View over Rothenburg ob der Tauber on Germany’s Romantic Road. Photo: German Tourism Office Let’s be honest: the Romantic Road isn’t all romantic. The tourist route was dreamed up as a post-war marketing ploy, anchored at its southern end by King Ludwig II of Bavaria’s famous fairy-tale castle at Neuschwanstein. Things ended badly for the […]
Sea bream in broth from Kashiwaya restaurant in Osaka. Photo: Harry Nakanishi You might well feel like a clumsy oaf as you follow your kimono-clad hostess across stepping stones in a gravel courtyard. She will fold herself into a kneeling position on a tatami mat, a human origami of shimmering silk and studied grace. She’ll pour […]
Steeping longjing tea at the traditional teahouse in Wenshu Temple, Chengdu, China. Photo: iStock You haven’t properly experienced Chengdu until you give up your sightseeing plans and prepare to do nothing. Settle into a slope-backed bamboo chair, stretch your feet out and let the afternoon drift away. Listen to the slosh of hot water being […]
El Celler de Can Roca, Girona. Photo: Supplied Dishes infused with the essence of distilled soil and the extracted aroma of old books. A dessert inspired by a Lionel Messi goal. Joan Roca is known for creativity, innovation and precision and it’s reflected in the many accolades for his restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, […]
Pictured from left: Matias Cilloniz who runs the Australian-style restaurant-cafe Mo Bistro in Lima, Adelaide-based Jock Zonfrillo (centre) and Peruvian-born chef Pedro Schiaffino in the remote Peruvian city of Iquitos. Photo: Max Veenhuyzen Max Veenhuyzen explores the Indigenous food of the storied forest and river region with chefs Jock Zonfrillo and Pedro Schiaffino. Before it was the planet’s one-stop-shop for everything, […]
Mud crabs are cooked over coals on the beach on True North Adventure Cruises. Photo: Supplied The Kimberley in Western Australia is flush with unique dining experiences that are as adventurous as they are delicious. How about freshly caught threadfin salmon while watching a waterfall that flows sideways? Or a three-course meal featuring local produce while […]
Enjoy uninterrupted views of the sunset at Tre360Bar in Labuan Bajo. Photo: Sofia Levin Not everyone has heard of Labuan Bajo on Flores’ west coast. In fact not everyone has heard of Flores, an Indonesian island an hour’s flight from Bali. As demand to visit komodo dragons and dive some of the world’s best waters in UNESCO-recognised […]
Bags of spices on sale at an Indian market. Photo: Shutterstock Best known as one of the judges of MasterChef Australia, Gary Mehigan has been cooking in Australia since the 1990s. Originally from Britain, he trained at Michelin-starred restaurants The Connaught Hotel (under Michel Bourdan) and Le Souffle at the Hyde Park Intercontinental (under Peter […]
Colourful fish and vegetables from Ubud public market. Photo: Shutterstock Satay sticks. Fish grilled on the beach. Nasi Goreng or fried rice. If this is all you know about eating out in Bali, it’s time for a refresher. The Indonesian resort island has evolved into a serious culinary destination in the past few years with […]
Fly or ferry to Isle of Pines for regional specialties. Photo: New Caledonia Tourism Eating foie gras on a beach is weird. Not bad weird, more out-of-context weird, like when you see your local barista at the supermarket and can’t place them. It’s how I feel during my trip to Noumea, New Caledonia’s capital. I […]
Pike Place Market is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers’ markets in the US. Photo: Carla Grossetti Two decades after a motley crew of flannel-shirted musos put Seattle on the map, the Emerald City is being heralded for its entrepreneurial spirit and rich culinary and craft traditions. Galleries, boutique hotels and upscale restaurants […]
Adam Liaw’s take on chuan’r – spicy, charred lamb skewers. Photo: William Meppem China was the seventh most popular destination for Australian travellers in 2017 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, an increase of 17 per cent from the previous year, with China a more popular choice than Japan and India. Travellers with Beijing […]
One of the joys of travelling in Thailand is joining a clump of locals rusted onto a roadside stall sucking satay gai off sticks. Photo: iStock If you judge a city by the number of construction cranes elbowing the sky, then Bangkok is in boom mode. But if you look beyond the high rises and […]
San Telmo’s Sunday market in Buenos Aires, Argentina, sells clothes, food and antiques such as soda siphons. Photo: Shutterstock Dave Parker fell in love with Argentina in 2004. As a law student, he had taken time off uni to travel Europe and South America. In Brazil he met an Argentinian girl who invited him home. […]
Aperol spritz with cicchetti (traditional Venetian snacks) on the canal in Venice. Photo: Shutterstock “If Rome is a living museum, then Venice is a dream,” says Rinaldo “Ronnie” Di Stasio. The Thornbury-born son of Italian migrants is a hospitality legend in Melbourne, best known for the groundbreaking restaurant Rosati in the 1980s and for presiding for the past 31 years over […]
Yakitori (grilled chicken skewers). Photo: Shutterstock He’s the English-born chef behind Sydney’s 2018 (equal) best restaurant, the multi-award winning, three-hatted (and Japanese-influenced) Sepia. With plans under way to open a new restaurant with Melbourne restaurateur Chris Lucas, we catch up with Benn after a recent trip to Tokyo, a city he and wife and Sepia […]
The bright lights of riverside Clarke Quay. Photo: Supplied Singapore is hot. Not just steamy, sweaty, 32-degrees-in-the-shade hot, but gastronomically hot. We’ve been writing about Singapore food ever since our first satays and steamboats in the 1980s, and recently racked up our 30th visit. Why? Because the locals are so obsessed with food, we feel right […]
Australian-born Skye Gyngell reveals her favourite places for tasty treats in London. Photo: Amber Rowlands Chat with Skye Gyngell for two minutes and it’s easy to understand why the Australian-born, Paris-trained chef has called London home for more than 30 years. Gyngell, who shot to celebrity chef-dom in 2011 when Petersham Nurseries Cafe was awarded […]
Dunedin brewery Emerson’s new restaurant and bar has a dedicated taproom and dining area. Photo: Lewis Mulatero “Have your tried the cheese rolls? You have to try them – they’re delicious and they’re our southern sushi!” It’s not often that the humble cheese roll gets elevated to the role of cultural icon, but in Dunedin, […]
With mojitos costing about $5, it’s always happy hour in Havana. Photo: iStock “And because this is Cuba, everyone has sugar in their coffee,” says our guide, as we stop for refreshments on our walking tour of old Havana. To prove the point, if you order a cafe Cubano, you’ll receive a brew prepared with […]
Once a tin-mining boomtown, the Malaysian town of Ipoh is now best known as a food destination. Photo: kazhiya About two hours drive north from Kuala Lumpur, the towering limestone outcrops of Malaysia’s Kinta Valley are suddenly punctuated by the word “Ipoh”, standing tall on the hillside in huge, white, Hollywood-style letters. That sign, jokes […]
Traditional beef-dripping fish and chips at The Magpie Cafe. Photo: Supplied Few things grind my gears like French people having a dig at English food. “One cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad,” said Jacques Chirac when he was president of La Grande Nation in 2005. It’s a reputation based on utter bollocks. England […]
The award-winning key lime pie from Miami restaurant A Fish Called Avalon. Photo: Mike Wantz For better or worse, there are few places on earth quite like Miami. Officially declared a city in 1896 with a population of 300, in just over a century it has rapidly billowed into a city of almost six million […]
Soursop (foreground), bananas and papaya at Punanga Nui Market, Aitutaki, Cook Islands. Photo: Dyland Harrison/Cook Islands Tourism Ah, the South Pacific. Turquoise waters, palm trees, powder-sand beaches, chilled-out locals … and bog-ordinary food. Yes, the otherwise beguiling region’s Achilles heel for any stomach-obsessed traveller has long been its less than vibrant food scene. Across Vanuatu, […]
Museum Restaurant in St Anton, an Austrian chalet beneath pine trees glittering with ice and fairy lights. Photo: Supplied Few things are more agreeable than crunching through snow, beneath pine trees glittering with ice and fairy lights, towards an age-blackened chalet whose windows are oblong yellow invitations in the cold night. Warm air hugs you […]
Wheels of Switzerland’s most famous cheese matures on wooden shelves in Gruyeres. Photo: iStock The countryside is vivid green and gently rolling, patchworked with fir woods and cherry orchards. Villages of red-roofed farmhouses hunker in soft valleys. The black-and-white cows that chew the lush meadows are a special breed that produces some of Switzerland’s best-known […]
Mexican vibe: Tacos at Chupacabra in Byron Bay. Photo: Supplied Once, they came for surf and soul-searching. Now, Byron Bay’s famous barefoot charms are just a warm-up act for a different main event: food. The hippies and healers have always coexisted here with gastronomy’s raw materials: rich soil, temperate subtropical climate, nutrient-rich ocean and bountiful […]
Whitegrass in Singapore, run by Australian chef Sam Aisbett, has made it into the Michelin Guide universe. Photo: Supplied You can rattle off a list of famous American, European chefs and British chefs without thinking twice, but how many top Asian chefs can you name? It’s time we got to know our near neighbours a […]
Salted cod and asparagus dish from Angler Restaurant at South Place Hotel. Photo: Paul Winch-Furness Follow the tourist hordes and you’d imagine that the West End is where it’s happening in the British capital, with its royal sights, theatre district and Monopoly-board streets clogged with sightseeing buses. Yet the overlooked East End – popularly associated […]
The small daily menu at Lyle’s is intensely seasonal, reflecting what’s best on any given day in London. Photo: Per-Anders Jorgensen The original Great Fire of 1666 was ignited by a spark from a wood oven on Pudding Lane. Nothing much has changed. After years of running forward, chefs are now taking a giant step back, […]
Eggplants and citrus at Sigatoka market. Photo: Lindy Alexander Chicken curry and ‘poor man’s rice’ recipes Walking through the bustling Sigatoka market with Fijian chef Shailesh Naidu is not a quick affair. After spotting him, locals weave around the tables piled high with pyramids of tomatoes, bundles of purple beans and glossy eggplants in order […]
The famous skyline of New York City. Photo: Supplied So you’re off to New York and you want to experience “it” – that magic and mayhem you’ve seen and heard in countless sitcoms, romcoms, movies and songs. The stylish hotel, the cocktails, the jazz and the cabs. But where to start? With the quintessential New York, […]
Perfect simplicity: A plate of hummus. Photo: Marina Oliphant You won’t find a table for two at a Lebanese restaurant. This is a cuisine that’s made for sharing, where the surface of even the most capacious table is made to work down to the last inch. The abundance of mezze dishes that come in waves […]
Champa Lodge’s kampot pepper crab. Photo: Ian Lloyd Neubauer Since the 13th century, Kampot, a southern Cambodian province in the foothills of the Elephant Mountains, has been known for the cultivation of the finest peppercorns in the world. Piquant but floral with hints of eucalyptus and an extra-long finish, Kampot pepper is among a select […]
Vegan cooking class in Udaipur, India. Photo: Supplied “My plan for you is to leave India with an extra kilogram,” says Bhagirath Purohit. Our tour leader smiles, looks down at his belly and pats it. I survey the rounds of warm, whole-wheat chapatti, springy khaman (steamed chickpea cake) flecked with mustard seeds, long pods of […]
Cured salmon dish from Restaurant Champlain in Quebec. Photo: Quebec City Tourism You could almost be in Brittany. Down at the harbour, Bistro St-Malo on the rue St-Paul has rough stone walls plastered in old Gauloises posters. Businesspeople sit elbow-to-elbow over duck leg, cassoulet and rabbit in red wine. Soon, you might be tucking into […]