DESTINATION: DEGUSTATION

From acclaimed new openings to all-time classics and reinvigorated favourites, these fresh global dining experiences are well worth the journey, writes Chris Dwyer.

- Chris Dwyer

People don't just have lunch or grab dinner anymore – now, it's all about 'culinary experiences'. If that feels a bit too much like Ralph Fiennes strutting the dining room with his meat cleaver, fear not. These global gourmand capers are all more than legit – and all distinctly delicious. Book a flight, make a reservation and take off for 'destination: degustation'.

Da Nang

La Maison 1888 at InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort

This resort has drawn in-the-know gastronomes since opening thanks to a smorgasbord of first-class dining concepts, but the latest addition marks an enormous coup. La Maison 1888, an Indochinese mansion from the maverick mind of designer Bill Bensley, has just announced Christian Le Squer from three-Michelin-starred Le Cinq in Paris as the new name above the door. Chef de cuisine Florian Stein ensures that Le Squer's dishes seriously wow in Central Vietnam, notably the ingenious 'Standing Spaghetti' – which may just make you think you've been nipping at the claret just a little too long.

danang.intercontinental.com

Istanbul

Serica Restaurant at The Bank Hotel

Istanbul is incontrovertibly one of the world's finest food cities but doesn't always get the respect it merits. Thankfully neo-Turkish restaurants such as Serica are changing perceptions with thrilling influences from Anatolia, the Black Sea and beyond. From the menu, a Jenga-esque rectangle of crisp bread comes decked in marinated anchovies, bottarga and enough garlic-rich aioli to scare off Vlad Dracul himself. Cool lettuce is then buried under an avalanche of local ewe's cheese, before lamb shoulder cooked in the tandoor with stuffed onion and apricot purée marks the perfect crescendo. Views over the mosques of Sultanahmet add to the sense of Turkish delight.

thebankhotelistanbul.com

Bangkok