideboards holding nanna crockery. Australian chefs James Henry and Shaun Kelly’s ambitious restaurant and auberge just outside Paris is a gift for anyone who believes luxury lies in slowing down to notice the details. Fittingly for a farmhouse restaurant, towering full-height windows let the outside in. While we guessed the tiny vegetables on a crudite plate that showed off the kitchen garden’s latest haul, the sun was still shimmering. When wood-roasted pork (also raised there) arrived, stars twinkled overhead. Stay the night; even the breakfast the next morning is something to write home about – a big call from someone who hates going out for breakfast.
—Emma Breheny

5 rue St Antoine, 91770 Saint-Vrain, France, ledoyennerestaurant.com

Amisfield Restaurant, New Zealand

New Zealand will never look the same to me now that I have eaten at Amisfield. Chef Vaughan Mabee is a force of nature, a hunter and shooter who pays respect to the animal, fish or foraged plant right through to the table. Dining in this rustic-sophisticated winery lodge is a theatrical, exhausting experience intended to connect you back to where the food came from. Every dish is striking – baby paua (abalone), sea tulips, ivory butterfish tiled with tiny silver whitebait, and wild duck salami carved as if from the fallen, be-feathered duck itself. Mabee is an original, an evangelist preaching the laws of nature in a most unnatural but very delicious way. Converted. —Terry Durack

10 Arrowtown-Lake Hayes Road, Frankton, Queenstown, New Zealand, amisfield.co.nz

Shun Kee Typhoon Shelter Boat, Hong Kong

This is one of those “do it while you can” dining experiences that conjures up the magic of the past when Hong Kong’s glittering harbour was home to a community of boat-dwelling fisherfolk. Book ahead (call on the number below), and dine on your own private sampan in a typhoon shelter (protected marina), as huge platters of hot-from-the-wok prawns, whelks, and soy sauce clams are delivered to you by boat. Beer is available, or BYO wine. The highlight is chef Leung Hoi’s typhoon shelter crab, showered with a crunchy, sweet, nutty carpet of fried garlic, a local recipe that has now gone around the world. It’s exciting, romantic, unique to Hong Kong, and very, very filling; great for four or more. —Jill Dupleix

Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, (+852) 8112 0075

J.Sheekey, United Kingdom

You want the whole timeless glam London shebang? Pull up a luxuriously padded seat at J.Sheekey’s horseshoe bar and you’ll feel like a million bucks (without necessarily spending them). For 129 years, London’s fabulous folk have packed into this clubby, buzzy space for seafood platters heaving with fresh catch, martinis, or – my more affordable way in − six oysters and a buttery golden fish pie. Situated in the heart of the West End, it’s perfect for popping into before or after the theatre for the ultimate London day or night out. Then there’s the people watching. Portraits of showbiz royalty line the walls – and often the seats around you – Lily Allen on my last visit, no biggie! It’s razzle-dazzle without too much pomp, and given its longevity, it is likely to still be there next time I return. Huzzah. —Andrea McGinniss

28-32 St Martin’s Court, London, England, j-sheekey.co.uk

Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina, Italy

There was before Roscioli’s carbonara, and there was after it. I always thought the deceptively creamy – because it’s definitively cream-less – dish was outshone by the other classic Roman pastas (amatriciana, cacio e pepe, gricia), but a scorching September day in Rome shifted the spotlight. Roscioli’s deli of dreams is one you can dine in, flanking the salumi cabinet, and it’s a bonafide pasta paradise by a food family so big in Italy it’s taken a bite of The Big Apple. —Tomas Telegramma

Via dei Giubbonari, 21, 00186 Roma RM, Italy, salumeriaroscioli.com/en/home-english/

Queens Night Market, United States

If I only had one night in New York, and it happened to fall on a warm Saturday between April and October, I’d be taking the 7 Train to Queens for one of the world’s greatest open-air food markets. With more than 100 independent stallholders, I barely touched the sides of the cuisines on offer during my last visit – and that was a four-hour session with live jazz, a mariachi band, the odd spot of breakdancing and countless grilled things on sticks. If you’ve ever fancied a picnic featuring Filipino palabok noodles with shrimp bisque and pork crackling, Sichuan iced jelly and Jamaican peanut drops, this is the place. (Don’t miss the Fujianese oyster fritters either. Or the Trinidadian curry crab. Or the Ukrainian blintzes.) It’s free entry, and nothing costs more than $US6 ($9), and there’s a good chance the New York Mets will be playing baseball nearby on the same afternoon. Heaven. —Callan Boys

New York Hall of Science, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, New York, United States, queensnightmarket.com

Parrilla Don Julio, Buenos Aires

In 2018, my cousin and I braved the evening queue and were plied with free mini empanadas and glasses of bubbly while we waited in the twilight outside this handsome corner steakhouse in leafy Palermo. One post-pandemic pro: you can now book for this fixture on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (currently No.19), but it’s adios to pavement pastries. The temperamental Argentine peso likely means your grass-fed ojo de bife (rib-eye, served off the bone) won’t cost the unbelievable $26 ours did, but undoubtedly it will be charry, expertly cooked on the parrilla (traditional grill), and perfect with a malbec from the 25-year-old restaurant’s extensive cellar. —Annabel Smith

Guatemala 4691 (corner Guatemala and Gurruchaga streets), Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, parrilladonjulio.com

Santo Palato, Italy

Back before Sarah Cicolini’s simple trattoria became an essential visit on a Roman holiday, I visited and had an exciting meal of reinterpreted local classics. Yes, I ordered the yellow-tastic carbonara (which in 2018 was €10), trippa alla romana and lots of minimal-intervention wine made by equally exciting Italian talent. Santo Palato’s room might be simple, and the lighting dialled up to 10, but it felt like we had stumbled upon a restaurant that was trying to capture the evolution of Roman food. It’s now almost impossible to snag one of the 35 seats but hustle to get one because it is one of the city’s most exciting culinary experiences. —Sarah Norris

Piazza Tarquinia, 4 a/b, 00183 Rome, Italy, santopalatoroma.it

Huda Restaurant, China

It’s hot. It’s late. It’s 2013. You’re in Beijing, and you’re hungry. A tyrannical mobile phone provider has a stranglehold on your international data, and the hotel minibar holds only a single blue Gatorade and a packet of dried squid, both open, vestiges of a previous guest. Never has there been a surer sign of where to eat than the sight of this overflowing 24-hour restaurant you spot through the taxi window. You might have to wait, but then you’ll sit at a wonky, plastic-clothed table illuminated by hundreds of tiny red lanterns, don plastic gloves and a bib, and have what everyone else is having: xiao long xia, tiny bright-red crayfish boiled in oil with Sichuan peppercorns and whole garlic cloves, served in huge steel trough. There are more outlets now, many of them located along the same late-night snacking strip, but by all accounts, all offer the same tingly, fiery, unforgettably delicious mess. —Ellen Fraser

Various, Guijie Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China

Casa Camara, Spain

There are the pintxos bars and the hulking chuletas to keep you busy in San Sebastián, but skipping town opens more doors to unique dining experiences. Elkano in Getaria. Mugaritz in the foothills. But it’s Casa Camara, in 16th-century Pasai Donibane – most conveniently reached by teensy ferry – that wins out. Its waterfront location means the basement floods with the tides, which explains the ropes, pulleys and the hole in the floor in the dining room – that’s where they keep their live seafood. Order a platter, and lobsters and crabs will be hauled up dripping to join garlicky grilled clams, scarlet prawns, scallops, crabs and langoustines. Exceptional, and at €54 ($88), exceptionally affordable. Just. Go. —David Matthews

Donibane, 79, 20110 Pasai Donibane, Gipuzkoa, Spain, casacamara.com