Weather, culture, drinking before noon, vegetating into a state of utter relaxation - there are many holiday experiences we love, but there's one glorious activity that sits above them all: eating.
If you're anything like us, on the run-up to your holiday you're likely to be found sat at your desk, choking down a supermarket meal deal sandwich while lusting after all of the 5-star reviewed restaurants at your chosen destination. Because meticulously planning your itinerary based on the best local delicacies is all part of the fun.
But instead of trawling through unreliable reviews from tourists whose idea of a slap-up meal is a box of twenty chicken nuggets at 3am, check out our global culinary suggestions instead. Here, we're mapping out the best breakfasts, lunches, dinners and drinks, depending on where you're going, covering all food trends and palates.
BREAKFAST: SUKE6 DINER
Everything about this diner is fresh. The bread is baked on the third floor, the butter is prepared on-site, the sausages are homemade, and the vegetables freshly picked. But it’s the waffles with strawberry, vanilla ice cream and blueberry balsamic sauce that has to be ordered.
Whoa whoa whoa, we hear you say. You’ve come to Japan, you want to try some authentic cultural eats. Calm down mate. There’s a green tea baked cheesecake for dessert (you’re on vacation, breakfast cake is fine).
LUNCH: IPPUDO RAMEN
Going to Tokyo and not having ramen is like visiting Rome and not eating pizza, going to Dublin and not drinking Guinness or flying to Ibiza and not coming back with a strong sense of shame and dread. Basically, it’s an unforgivable crime of the highest order.
Being spice fiends, we would gulp down the pork belly and sesame kikurage mushroom ippudo karaka-men, which you can tailor the spiciness of depending on how much miso paste you want. Order crispy chicken and vegetable dumplings on the side, because why not? You've left calorie-counting at home my dear, bloated friend.
DINNER: AZURE 45, THE RITZ-CARLTON
If you Instagram only one dish on your trip, then make sure it’s from the no-filter-needed Azure 45. This Michelin star restaurant found at The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, specialises in contemporary French cuisine and boasts flavours that you probably won’t have tried anywhere else in the world (well, not that taste as good at least).
From the Racan pigeon breast with blueberry and cabbage and the lavender roasted lamb to the veal sweetbread beignet with orange nougat, head chef Shintaro Miyazaki's imagination has no limits when it comes to concocting experimental dishes. Trust us, it’s a meal you’ll never forget.
DRINKS: TOKYO WHISKY LIBRARY
Thought libraries were desolate places lost to a simpler time? Not when they promise whisky they’re not, and this fine establishment stocks over 1,000 international brands. Time to enjoy classic and contemporary cocktails knocked up by award winning-mixologists.
Alternatively, you could enjoy your whisky neat and kick back in a leather armchair. The only worry you’ll have is choosing between Japanese, Taiwanese, bourbon, scotch, Irish…you get it, the list goes on. We wouldn’t advise testing all of them though. Not unless you want to go from library to hospital.
BREAKFAST: BERNERS TAVERN, THE LONDON EDITION
Tucked away off London's bustling Oxford Street is the magnificent London EDITION hotel (a far cry from the Angus Steak Houses plaguing the area). And nestled within this luxurious hotel is Berners Tavern, a restaurant filled to the brim with art to make you feel like you’re dining with an eccentric billionaire hoarder.
The menu is overflowing with trending modern dishes (avocado on sourdough toast, vanilla waffles, baked eggs with harissa). But when in London you have to order the Berners version of the iconic full English, crafted with Dingley Dell pork sausages, eggs, smoked bacon, roasted tomato, Portobello mushroom, Stornoway black pudding and baked beans. Order a strawberry, apple and mint juice on the side if it'll make you feel better about yourself.
LUNCH: MAX’S SANDWICH SHOP
While it might not be as glamorous as the above restaurant, know that this isn’t any old sandwich shop. It’s a beautiful Frankenstein mess of a sandwich shop, but instead of chasing it down with pitchforks and fire, devour their creations as you wonder: how could a simple sandwich taste so good?
Well they’re not that simple, really. Each ingredient in every decadent sarnie have been well-thought through by Max himself. Take the Korean Gangster, for example: soy braised beef, kimchi and kraut, baby gem and parsley, deep fried noodle and "incredibly slutty gravy" (his words, not ours). All held lovingly together in Max's homemade ciabattas. Pure bliss.
DINNER: CAROUSEL
It's all too easy to get stuck in a rut as you find yourself revisiting the same old restaurants. Even more so when returning to a previous vacation spot - as that nostalgia builds up, you can find yourself wanting to recreate the first time you experienced those life-changing flavours. But nostalgia can be a cruel thing, and original memories can be put on a pedestal only to be swiftly ruined. And that's it. Holiday over. You're on the next plane home.
This is why we’re such big fans of Carousel. It’s an amazing restaurant, only with an ever-evolving menu thanks to its rotating chefs. Meaning you’ll never have a similar experience twice. Explore a different fine dining menu every week, featuring dishes from up-and-coming and famous chefs from around the globe and spanning everything from Brazilian, Korean, French and beyond. Nothing is off limits here.
DRINKS: COUPETTE
Bethnal Green might be known for its old-school boozers, but Coupette is a perfect mixture of past-meets-present. Sample its weathered brick-lined walls (dating back 160 years), its avant-garde cocktails with a French flare and its wide range of local craft beers.
Try an archetypal old fashioned or shake things up a bit and go for the champagne piña colada, a mix of Bacardi Heritage, agricole rhum, pineapple, coconut sorbet and Moet & Chandon. And don't worry, there's not a mini pink umbrella in sight - your masculinity is safe.
BREAKFAST: PERMA BAKERY
When was the last time you went to a bakery and they'd sold out of bread? Well, that's exactly what happens by 4pm most days at this small but popular Guangzhou bakery.
As well as cream cakes and apple pies fresh from the oven, they also have a signature bread called The Spring: medlar, wormwood, brown sugar and raisins from Xinjiang. Made to be drank with a lemon ginger tea, not a soy flat white. You uncultured swine.
LUNCH: HUANGSHA AQUATIC MARKET
This is not your average lunch, but it promises to be a memorable one. This locals' favourite sells fresh (as in still alive) fish caught that day and is the biggest of its kind in Southern China.
Crabs, lobster, octopus, scallops, oysters - we wouldn't be surprised if they actually sold bits of the mythical Kraken. Whatever you want, they have it. All you have to do is pick your fish, barter until you get a better price, then take it to one of the specialised seafood restaurants in the area where they'll cook it up for you. Or name it and release it into the sea like Free Willy, your choice.
DINNER: LAI HEEN, THE RITZ-CARLTON
That work of art above you're wondering about? Oh, it's just steamed crab custard with crab meat caviar and Chinese rice wine. Yep, you won't find that in your local takeaway. It's really no surprise that this Cantonese restaurant is only one of eight places in Guangzhou to earn a Michelin star.
Award-winning Chef Gordon Guo, the man at the helm of this fabulous kitchen, focuses on perfecting colour, aroma, texture and taste whenever creating a dish at Lai Heen. Whether that's for one of his contemporary concoctions featuring ingredients even the most cultured of diners won't have heard of (take the steamed grouper patties with fungus and sponge gourd or spicy jellyfish, for example), or for his classic regional dishes born from recipes dating back thousands of years (we're all about the Cantonese-style roasted goose).
If we were you, we'd reserve ahead of time and book one of the private dining rooms at The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou restaurant, so the rest of the customers don't have to see you weeping with pure joy into whatever delicacies you consume.
DRINKS: REVOLUCION COCKTAIL
If you want to party, you've come to the right place. If you want a quiet Manhattan while browsing the papers, maybe move on... grandpa. This Cuban-inspired cocktail bar decked out with vintage Havana style deco is all about late-night dancing, loud music and strong drinks. Their signature is named after the bar itself, boasting a rum of your choice, rosemary, passionfruit and apple juice, housed in a Tiki glass (fire not included).
BREAKFAST: TWO SCHMUCKS
If you can't have waffles, fried chicken and cocktails for your breakfast on holiday, when can you? (Tip: not at your desk on a Monday morning, we learned that the hard way.)
This hip-hop blaring dive bar has a laid-back vibe, with its graffitied deco and flip-flop wearing barmen, but their knowledge of good food, good coffee and even better cocktails is vast. Owner Moe Aljaff came third in the illustrious Bacardi Legacy competition and has travelled the world, working in various bars to perfect his craft. This is evident in his signature cocktail, the Schmucks Vesper, made with gin, vodka, Laphroaig and pecorino cheese.
LUNCH: OVAL
Sick of amending your burger order to your exact taste only to be met with a mega eye-roll from your waiter? Then create your own burger at this DIY joint in the heart of the city, where an exam-style tick box menu is at every table allowing you to create whatever beautiful monstrosity you want.
Five burgers, 19 cheeses, six breads, 24 toppings, 15 sauces - should man have this much power? That's for the philosophers to debate. In the meantime we'll be gorging on a chicken/beef hybrid burger with brie and blue cheese and topped with jalapeños, boiled eggs, avocado and peanut butter.
DINNER: TICKETS
Thought tapas were just microwaved frozen prawns and tinned olives? Think again, because this Michelin star restaurant is reinventing tapas into a premium, complex gastronomical experience (rather than a quick bite to eat between necking two euro beers in the mid-afternoon sun).
Crunchy octopus with kimchi mayonnaise and cucumber, shark fin soup with tucupi and king crab, Iberian ham with manchego cheese foam and hazelnut oil caviar and delectable variations of oysters. Not your typical tourist menu with pictures on it, is it? The hype is real too, as it's near impossible to get a reservation (but we hear if you book online at 12am Spanish time you're in with a good chance).
It's not just traditional Spanish dishes they specialise in, either. They also do mean Japanese food (order the spicy tuna belly tartar with nori seaweed, avocado cream and wasabi) and luxury Mexican eats (choose the crunchy pig taco with hoisin mayonnaise and pickled cucumber).
DRINKS: P41 BAR & COCTELARIUM, HOTEL ARTS BARCELONA
Diego Baud, the guy who concocts the cocktails at this tranquil seaside hotel, has won awards in the top seven gin and tonic competitions and the top five Negroni competitions in Spain, which is definitely something we'd like to judge. One of his most popular cocktails is the Mediterranean mule, a locally-inspired drink made with ginger ale, bitter pepper, mint, a squeeze of fresh lime and Sipsmith gin.
But if you're feeling particularly adventurous and want a break from drinking Estrella in your Speedos, test out the Far East-inspired smoking razz: Spanish gin, lapsang souchong tea, lime, egg white, fresh raspberries and liquid smoke, served in a glass horn.
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