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A cooking school by day (Wednesdays and Sundays, to be specific), Black Sesame Kitchen hosts a 10-course family-style meal on Tuesday and Friday nights that allows visitors to sample Chinese dishes from a variety of regional cuisines. Most who arrive at Black Sesame Kitchen are strangers before the meal—but it isn’t uncommon to make friends over good food and generous pours of wine. ¥300 per person; advance bookings only.

The world’s largest chocolate shop also includes two restaurants and is a dream come true for travelers with a sweet tooth. At the Chocolate Café, you can fill up on hot chocolate, tortes and chocolate treats. The Chocolate Restaurant specializes in incorporating chocolate, as well as cacao, into savory dishes. You’ll want to pick up some gifts for friends at home—or just snacks for later in the day—at the shop.

This acclaimed ice cream parlor with more than 15 locations (most Santiago malls have one) dishes out every imaginable flavor. Regulars crave dulce de leche, lifted from the namesake caramel dessert. Or try the Chilean classic called café helado, a tall glass of strong, chilled coffee with a scoop of ice cream at the bottom and whipped cream on top. ¡Ay, yi, yi! A rare spot for decaf coffee, as well as sugar-free and gluten-free treats, La Rosa serves breakfast, lunch, and high tea.

Siem Reap sees a lot of Koreans visiting throughout the year, both tour groups and independent travelers. This means the city has a large number of Korean restaurants to cater for them. My favorite is Dae Bak, on busy Sivutha Boulevard. This simple place with stainless steel tables that get packed with groups of tourists, as well as off-duty guides and Korean expats, does deliciously authentic Korean food. There’s a fairly long menu of specialties, including everything from dumplings to kimchi soup and bulgogi to seafood pancakes. A few dishes to share is enough for a couple, as also serve half a dozen tiny dishes of starters, from kimchi to various pickled and fermented vegetables. Dishes start at $5 and a bottle of soju goes for $4. My only gripe is that the Korean BBQ is done outside and not at the table.

Lemon Arbour began as just another one of the many rum shops that can be found all over Barbados, but as its reputation for spectacular local dishes grew, so did the actual shop. Now, Lemon Arbor has become the place to go on Saturdays for an extended lunch of souse, fried pork, and other pork dishes, plus cheap Banks beers and rum. Locals often spend all day Saturday limin and meeting up with friends over good food and inexpensive drinks… And you could too, for a real taste of Bajan culture.

Tibits shows that this bratwurst-and-raclette loving city can do delicious seasonal vegetarian and vegan dishes well, and imaginatively, too. The enticing buffet includes creations like a melon-accented Thai tofu salad and tomato spelt risotto, served in a colorful, floral wallpaper-accented fast-casual setting.

Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or just for a spontaneous night of indulgence: Medellin is blessed with romantic dining spots. El Cielo, just opposite Parque Lleras, is as well-known throughout Latin America as its creator Juan Manuel Barrientos—a young chef synonymous with creating unforgettable experimental cuisine. Dishes are separated into ‘moments’ and are all created by his team of chefs and designers in his food lab. Diners can choose from either 10 or 15 ‘moments.’ Each dish has a lifespan of three months, after which it is replaced by a new, vastly different dish. Meanwhile Carmen, located a few blocks away, offers not only high-end, diverse cuisine but also a seductive interior and some extraordinary cocktails.

After a long day of hiking, biking, running, and rafting my body usually craves something healthy but also satisfying. I found my perfect summer dish at Element 47, the newly remodeled restaurant at the Little Nell. Don’t be fooled by the simple name on the menu. Element 47’s Spring Vegetable Salad pays homage to the famous French chef Michel Bras who is known for his mastery of vegetables. At Element 47, chef Robert McCormick artfully prepares an assortment of 20 to 30 locally sourced, seasonal vegetables on the plate creating a vibrant dish that offers a surprising pop of flavors and textures with each bite. It’s the type of dish I could order every night without ever getting bored.

Stillwater is a longtime favorite in Launceston for its location on the Tamar River in a lovingly restored 1830s flour mill. Original beams, polished timber floors, and water views set the scene for seasonal dishes such as whiskey-cured Huon salmon; slow-roasted Flinders Island rack of lamb (flavored like ocean salt from the sea-swept grasses the lamb eat); and Cape Grim steak (which hails from the capital of clean air). The same owners run Black Cow Bistro a few blocks up the road, which is doing more incredible things with Cape Grim cuts. Save room for the sweet basil panna cotta with strawberries and breadcrumbs. You can hike it off at Cradle Mountain tomorrow.

It may seem unbelievable now, given the pace of Siem Reap’s evolution, but reliably great coffee and other deli and bakery staples were tough to find before Blue Pumpkin set up shop near the turn of the millennium. Success may have changed the venture—it now has a number of outlets in Siem Reap, and several more in Phnom Penh—but the philosophy of serving simple but high-quality Asian and Western dishes remains intact. Menu highlights include generously proportioned breakfasts and sandwiches, decadent cakes, famous yogurt shakes, and a wide selection of homemade ice creams and sorbets.

In a city with a taco shop on nearly every corner, Salud stands out for its Chicano-inspired food and decor: According to owner Ernie Becerra, the tacos served here are not traditionally Mexican. The signature Barrio is served on a tortilla made of flour instead of corn, and its filling (stewed beef topped with nopal, beans, and sour cream) is a take on a popular dish in Southern California’s Mexican community. In the dining room, a tattoo mural and a car hood mounted on the wall nod to the lowrider lifestyle Chicano kids grow up idealizing.

West Randolph Street in Chicago’s West Loop has become a new home to the city’s culinary talents. Stephanie Izard first drew crowds cooking dishes like roasted pig face at Girl & the Goat (the restaurant pictured above). She then opened Little Goat, a retro diner, across the street. Graham Elliot Bowles keeps it simple at his casual g.e.b, where each dish has no more than three ingredients. On a more elegant note, the prix-fixe menu at Grace, from chef Curtis Duffy, features dishes such as kampachi with coconut, lime, basil, golden trout roe, and pomelo presented in a cylinder of frozen ginger water.

Located in the chic, affluent area of Vitacura near Nueva Costanera, Europeo delivers a flawless fine dining experience in Santiago. The menu, overseen by executive chef Francisco Mandiola, incorporates European technique with seasonal ingredients. The dishes are perfectly seasoned and delicate. Try the spring tasting menu with dishes like tender spring vegetables with burrata cheese, or the unusual flavor combination of corn and octopus, all paired with top wines. The ambience is formal and they also put on a fabulous “executive” lunch that is very good price/quality ratio. Alonso de Cordova 2417 (between Vitacura and Nueva Costanera), Vitacura Phone: 56 (2) 2208 3603 Photo coutresy of Europeo Restaurant

Once a nondescript part of Stockholm’s center, Brunkebergstorg has been revitalized by the addition of two excellent new hotels (At Six and Hobo) and Tak, a rooftop bar with perhaps the best views you can see while enjoying an Aperol spritz or the house martini made with vodka, sake, and a touch of sherry. The panorama really is something special, taking in the whole of the city. One floor down is the restaurant where head chef Frida Ronge serves food that fuses Nordic ingredients and Japanese techniques, with dishes such as arctic char with daikon and grilled Swedish beef with yuzu kosho vinaigrette.

For the past 10 years, Mario, the owner of VEBorange, has been selling DDR (East Germany) collectables and other German antiques. Most items in the shop on Oderberger Strasse are objects made and sold between 1950 and 1980, making this a great place to find kitschy and totally unique goods. When I visited on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Mario was tinkering with a Sputnik relic from the CCCP. Not everything that he collects or receives ends up on the shelves. Behind the counter are the things deemed interesting or noteworthy—things that might fit in a museum. If the nearby Mauer Park turns out to be too disappointing for you, head over to VEBorange (a short three-minute walk away) to find truly unique and special items. You can find everything from old Soviet war medals to clothes and furniture.