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Down a cobblestone street and through a stone arch, a narrow terrace and lovely fig tree mark the entrance to Le Figuier de Saint-Esprit. Famous both for his magnificent mustache and exceptional cooking, chef Christian Morisset guides your appetite on a culinary adventure with creative dishes that zing, like a salty-sweet sautéed foie gras with figs or teppanyaki branzino. The chef’s sweets do not disappoint, either, particularly the wild strawberry parfait and the molten chocolate cake decorated with a white chocolate jasmine tea heart.

After long nights spent partying, studying, or working, a karak chai trip is a near-sacred tradition—cars packed with friends take a trip to a drive-through or a roadside stall to pick up sweet, hot chai. HumYum takes this longstanding and beloved ritual inside. The small café, decorated to evoke the bedouin and Emirati past, offers a wide variety of quick snacks and sweet drinks, perfect for a pick-me-up. Some of the city’s best people-watching takes place here, as you inhale the calming scents of cloves and cardamom and watch the late-night parade of tea-drinking regulars.

Karachi Bakery is a Hyderabad institution, renowned for its cakes, cookies, biscuits, pastries, and chocolates. Open since 1963, the establishment remains one of the most innovative bakeries in India. Be sure to sample the fruit biscuits, Osmania biscuits, almond cookies, and mithai—traditional Indian sweets. To avoid the crowds, especially during festivals and holidays, place your order online prior to visiting.

The flavors and textures of a banh mi—crispy, chewy, spicy, sweet, tangy with ingredients of mayonnaise, pâté, pork (or sometimes chicken or tofu), pickled vegetables, cilantro, and chili, all piled into a crusty baguette—help to explain the allure of this iconic Vietnamese sandwich, and why it’s been successfully replicated at restaurants around the world, from New York to Sydney. Hoi An has many fine banh mi sellers, but among the top two are undoubtedly the holes-in-the-wall Madam Khanh (or Madam Queen) on Tran Cao Van Street and the always-busy Banh Mi Phuong on Phan Chu Trinh, popularized by Anthony Bourdain in his program No Reservations.

There are few better places from which to enjoy river views and sunsets than the Ponte Vecchio, built in 1345. Spanning the Arno’s narrowest point, this is the only bridge to have survived the German bombing of the city in 1944. There have always been shops on the bridge; the original butchers and grocers were replaced by sweeter-smelling gold and silversmiths in 1593. Sitting right in the middle is a bust of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), the most famous goldsmith of them all.

The historic kurazukuri district of Kawagoe, a short train ride north of Tokyo, is home to dozens of artisan shops, including Machikan, which has been making and selling knives and swords for generations. While in town, try the famous sweet-potato candy.

While the rum-soaked baba au rhum cake originated at Stohrer pâtisserie and is a classic, it’s the éclair au chocolat and the seasonal flavors (this winter’s include both salted caramel and chestnut cream) that deserve special attention. So do the majestic frescoes by artist Paul Baudry (famed for his décor in the Palais Garnier opera house) that adorn the shop’s walls and ceiling.

It also happens to be one of the oldest patisseries in Paris, and is absolutely worth dropping by on your next trip to the city for one of their delicious sweets.

Enjoy these stunning oceanview and beachside cabanas at The Westin Lagunamar Ocean Resort, a seaside resort in Cancun, Mexico. Enjoy the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean, a sweet haven for the sun-seekers. A perfect place to soak under the sun, swim or people-watch. $400/night.

Albertha Grant never set out to win a James Beard Foundation award and win the adoration of international magazines and patrons—she simply cooked good food and served it to people in her North Charleston neighborhood. But amidst the last decade’s gold rush around Charleston cuisine, Bertha’s shines in both its authenticity and flavor. It’s a classic soul food joint, with daily meat-and-three specials like fall-off-the-bone fried chicken, sumptuous pork chops, and collard greens that perfectly balance savory and sweet (there’s plenty sweet in the ice tea for everyone). The neighborhood is predominately African-American, and locals still line up here for lunch along with out-of-towners and Peninsula-based workers seeking Southern food done right. The late namesake’s daughters and granddaughters run the counter-service place now, efficiently taking orders to keep the line moving on busy weekdays.

Though less decadent than some of the medina’s more storied hotels, Riad Ahlam offers charm in spades at budget-friendly rates. With its trickling fountain and potted citrus trees, an elegant central courtyard is the setting for highly Instagrammable daily breakfasts brimming with homemade pastries and breads, fresh fruit and juices, sweet jams, and aromatic coffee; lunch and dinner highlight typical Fassi fare such as spiced tagines and vegetable couscous. Guests seeking pampering can indulge in a massage on-site, then retreat to one of eight rooms featuring colorful local textiles, traditional Moroccan lamps and lanterns, and brightly hued bathrooms with mosaic-tiled showers and shiny copper sinks. There’s also a scenic rooftop terrace, a prime perch for a cup of mint tea with a view.

There are two Min Jiangs in Singapore, and both are set in lovely heritage buildings: one in the early-20th-century Goodwood Park Hotel, and the other in Rochester Park, a cluster of colonial-era black and white bungalows repurposed into restaurants. Min Jiang’s menu is packed with Sichuan and Cantonese classics, but the big star is the wood-fired Peking duck served with traditional pancakes, crispy slivers of skin and meat, and sweet bean sauce. Still hungry? The hot-and-sour soup, prawn-and-pork stir-fry, and lobster with eggplant and minced chicken in Sichuan chili sauce are also irresistible. If you’re dining with a significant other, grab a table outside on the veranda: The candlelight and tropical foliage create a romantic and cozy vibe.

Is it lunch? Or a snack? Or perhaps an appetizer before you head across the street to Denali Brewpub? Oh, who cares—just make sure you eat some of the spinach bread served up out of the gleaming Airstream on Main Street. A word of warning: There are a few times each summer when the Airstream takes the brakes off to head to the festivals and fairs. If the Alaska State Fair is on (late August to early September), you’ll have to go there to get some of the spinachy cheesy goodness. Wash it down with the not-too-sweet limeade.

Maui’s quiet town of Wailuku is home to some of the world’s most artful doughnuts. The owner of Donut Dynamite!, who goes by her nom de cuisine “Madame Donut,” started the business as a food truck. In 2016, she opened this brick-and-mortar location after she won the “Backyard Barbecue” episode of the Cooking Channel’s Sugar Showdown. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, she brings a high-concept approach to her signature sweets, with standout flavors including bacon-maple, cheesy hammy, and a lush purple number featuring Molokai sweet potato and poi (a Native Hawaiian staple made from taro roots). Don’t miss the legendary Cinnamon Toasty Crunchy, topped with finely diced croutons made in-house, and be sure to get to the shop early—it opens at 6 a.m. and often starts running low on doughnuts by 9 a.m.

In 1950, two halwais—or confectioners—from the Rajasthani city of Bikaner ventured to big city of Delhi to ply their traditional snacks together. Setting up a stall in the Old Delhi Chadni Chowk market, they crafted sweet and savory treats like rasgollas (cheese dumplings in a sugary syrup) and Bikaner bhujuia (fried flour and lentil crisps), based on family recipes—and soon became so well-known that the people of Delhi bestowed them with the nickname of “Bikanervalas,” in honor of their hometown. Today, the brand has over 50 outposts across India, from the Himalayan foot hills of Dehradun and the Mumbai airport to the upscale Hyderabad neighborhood of Banjara Hills, but that Old Delhi original remains. Come for classics like till chikki (nut brittle squares with sesame seed and brown sugar), rich halwas and milk cakes, fruit-and-nut chocolates, and more, as well as seasonal choices. All of the locations are casual, but some are take-out shops only, while other serve a fast-food menu of chaat, Indian and Continental main dishes (including parathas, veggie burgers, and pizzas), desserts, and shakes.

The spirit of Jacques Cousteau is very much alive at this Encinitas restaurant, which specializes in tacos filled with local fish, organic meat, and fresh vegetables. The Cousteau taco—featuring catch of the day (like California halibut) with cumin-lime crema, mango salsa, and cabbage slaw—should be in the running for San Diego’s best fish taco. Equally delicious are the Azul (grass-fed flank steak, caramelized onions, mushrooms, blue cheese, arugula, and cilantro) and the vegan Veronica Corningstone (red quinoa, sweet potatoes, garlic, Daiya vegan cheese, avocado, and cilantro). One look at the menu and it’s easy to tell the owner is a movie buff—many of the items are named after famous characters, from Ron Burgundy to Kelly Leak from The Bad News Bears.