A reader phoned me this morning to ask where I thought offered the best food experiences in the world. The caller explained further: "As editor of Escapism Travel Magazine, you must have wined and dined all over the world. I just want to know where have been your most enjoyable eating experiences, however informal. I don't mind whether it's a flashy restaurant or a one-man food vendor, a street market or your favourite place to buy a sandwich".
Well, it's a good question and the following is only a rough list. It's certainly not exhaustive. There are hundreds of great food experiences we've had, but these are the ones that keep coming back to us. We'll share the others with you in the future, but for the time being here are our top 11 favourites.
1. Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Well, it's a good question and the following is only a rough list. It's certainly not exhaustive. There are hundreds of great food experiences we've had, but these are the ones that keep coming back to us. We'll share the others with you in the future, but for the time being here are our top 11 favourites.
1. Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
KL throbs with energy - astride the high-tech glitzy buildings like the Petronas Towers, you'll find the backstreets full of food sellers. And the food is just as varied as the city: the combination of Malay, Chinese and Indian populations make for a literal culinary melting pot. A simple sit-down snack of curry served on a banana leaf (costing approx US$3) is the order of the day here.
2. Tun Tun Beach Bar, Cabanas Copal, Tulum, Mexico
When I was last at Azulik, I visited the Tun Tun Beach bar which sits above the main beach and is an open-air affair, with a roof of twigs, hung with hollowed gourds inset with coloured glass that act as lamps, and tables carved out of trees. The staff, an ever-smiling mix of Mexicans and Argentinians, serve some of the most delicious and healthy food: plates steeped in bright-green avocado slices, crisp lettuce and fat prawns, or quesadillas filled with melted cheese and mushrooms. The views of the beach and the Caribbean (especially at sunset) are to die for.
3. Intercontinental, Port Ghalib, Egypt
When I last visited this brand new, 5-star deluxe citadel of indulgence, it was just being finished after years of work. Inspired by the merchant Ghalib’s fortress palace, and built for his beloved Budour, this hotel is as lavish as they come in Egypt, with wonderful service. There are several restaurants, but in all, they have the most wonderful Baba ghanoush, an hors d'ouevre made of roasted, peeled and mashed aubergine, blended with tahina, garlic, salt and lemon juice and topped with olive oil, and often coming with cumin and chili powder.
4. Cap Leucate oysters, Cap Leucate, Languedoc, France
You can see the oysters beds as you drive along the main road. The oysters themselves are for sale from countless shabby-looking sheds and shacks on the beach. The Cap Leucate cliffs rise for 2 miles beyond. Do as we did - buy a dozen opened oysters, place them in a cool box, with a fresh baguette from the boulangerie and some French butter and a chilled white wine. From the Cap Leucate lighthouse, a rough path winds down to an isolated beach of creamy yellow sand. After a swim in the ocean, I can think of nothing better to encapsulate a classic French beach day than devouring these fat, ozone-reeky oysters, mopping up the juice with the bread.
5. The Gulai House, Datai Bay, Langkawi, Malaysia
Set deep in a candlelit rainforest, they serve all manner of Malay dishes. It was such a long time that I visited this place - 2002 - but the food left an enduring memory. On a list of all-time Top Ten places to eat, this place is very high on our list! They served wonderful 'tasters', consisting of different coloured salts which you were encouraged to dip meat and fish into. Also, they had great lemak dishes that are typically not hot to taste, but are aromatically spiced and coconut milk is added for a creamy richness. Their satay is heavenly.
6. P&O Cruises, Oceana, Caribbean Cruise January 2006
P&O's food on this cruise holiday was sublime - a gallantine of goose served with black pudding, to name but a few of the wholesome and varied dishes we had. I loved everything about P&O cruises, and this comes from someone who was a cruise virgin at the time!
7. The Sportman, Mogador, Lower Kingswood, Surrey, England
This is a really quaint pub within easy driving distance of the South London suburbs. An historic inn built in 1532, it's beautifully located down a quiet lane, backing onto Walton Heath, itself a huge expanse of grassland and forest. They allow dogs into the pub and they serve devilled kidneys and some great beers and ales. It's busy on warm summer afternoons with people who drive from miles around to eat, drink and be seen here.
8. Chalet Suzanne, Lake Wales, Florida, USA
It's a quirky, pastel-coloured melange of Romanticism - the motel has Gothic towers and Hobbit-style boudoirs, and the restaurant overlooks the lake and serves Moon Soup (a symphony of delicate, flowery flavours), followed by a plate of melt-in-the-mouth slices of buffalo.
9. Summerbird Chocolaterie, The Nimb Hotel, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Nimb itself is a stunning building, like a white, Moorish palace lit by thousands of bulbs at night-time. Inside, it's equally stunning, and aside from the hotel, it houses the Summerbird Chocolaterie, where you can buy Grand Cru snowballs, a giftbox of white chocolate and liquorice called Je t'aime, or Summerbird sushi containing dark chocolate with ginger, or Delicacies in a Jar containing italian hazlenuts cloaked in dark chocolate. It really is heavenly.
Set deep in a candlelit rainforest, they serve all manner of Malay dishes. It was such a long time that I visited this place - 2002 - but the food left an enduring memory. On a list of all-time Top Ten places to eat, this place is very high on our list! They served wonderful 'tasters', consisting of different coloured salts which you were encouraged to dip meat and fish into. Also, they had great lemak dishes that are typically not hot to taste, but are aromatically spiced and coconut milk is added for a creamy richness. Their satay is heavenly.
6. P&O Cruises, Oceana, Caribbean Cruise January 2006
P&O's food on this cruise holiday was sublime - a gallantine of goose served with black pudding, to name but a few of the wholesome and varied dishes we had. I loved everything about P&O cruises, and this comes from someone who was a cruise virgin at the time!
7. The Sportman, Mogador, Lower Kingswood, Surrey, England
This is a really quaint pub within easy driving distance of the South London suburbs. An historic inn built in 1532, it's beautifully located down a quiet lane, backing onto Walton Heath, itself a huge expanse of grassland and forest. They allow dogs into the pub and they serve devilled kidneys and some great beers and ales. It's busy on warm summer afternoons with people who drive from miles around to eat, drink and be seen here.
8. Chalet Suzanne, Lake Wales, Florida, USA
It's a quirky, pastel-coloured melange of Romanticism - the motel has Gothic towers and Hobbit-style boudoirs, and the restaurant overlooks the lake and serves Moon Soup (a symphony of delicate, flowery flavours), followed by a plate of melt-in-the-mouth slices of buffalo.
9. Summerbird Chocolaterie, The Nimb Hotel, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Nimb itself is a stunning building, like a white, Moorish palace lit by thousands of bulbs at night-time. Inside, it's equally stunning, and aside from the hotel, it houses the Summerbird Chocolaterie, where you can buy Grand Cru snowballs, a giftbox of white chocolate and liquorice called Je t'aime, or Summerbird sushi containing dark chocolate with ginger, or Delicacies in a Jar containing italian hazlenuts cloaked in dark chocolate. It really is heavenly.
10. Lobster on the go, Nova Scotia, Canada
Driving up the west coast from Halifax to Cape Breton, you'll find that most petrol stations and country stores have a tank of live lobsters on their premises. When I stopped off to get petrol at one place, I chose a lobster from the tank which they cooked whilst I filled the car up and visited the men's room. Fifteen minutes later, I was handed a newspaper-wrapped hot lobster. I took this with two bottles of Canadian beer to the nearest beach where I sat in the sun (it was 30c that day) and broke the lobster using a rock. For me, this was the perfect Canadian al fresco snack. No packaging, no washing-up or wastage. And a perfect view of the Bay of Fundy! Total cost was Canadian $10.
11. Homemade Lemonade and Conch Fritters, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
Further down the coast, towards Long Bay is the Islands Restaurant, opposite the Sugar Mill Hotel. They serve conch fritters that are to die for, with views across the ocean to Jost Van Dyke island.
