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The open-kitchen, low-key vibe at El Mercado is Rafael Osterling’s take on the traditional cevichería, but he offers some modern twists guaranteed to keep taste buds active and delighted. The restaurant’s name—Spanish for “The Market”—alludes to a commitment to constant communication with providers, ensuring that only the freshest ingredients make it to your table. Though El Mercado is justly hailed for ceviche, there is much more on the menu, including a wide variety of tiraditos, causas, sushi, grilled meat and fish, chaufa (fried rice), pastas, and Osterling’s rendition of other Peruvian comfort foods. Along with cuisine grounded in what’s found at farmers’ markets, catch-of-the-day specials are wide-ranging and likely to be winners.

The mother of unique Bangkok retail experiences is undoubtedly Chatuchak Weekend Market, Thailand’s largest outdoor bazaar. Known as Jatujak or simply JJ, it has 15,000 stalls spread over 35 acres and sells almost everything under the sun. This is the place to buy a Beatles cushion or shop for a new pet cobra or a hand-carved Buddha icon. With 200,000 people descending on the market every weekend, it’s best to come early, and perseverance can uncover a veritable treasure trove of collectibles ranging from beautiful ceramics and handicrafts to exquisite jewelry.

Placencia’s best sit-down local restaurant is located smack in the heart of the village. Wendy’s is a favorite with locals for its hearty breakfast—fried eggs with refried beans and tortillas—before work or before heading out on a sun-and-sea excursion. The restaurant is also a solid choice for lunch and dinner, and is reasonably priced for the wide variety of dishes it offers, like quesadillas, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, beans and rice, and seafood. The walls are covered with local art, and the spacious veranda offers views of the comings and goings along the village’s main road. Wendy’s rarely closes and seldom disappoints, in food or in service.

This impressive restaurant in the heart of Hobart serves authentic and delicious Greek food using locally sourced Tassie products. Try the warm phyllo-wrapped feta with Cretan honey and black sesame, or calamari cooked in a rich sauce of tomato, cinnamon, cumin and bay leaves. Finish off with baklava served with house-made hazelnut ice cream.

From the fertile lands of Anatolia to gourmet kitchens around the world, Nar Lokanta is a restaurant with a gourmet shop that offers a range of natural products grown, produced and packaged to the highest international standards in Turkey. The olive, hazelnut and pistachio oils as well as nuts, dried fruits, preserves and Turkish delight make ideal gifts for your friends back home—or for yourself.

Aroos Damascus (which translates as “the Bride of Damascus”), on Al Muraqqabat Road in Dubai’s old Deira district, is an ode to Syrian cuisine. The lively atmosphere and great food draw a diverse crowd of South Asians, Filipinos, and locals looking for an alternative to enclosed malls and expensive restaurants. Platters of assorted appetizer, and entrees of kebabs, steaks, kibbeh, fatoosh, and flavorful Arabic pizzas (manaeesh) are served all day (and until late in the evening) inside or on the patio.

Just as taking in some of the iconic sights—Mayan temples and rivers—is a must for visitors to Orange Walk, so is stopping for a meal at Nahil Mayab. The restaurant, the name of which translates to “House of the Maya,” is owned by a respected Orange Walk family. The garden restaurant serves a variety of typical Mestizo and Caribbean-inspired dishes in an inside dining room or outside on the patio under an umbrella. Sample the popular tacos arracheras (skirt steak), the pork salpicón (a chopped hash that’s an Orange Walk specialty), fried fish, quesadillas, or a variety of burgers, salads, steaks, and pasta. The atmosphere is casual and lively, particularly on the weekends, when many Orange Walkeños gather here to catch up.

Auntie or Teta Smilja, as locals lovingly call her, opened her cozy shop back in 1994. Since then, her sweets—made using traditional and original recipes—have been featured in international magazines and won national awards. Packed to go, her klaštuni (walnut-filled dough) and amareti (almond cookies with lemon and orange) will make your walk around Korčula memorably sweet.

La Casa de Don Juan knows how to do breakfast. An instant hit when it opened, the restaurant initially focused entirely on the most important meal of the day with dishes like pancakes, huevos divorciados (two fried eggs, separated on the plate by refried beans), chilaquiles (eggs, scrambled or fried with crisp strips of tortilla and topped with salsa), and several other Mexican favorites. Its café de olla—a traditional cinnamon-sugar coffee—might be the best in all Los Cabos. Everything tastes like the most incredible home cooking, and the space itself more resembles a two-story residence than a traditional restaurant. The menu and hours have now extended to include lunch. Opt for the prix fixe menu or à la carte on taquitos (rolled tacos), cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), or chile relleno (a poblano chile stuffed with cheese and then batter fried).

Why we love it: An exclusive oasis, sheltered from the crowds that have descended on Iceland

The Highlights:
- Access to a new, private area of the Blue Lagoon reserved just for hotel and spa guests
- Rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and lagoon views
- Custom toiletries made with geothermal seawater

The Review:
As Iceland’s popularity exploded over the last decade, the Blue Lagoon gained a bad rap for being a crowded tourist trap. However, the spring 2018 opening of The Retreat at the Blue Lagoon transformed a corner of the UNESCO-recognized Reykjanes Peninsula from a tourist attraction into an intimate hideaway, perfect for those who want to experience the mineral-rich waters in a cell phone–free private lagoon away from the selfie stick–wielding crowds next door.

It’s easy to spend the entire day here floating in the three newly created geothermal pools located within 800-year-old lava rock (don’t miss the unusual—yet deeply relaxing—underwater massage), but when you eventually have to go indoors, floor-to-ceiling windows allow the bright blue waters and the surrounding volcanic landscape to take center stage. Minimalistic-yet-cozy communal spaces, designed by Basalt Architects and Milan-based Design Group Italia (DGI), are equally pleasing to the eye, especially the living room–like lobby, which is decorated with oversized leather chairs and a 1,600-piece collection of ceramics from the Icelandic Museum of Design & Applied Art. Sixty-two guest rooms—all with deep stand-alone tubs and rain showers—look onto the lagoon or the surrounding lava fields (though don’t try swimming in this part, as it’s been intentionally left unheated so that you can enjoy the view with complete privacy). Before you check out, follow our lead and swipe the toiletries made with geothermal seawater sourced from the on-site volcanic aquifers.

When hunger strikes, guests can enjoy casual, healthy meals at the spa restaurant, or head upstairs to Moss for a seven-course meal at the chef’s table, hewn from lava rock quarried on site. It’ll likely still be light outside when dinner is over, so change into your swimsuit for a dip in the lagoon, which stays open until midnight for hotel guests (in winter, you might even catch the northern lights). After a breakfast of Icelandic skyr and house-made gravlax, venture farther afield to the nearby town of Grindavik to ride an ATV through the volcanic landscape. Retreat hosts can also take guests on guided hikes up the dormant volcano behind the property.

Surrounded by nature, La Vigie has water on one side and a small pine forest on the other. Perhaps all this exposure to nature inspired Chef Paolo Sari to create his organic menu of pastas and seafood cooked in a regional Italian style, the first organic restaurant to earn a Michelin star. Since this is practically (but not technically) Monaco, there is caviar on the menu, but the overall ambience is casual-chic, not glamorous. In addition to reservations, sunglasses and hats are necessary to combat the intense light playing off the waves.

Nobu Restaurant, located at the marina of Four Seasons Hotel Doha, is the biggest Nobu restaurant in the world. Its Friday brunches are a true epicurean adventure from 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Its elite brunch includes sushi stations, foie gras, oysters, salads, fresh orange-spotted trevally, wild caught black-streaked monocle, spicy chicken tacos, wagyu rib eye with anticucho, shrimp tempura amazu ponzuand, and its signature dish: black cod in yusu miso, among other mouth-watering dishes. Of course, all of this comes with a price tag. Regular brunch is 355 QAR, ($98); Brunch with alcohol is 475 QAR, ($130). Then again, the place is right along the water’s edge on the Arabian Gulf, boasts massive amounts of room for everyone to move around both indoors and outdoors, and has a 360-degree panoramic cityscape and water views, creating an unrivaled ambiance to dine, dish and spend time with family and friends.

An ornate late-Victorian heap of red sandstone, the Kelvingrove (located within a lovely park of the same name) is Glasgow’s signature museum—and one of the most popular attractions in Scotland. Free to enter, it features a full house of historic exhibitions on everything from animals to Ancient Egypt and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, plus a wide range of important Scottish art (like Colourist Samuel John Peploe’s Roses), several French and Dutch works, and Salvador Dalí’s iconic Christ of Saint John of the Cross. Visiting exhibitions, such as Leonardo da Vinci drawings, round out the offerings. There are also regular organ recitals and free tours on weekends, making the Kelvingrove a perfect family attraction.

Dubai’s Western and South Asian expats are only part of the city’s immigrant mix—Arab expats, many fleeing war-torn countries, thrive here too, and thriving restaurants like Samad Al Iraqi are the proof. Try to visit the location on Al Muraqqabat Road, which is one of the city’s most charming streets, where you’ll dine alongside Iraqis of all classes and backgrounds. This spot is worth a visit just for its grilled masgouf fish, a famous Iraqi dish dating all the way back to the Babylonian era. Craving meat? The kebabs and mixed dolmas (veggies stuffed with lamb and rice) are first-rate.

This is dinner (or lunch) theater like you’ve never experienced before. You’re guaranteed a show at the Miraflores Restaurant, atop the Miraflores Visitor Center, when your table has views of the ships passing through the locks. It may be a touristy spot, but the restaurant gets high marks for its lunch buffet and dinner menu, with the ceviche and fresh grilled fish especially good options.