10 Memorable Meals Around Asia by Cynthia Rosenfeld

Some people go just for the food while others fear there won’t be anything edible when they get there but everyone can agree that travel is a culinary adventure. For those who seek to satisfy their taste buds between dives in the deep blue sea, Hong Kong shopping sprees or exhaustive tours among the ruins of Angkor Wat, these are some of Asia’s worthiest refueling spots.

1. Meric, Cambodia

French chef Johannes Riviere crafts a set Khmer menu from seasonal ingredients, mostly organic, found in the surrounding lowland jungles and upland hill country, including the Kampot pepper from which the restaurant takes its name. Hotel guests can enhance their dining experience by joining the Khmer-speaking Riviere on his morning market rounds for regional delicacies like the Battambang snake he grills and shreds onto green mango salad, updating the traditional Thai dish with a crispy twist.

2. Green T. House Living, China

Thirty minutes drive from the center of Beijing, this artful culinary pilgrimage spot welcomes with a pebble strewn, minimalist exterior that recalls a Zen garden. Inside, the stark all white dining room holds two seemingly endless tables that turn meals into a communal party with green tea wasabi prawns coated in corn flakes that will tickle the tongue and curly chicken in crispy Sichuan pepper and Oolong tea leaves. Before visiting the underground boutique, savor an elaborate tea ceremony with homemade flower brew.

3. Family Li’s Dishes Restaurant, China

Eat like a king, literally because the chef here is the direct descendent of Li Xun Qind, the chef to the last Emperor of China. More than 300 recipes destroyed by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution have been resurrected here, including the pickled vegetables, fried pork and jellied sweets once enjoyed by the sons of heaven.

4. Maisen, Japan

Chic boutiques surround this well established eatery famous throughout Japan for ton-katsu, deep fried pork that even health food junkies admit to craving. Simple dining rooms focus the attention on generous platters heaped with the specialty but equally worthy are fresh sashimi and even the unusually fluffy rice.

5. Pulhyanggi, South Korea

Stick to the diet of Korean monks at this simple Seoul eatery where wild sesame tofu soup and crispy fried water lily roots are standouts on the eighteen mini-dish tasting menu that draws brand clad locals who clearly have no intention of living an otherwise ascetic existence.

6. Imperial Herbal Restaurant, Singapore

Waitresses feel each diner’s pulse then look at the tongue before taking an order here and jet lagged diners are invariable advised to start with fried egg whites, scallops and ladybell root believed to stimulate ‘qi’. The resident herbalist whips up organic remedies made from dried caterpillars and pickled seahorses which are added to Imperial Chinese dishes like the double boiled snow frog’s glands with rock sugar, said to improve liver and kidney functions for diners with a sense of adventure.

7. Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Singapore

Since 1944, this chain of air-conditioned kopitiams, a local term for coffee shop, has been a breakfast and lunch favorite for thinly sliced toast spread generously with kaya, a creamy mixture of coconut and egg infused with fragrant pandan leaves and sweetened with brown sugar. Generous butter slabs melt on contact with the just char-grilled squares. Thick, black coffee and half boiled eggs round out the minimalist menu at this family-run enterprise.

8. Din Tai Fung, Taiwan

Even Jackie Chan lines up to devour the xiao long bao, or soup dumplings at the original, 30 year old outlet of this Taiwanese chain entirely lacking in ambience. These bite size standard bearers boast an outer flour skin of precisely five grams stuffed with sixteen grams of pork or crab then folded eighteen times. Balance the palate with sweet red bean or taro dumplings for dessert.

9. Bed Supperclub, Thailand

Aussie chef Paul Hutt inherited a kitchen better known as an afterthought at Bangkok’s perennially hot nightspot but quickly turned the lounging spot into this town’s most coveted dinner reservations. Ascend the funky pod’s staircase then recline to dine on an ever-changing pre-fixe menu while DJs keep the groove going until Bangkok’s strict 2 a.m. curfew.

10. Cha Ca La Vong, Vietnam

Do not be afraid to climb the rickety stairs, Vietnamese cadre and more recently foreigners march up them daily. No need to order as only one dish is served here, fresh local whitefish fried up on the charcoal burner at the table with peanuts, onions, turmeric, dill and plenty of cilantro. Plopped atop mounds of rice noodles, this Vietnamese mainstay has legions of loyalists.