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Located in the 160-year-old Leinster Hall, The Stack has to be seen to be believed. Its recently refurbished interiors are both outrageous and sublime, with emerald and sapphire walls, a leopard-print couch, and a rainbow of velvet chairs. There’s a beautiful garden out front, a brasserie and bar downstairs, and a private club on the top floor. Dining here feels like you’ve gained entry to a private, Old Cape Town world, but with a modern menu. Standout dishes include the duck rillette and the onion tart with king oyster, shiitake, and shimeji mushrooms.

I forgave the service (slow as molasses) at Donald Link’s newest seafood spot, Peche, where highlights included crab-and-chilies capellini, fried bread, and fish sticks. Go with a crowd and order everything.

Rustic elegance is the order of the day at La Champagnerie, a champagne-only bar in Old Montreal. Between the delicious cocktails, heaven-sent food, and exposed brick walls of this historic building, the drinking experience will be memorable. The menu features over 50 different brands of bubbly (including real champagne, cava, and prosecco) and a very entertaining sabering act, as well as brie poutine and oysters. Contrary to popular belief, la Champagnerie isn’t that expensive. Yes, there is the odd $500+ bottle, but visitors can easily enjoy a meal and a cocktail or two without needing to remortgage their house. A very nice way to spend an evening, if you ask me—champagne, Old Montreal, and good music. Santé!

There are a few great options for dining on Place St. Catherine, in Brussels. However, when people ask me where to go for great seafood in Brussels, Jaloa, and their more casual Jaloa Brasserie, are first on the list. Jaloa itself is elegant fine dining and a wonderful experience if you are looking to splurge. (Don’t miss the fresh oyster bar.) The restaurant only seats 25 people and features tasting menus of four, six or nine courses. The Jaloa Brasserie is more cosy and affordable but with the same high level of quality. The menu is a la carte with the exception of a monthly tasting menu. Both the restaurant and brasserie feature seasonal, local ingredients and have hidden terraces you can enjoy, during the warmer months.

Few restaurants more than 150 years old can be called trendy, but in innovation-crazy San Francisco, there is novelty in the classics, and Tadich Grill is the classic. The late Chronicle columnist and unabashed San Francisco-lover Herb Caen was also a frequent visitor. There’s a martini named after him, made with vodka, or as he called it, Vitamin V. The serious nature of the restaurant’s wood paneling, brass fixtures, and waiters in starched white aprons is matched by the food. No need to tinker with classic recipes for fried sand dabs or crab Louie, and the oysters and Hangtown fry are fine the way they have always been. The cioppino is by far the most popular dish on the menu, with about 27,000 bowls dished out a year. People come to Tadich Grill because they know what they’re getting: friendly service, great seafood, and a taste of San Francisco itself.

Tucked away unassumingly in Copenhagen‘s hip Meatpacking District is one of the city’s top seafood restaurants, Kodbyens Fiskebar Restaurant. The industrial-style interior has design elements taken from the neighborhood and may not seem the setting for a Michelin-worthy meal, but the casual vibe in my opinion, only enhances the experience. The chef is fanatical about sourcing the freshest seafood. If you haven’t booked a table in advance, try going early and score a seat at the bar. The bartender will insist you have a glass of white wine with your oysters (try the briny Marennes). And don’t miss the excellent razor clam with maltbread, fennel, tarragon and dill.

It always feels like a different world anywhere in the beautiful Point Reyes National Seashore area, and an evening at the hidden Nick’s Cove in Marshall, will have you in love with Tomales Bay. The property was recently overhauled by a group of silent investors that purchased the cottages and the restaurant and they’ve made some phenomenal improvements. Austin Perkins is the new head chef and the genius behind the BBQ oysters. After you’ve been checked in and escorted to your cottage, a delivery of complimentary oysters arrive at your doorstep. I kept hoping the staff at reception would change so that I could check in again. The rooms are cozy and spacious and the fireplace will always be a hit on the foggy and cool evenings. Be sure to either have dinner in the restaurant/bar, or ask for take out and have the meal delivered at the end of the pier, in the famous Boathouse. I’d also recommend making arrangements to start the next morning off right, with a paddle in Tomales Bay in a kayak. Local outfitter Blue Waters Kayaking will literally meet you on the deck of your cottage (if you’re lucky enough to secure one of the rooms on the water) and show you the magic of the area, the true way it needs to be seen. You’ll need to save up (and reserve far in advance) for a room at Nick’s Cove, but the experience is worth the pretty penny.

This iconic restaurant in the Old Town of Dubrovnik stands out, even against the backdrop of lively Gundulić Square and its innumerable pigeons. From the blue-and-white-striped chairs on the outdoor terrace to the fresh seafood coming out of the kitchen, everything about Kamenice delights. As such, the affordable spot has earned a devoted local following. Settle in for dishes like mussels buzara, black risotto, fried small fish, and just-caught calamari. If you’re a fan of oysters, you’ll also want to order the succulent ones on offer here—sourced from nearby Ston Bay, they’re so fresh you can still taste the clean, salty Adriatic with each slurp.

Chef Julia Sullivan grew up in Music City before moving away to study at the Culinary Institute of America and work at restaurants like New York’s Per Se and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. When she returned home, she opened Henrietta Red with sommelier Allie Poindexter in the culinary hotbed of Germantown. The women bring a strong oyster game to landlocked Tennessee as well as options like wood-roasted pork sausage with broccoli rabe and rhubarb mostarda. Diners can take a seat at the long marble bar for natural wines and craft cocktails or settle into the dining room, where white walls and wood tables create a bright, homey feel.

Continental Europe’s largest shopping department has been supplying well-heeled Berliners with fine foods and upscale fashion for over a hundred years. Eight floors specialise in different goods, but the two most impressive are the ground floor and its ‘Luxury Boulevard,’ which features stores by the likes of Chanel, Bulgari and Tiffany & Co., and the sixth floor’s food hall, where regulars and visitors alike can be found perched at the champagne and oyster bars. More modestly-priced meals and some impressive views can be found in the glass-ceilinged cafe-restaurant on the seventh floor.

Come for the history, stay for the chowder. Bostonians have been slurping down oysters at America’s oldest continuously operating restaurant since 1826, and while you won’t find Union Oyster House on any haute dining lists, it’s well worth a stop when you’re walking the Freedom Trail or exploring the area around Faneuil Hall. Sidle up to the semicircular oyster bar right inside the front door just like Daniel Webster once did, or feast on a classic New England shore dinner in the upstairs dining room, away from the crowds. There you’ll find a plaque marking the booth where JFK liked to scarf baked beans and clam chowder—one of the restaurant’s many reminders of its long history of catering to celebrities.

The Hoxton is one of Downtown Miami‘s newest hotspots. The bar and restaurant is located in Brickell, usually the home to steakhouses and pub, but the Hoxton is a breath of fresh air. The 2-story bar and restaurant is like a beach house in the middle of a totally urban environment. You don’t even feel like you are in downtown once you enter the outdoor patio. You’ll feel like you are in the Hamptons with a variety of plush couches, mood lighting and soft music. The menu includes several seafood favorites including mussels, oysters and chilled Florida shrimp. The cocktails include fresh fruits, juices and herbs, each filled with the exotic flavors of South Florida. Be sure to stop in for happy hour. There’s music and live entertainment nightly, transforming the restaurant into a hot spot for dancing and jamming.

“Mixed-use space” doesn’t come close to describing this hip destination on the banks of the Garonne River. Covering nearly five acres, the Darwin Ecosystème is first and foremost an incubator for sustainable development. Here, in renovated warehouses on the former Niel military barracks, several businesses have set up shop to help propel the green economy. Also on-site is everything from a bike-polo field, skate park, music venue, and free-expression space for graffiti artists to an urban farm, gourmet grocer, and Bordeaux’s largest organic restaurant. When you visit, be sure to stop by Les Chantiers de la Garonne, a “beach bar” on the riverbank where you can relax on a lounge chair with some oysters and Darwin beer (brewed on the premises), then dance the night away to electro beats.

A quick bus ride from the city (or a refreshing end to the Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk), Coogee Pavilion is one of the most happening beach bars in Sydney. The downstairs area is home to a wood-fired pizza oven, oyster bar, juice stall, and kids’ zone with giant Scrabble, pétanque, ping pong, and nautical books, while the breezy rooftop features four different bars, outfitted with love seats and wire-frame stools for taking in the breathtaking bay views. Aussie wines and beers plus fruity cocktails shaken with house-made juice pair with Mediterranean-themed tapas like chargrilled lamb chops and blistered Padrón peppers.

Some say that Keller’s second restaurant in Yountville is even better than his flagship, the French Laundry. The rest of us may never know. But Bouchon is open until midnight seven days a week, and you can grab a seat at the bar without a reservation and spare yourself the theatrics of the more formal dining. Champagne, oysters, and French fries are a fine first course, and the bar also makes a mean martini.

Bouchon is a Thomas Keller star (at a third the price of French Laundry). which serves unpretentious, French fare with a Keller twist. From Croque Madame to steak and roasted chicken, the kitchen puts out classical French bistro fare. Try sitting at the marble-topped bar with a Pastis in one hand and a spoon for mussels in the other. Not only is it quite affordable, but if you are lucky enough to snag an outdoor seat, you may also sit, Paris-style, all afternoon chatting with friends (and I dare you to resist walking into the Bouchon bakery two steps away to complete your meal- or grab a foie treat for your dog!).