Bar & Bites: From Michelin-starred diners in Spain to street food in Thailand, my most memorable meals

May 18 is my 50th birthday, so in an utterly self-indulgent move, here are the best five food experiences I’ve had based on cities. SAN SEBASTIAN/DONOSTIA, SPAIN The most my wife and I have ever spent on a meal was at Martin Berasategui’s three Michelin-starred Basque restaurant just outside Donostia on my 39th birthday. The service, the room, the tableware, the food, the everything made this also the most memorable and best-value lunch of my half-century. One dish, a “salad” of lobster and vegetables suspended in a clear tomato “jelly”, looked like a Joan Miro artwork and made me gasp at its sheer beauty. Fine dining perfection. While in Basque country, we also ate at Asador Etxebarri — then a one-star woodfired restaurant in the hillside town of Axpe. Smoked butter, yoghurt and goose barnacles, plus the best darn steak ever. Unsurprisingly, Asador Etxebarri ascended the World’s Best 50 Restaurants list to be, at one stage, the world’s best joint outside of Copenhagen. The pintxos in San Sebastian’s old town are also next level. This place is food heaven. Don’t tell the French. MEMPHIS, US Intimidated by the size of the appetisers at B.B. King’s on Beale Street, we tried to order small at Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous in downtown Memphis. Thankfully, the waiter was having none of it. The best ribs. The best. So good that when former US ambassador to Australia Robert McCallum Jr. threw a barbecue to meet his new hosts in Canberra, he airlifted in a barbecue feast from Charlie Vergos. Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken is also a must-stop spot in the home of Elvis. NEW YORK, US New York City is like Ancient Rome, the world’s treasures all gathered in the cultural capital. The best of the planet’s cuisines also collide in the Big Apple, from a pastrami on rye sandwich at Katz’s Delicatessen to a Michelin-starred haute cuisine lunch at Jean-Georges’ gorgeously appointed restaurant on Central Park. Equally, a hotdog at Madison Square Garden or street corn on the bar at a Dominican diner in the Lower East Side, or a Monte Cristo sanga and Southern Bloody Mary for brunch at the defunct Prune, all make every meal in NYC an event. PHUKET, THAILAND When asked that age-old question of which one country’s cuisine would you eat exclusively for the rest of your life, my answer is usually Thai. From street food to great restaurants, it’s hard to have a bad feed in this beautiful country. Cocktails are as spectacular as the food. Two favourites both happened in Phuket: a VERY memorable dinner at Baan Rim Pa on a cliff overlooking Patong Bay where I proposed to my wife, and Mom Tri’s Kitchen in nearby Kata Beach. PERTH, AUSTRALIA Yeah, yeah, I know. Sucking up to my homies. From my favourite degustations at Restaurant Amuse (bring it back!) to the brilliant Hainanese chicken (and fermented sambal) at Tak Chee House in Northbridge, Perth has some great places to eat. I’ve had some wonderful meals in other Aussie cities — strangely, Adelaide stands out — but this town has given me more than I can recall. Where to eat next?