[imagesource: Justin Patrick / Daily Maverick]

You’ll find a lot of lists doing to rounds at the moment that rank the world’s best restaurants.

TripAdvisor, Eat Out, and awards ceremonies like The World’s 50 Best awards all claim to be the last word on where good food is served.

While those lists are all great, and a good guide to picking a restaurant while travelling, anyone who has ever eaten the best meal of their life, in a place with so little atmosphere it’s basically flatlining, will tell you that location can make all the difference to how we experience our food.

That’s why Forbes consulted the experts to find out where they like to hang out, and more importantly, where they’d send their friends.

Gerhard Huber, one of a very small number of people who has dined at every three-star Michelin restaurant in the world, is a cofounder of foodle.pro, an international online community of food enthusiasts.

And Matt Goulding is an Emmy- and James Beard Award–winning journalist, serial cook and travel book author (most recently of Vegetables Unleashed, with chef José Andrés), who has sold more than 10 million copies of his work.

They came up with a list of the 10 coolest restaurants in the world, which even features a local favourite.

Alchemist, Copenhagen

Huber is beyond excited about this high-concept dining experience. “Try to get a seat in the new best restaurant on earth! No more words needed,” he says. “Fifty-plus impressions of thoughtful, impactful tastes. It’s El Bulli updated and brought into the 21st century. Extraordinary techniques paired with fantastic flavors.

Direkte, Barcelona

Direkte is in the heart of Barcelona, perched on the edge of the famous Boqueria market,” explains Goulding. “Chef Arnau Muñío is pushing the boundaries of market cuisine at this nine-seat counter, with its daily changing menu and its inventive dishes that fuse the Japanese techniques and aesthetic with the best of Catalonia’s seasonal bounty.

Hiakai, Wellington

In Goulding’s view, “Chef Monique Fiso is a special talent, a woman with a vision for merging ancient Maori techniques and traditions with modernist touches and a boundless imagination.”

Jordnær, Gentofte, Denmark

“A former gang enforcer found the right path in life through unconditional love toward his wife and gastronomy,” explains Brask Thomsen. “Jordnær took everyone in Denmark by surprise when Michelin awarded the then unknown restaurant in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen a star during its first year of opening.”

Kjolle, Lima

“For me, Kjolle is the best restaurant in the Virgilio Martinez empire,” states Huber. “It’s run by Martinez’s wife, Pía León, and housed in the same building his famous Central, tucked away upstairs in a lofty, airy space.”

Meizan Kimiya, Kagoshima, Japan

Another of Huber’s favorites, this restaurant is the work of a team of brothers, Kazuki and Kinsei Kimiya, “one doing sushi (cleaning and hand-drying the antic glasses), the other cooking kaiseki (and being responsible for cleaning and drying the dishes).

Mercado Little Spain, New York City

“José Andrés fed a few hundred thousand people this year and still found time to open one of the most ambitious food concepts in the restaurant industry,” notes Goulding. “Teaming up with Iberian heavyweights Ferran and Albert Adria, Andrés and his team opened Mercado Little Spain, a 35,0000-square-feet love letter to Spanish cuisine in the middle of Manhattan.”

Salsify, Cape Town

“The former hunting lodge of Lord Charles Somerset, overlooking the wonderful coastline of Camps Bay, very recently saw the opening of the newest child of the Dale-Roberts empire,” Huber says.

“Chef and partner Ryan Cole, a Test Kitchen alumnus, reigns in the kitchen. His is better than the overhyped Test Kitchen. There’s a rare à la carte option. Go for it, bring friends, and eat every single dish on the menu.”

A cracking view, superb food, and you can basically roll down the hill for a swim if need be – congrats to everyone who has made Salsify what it is.

Soneva Fushi, Kunfunadhoo Island, Maldives

“Being the barefoot luxury resort of A-list celebrities, it comes with the territory that Soneva Fushi’s dining options are among the very best around the Indian Ocean,” says Brask Thomsen.

“You can dine in tree crowns under a billion stars, in luscious tropical gardens after having foraged your own food, at a 3-star Michelin sushi counter, or on a sandbank all alone with a menu especially prepared for you. With its seven restaurants and long range of bespoke dining options, this Maldivian creates the mission impossible of culinary experiences.”

UNDER, Lindesnes, Norway

“A restaurant meets a James Bond villain hideout meets an underwater auditorium inside a fjord where the vikings used to hang out in the rocky outskirts of Southern Norway,” is how Brask Thomsen sums up this off-the-beaten-path spot.

And that’s it – your restaurant guide for the next time you travel.

Also, while you’re in Camps Bay, stop by Café Caprice for a sundowner.

[source:forbes]