Travel Archives - Two Bar Seats

Top 10 Bites of 2025
- Travel, World's Best
2025 was a fun year, filled with trips throughout the US, Europe and Asia.
These are our top new bites that we ate in 2025, in order.

First Place:

Steamed Snow Crab in Taipei, Taiwan

Located at Trésors de la Mer in Addiction Acquatic seafood market, the seasonal snow crab that we selected was steamed simply and prepared perfectly. It was the best snow crab we have ever had, and most likely the best crab we have had in our lives. This bite takes it’s place as number one for 2025, without a doubt. It might have even been worth the entire trip to Taiwan.

For more details on our Taipei trip, see our Taipei travel guide.

Second Place:

Lemongrass Chicken Bahn Mi in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

This photo does not do justice to this magical sandwich. This lemongrass chicken bahn mi is filled with flavor, and the savory meat is tucked between two freshly bakes soft baguettes that crunch perfectly with every bite. We loved it so much that we returned to this bahn mi truck (tucked down an alleyway) every morning we were in Ho Chi Minh (and, yes, you would think by morning 3 I would learn to take a good picture, but here we are). Anyways, the chef made our morning breakfast sandwich feel magically light. 10/10 do recommend.
For more details on this beautiful bahn mi and our Ho Chi Minh recommendations, see our Ho Chi Minh travel guide.

Third Place:

Cajun Prime Rib In Honolulu, Hawaii

Hy’s Steakhouse in Waikiki has quickly become a must-visit for us in Honolulu, and now that we have a top 3 bite from their menu, we will never miss an opportunity to go. This cajun seasoned prime rib is a game changer, and we will undoubtedly order it for every visit in the future. Best prime rib of our lives.
For more Honolulu recommendations, see our Honolulu travel guide.

Fourth:

Beef Tartare in Hong Kong

If you’ve been reading this site, you know we love a good yakiniku. Our favorite spot this year ended up being in Hong Kong (though all time favorite is probably still in Singapore). However, one thing that really stood out to us in Hong Kong was the beef tartare at Yakiniku Sho. It is so much more than it looks. High quality meat. Side of delicious but not even necessary aioli. Covered in cold parmesan. A buttery brioche loaf next to it. Yum. To call it a highlight of the year would be an understatement.

Check out our full Hong Kong travel guide for details on our trip.

Fifth Place:

Tuna Sashimi in Maui, Hawaii

Okay, we’re cheating a little bit here. We have had tuna sashimi at Mama’s Fish House before, and we’ve had it a lot… however – they just put it on their printed menu (you used to have to call in advance). So, one could argue it is “new”? Anyways, this crowd pleaser is one of the best dishes in the world, at one of the best restaurants in the world.
For more recommendations in Maui (especially Wailea), see our Maui travel guide.

Sixth:

Cheese Cart in Vienna, Austria

Steirereck in Vienna is the only 3 Michelin starred restaurant that made it to our best bites list, and a cheese cart is not technically a “bite” it itself… however, let’s be a little lenient here for this absolute masterful cheesemonger who deserves his own Michelin stars. This is the best cheese cart in the world. There are hidden drawers. There are boutique cheeses, including Napoleon’s favorite. It’s amazing.

For more fun restaurants in Vienna, see our Prague & Vienna travel guide.

Seventh:

Beef rendang in Prague, Czech Republic

This Balinese-inspired beef rendang from QQ Asian Kitchen in Prague was outstanding. Perfectly savory with hints of lemongrass and coconut, this was a bite we will remember for years to come.
*P.S. This photo looks professional because it is. We ate this dish so quickly we didn’t get a photo, so we borrowed from their instagram. And, yes, we should probably use professional photos for everything (especially #2 bahn mi) but what’s the fun in that?
For more details on our trip, check out our Prague & Vienna travel guide.

Eighth:

Goulash in Vienna, Austria

Before 2025, we had no idea we even liked goulash. It turns out, Glasswing Bar & Bistro in Vienna changed that, and goulash became a new favorite. We had it twice during our 3 days in Vienna, and would happily eat this savory-umami rich dish again and again.

For more recommendations in this part of the world, check out our Prague & Vienna travel guide.

Ninth:

Al Pastor Skewers in Shoreditch, London UK

The trend in this list shows you that if we find a top 10 bite, we will go out of our way to have it multiple times on a trip, if possible. That was certainly the case with Zapote‘s secreto al pastor skewers. They are coal roasted, served with homamde tortillas and guacamole, and we had them 3 days in a row – which seemed to cause both pride and concern with the chef. Anyways, huge fans.
London is the city we visit the most. For our complete travel guide see our extensive London recommendations.

Tenth:

Lobster Noodles in Maui, Hawaii

Jess hogged most of this dish, but who could blame her? These lobster noodles were mind-blowingly good and garlicky. This was our third or fourth time at Lineage, but our first time trying the noodles and we give them a solid 10/10 (as with every bite on this list).

For more Hawaii recommendations, check out our Maui travel guide, or our Honolulu travel guide.

Honorable Mentions - Restaurants

These restuarants did not have one specific dish that made it into our “top 10 bites” list – however, they were some of our favorite restaurants of the year and we highly recommend them. All of these restaurants we visited for the very first time in 2025, so check them out!
Hanil, Prague (Korean)
Akara, London (West African)
Taro, Prague (Modern Asian)
Sushi Rei, Ho Chi Minh (Omakase)
Kampa Park, Prague (European)

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How We Plan Our Trips
- Travel
New to travel? This very basic guide will walk you through everything it takes to plan a trip, from what to look for in a flight, all the way to planning out restaurants and bars.

Looking for inspiration? Check out our (very) complete London Guide.

Don’t know what to pack? Here’s Jess’s Packing List.

What is most important to us:
Flight Comfort– no connections, no awkward flight times. (While this isn’t always possible, sometimes we do stay in a ‘layover’ city for a few nights just to avoid an airport connection)

Hotels– no tiny rooms, with a focus on bars, gyms, and pools. (If the ‘best’ hotel has very small rooms, we’ll stay somewhere else)

Restaurants

Liveliness– we prefer cities. If we do stay outside of cities, it is important there is at least one or two restaurants/bars walking distance.
HOW WE PLAN
Mapping out the trip– We usually visit many cities per trip. Rome2Rio is our favorite website/app for planning out the best transportation between locations- trains, planes, or cars. We save hotels, restaurants, and more on Google Maps, where we can download an offline map of each city before we arrive. We also get a general idea for available flights before moving forward.

Choose a hotel– Location and room size are our top priorities (above), followed by amenities (pool, gym, bar) and reviews. Before we pick a hotel, we tend to look into restaurants we ‘must visit’ and try to find something walking distance. Sites like CN Traveller and Travel + Leisure provide good information on hotel quality. We also rely quite heavily on Google reviews (Jess’s favorite) and TripAdvisor (which Gio prefers). While we usually book through credit card companies, Jess’s mom is a travel agent and we use her for cruises and some hotels for additional perks.

Look into restaurants– We each have systems for this that are similar, but we look separately and then compare notes before making our final choices. Jess’s process goes like this- 1. Make a list. 2. Search Eater, Thrillist, 50Best, Michelin, etc. 3. Google reviews 4. Zoom in on Google map and look for places close to the hotel we’ll likely stay at.

Book– Book flights, hotels, and transportation. Create an itinerary and place everything on it. (Jess uses GoogleDocs, which can be shared live or converted into Excel).

Research bars & things to do– Add to the list.

Fill out the itinerary– One thing we have learned to do (that may not apply to everyone) is book lunch and dinner for every day of the trip. We will always call and cancel as far in advance as possible if we change our minds (we usually don’t- which is the beauty of doing so much research- and we do bold everywhere that takes a CC on the spreadsheets)… but we’ve learned that we prefer waking up each morning of vacation and knowing that all the decisions have already been made for us.

Travel with carry ons– Every once in a while we will check a bag (usually when traveling with family that is checking or on teeny planes), but we almost always travel carry on. We don’t really need that much, and why would we wait in the airport any longer? It’s so nice to get off a plane and just go (we even did this for our month-long honeymoon). One thing to note- London Heathrow is wildly strict on liquids, so take extra care there (Jess once had her bag pulled because her liquids bag was unzipped).

Then, we’re off!
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How We Rate + Basics
- Travel
At the top of most restaurants and bars in the city guides we post, you will notice a ranking of food, atmosphere, service, and beverage program/wine list (if applicable). All of our ratings are highly subjective and totally biased, but they are there to give you a general idea of how we would rank a place, for us. That way, once you get an idea of how we feel about a place, you can decide how it might feel for you. It might be totally different. It might be the same. The point is- we don’t want you to waste your time. We are just here to share the things we love, and hopefully you will get the opportunity to love them too.
Here are three guides to some of the cities we visit the most:
London Guide // Paris Guide // Singapore Guide
Don’t know what to pack? Here’s Jess’s Packing List.

Special Considerations:

Whenever possible, we sit at the bar.

Sometimes, we review restaurants that offer multiple seating areas and they provide different experiences. It is safe to assume we will be reviewing our time from two bar seats.

We do not mention cost.
Prices change often. If you would like to know the price of anything we review, please contact the restaurant/bar/hotel directly.

We do not have children.
And we don’t pay much mind to them when we are traveling. So, we don’t know how ‘family friendly’ anything is.

We are biased.
Sometimes, all it takes is one good server or bartender to take a service score up a few points. Same with who you’re randomly seated next to. This is why… we do not rate anything we can’t recommend.

We update our city guides after returning to a city.
Restaurants close, people leave. We can’t monitor this site every day, so if you do notice any changes in places we have recommended, let us know.

We eat what we like.
You will rarely see reviews on things we don’t eat often or don’t like… this includes: breakfast, dessert, and cafes (Gio is a non-coffee drinker and Jess hates most sweets). We love Asian food. Also, we do not know how ‘vegan-friendly’ anything is.

Wajo Teppanyaki in the St. Regis, Osaka, Japan

How We rate:

The Four Elements

All elements are rated out of 10 possible points

And not every review will include each (ex. food at bars… or if we don’t eat at a restaurant we will simply rate the bar)

Service

10 = we will remember our server’s name several years down the road after a single visit, and many other members of staff showed great hospitality as well

9+ = world-class, exceptional service

8+ = excellent service

7+ = good service

6+ = average service

5 and below = varying degrees of bad service

Atmosphere

10 = will never forget it for the rest of our lives

9+ = world-class and worth a trip to experience

8+ = excellent atmosphere

7+ = good atmosphere

6+ = average atmosphere

5 and below = varying degrees of an overall bad vibe

Food
10 = we have travelled or will travel around the world solely to eat here again, and we are certain no one in the world can make a better ‘X’
9+ = world-class, exceptional food with very memorable dishes
8+ = excellent food and a memorable dish or two
7+ = good, solid food + might even return
6+ = average food
5 and below = varying degrees of bad food and we would rather not return

Beverage Program/Wine List
10 = either the best cocktails we have ever had OR an exceptional wine list that includes several hard-to-get wines at an unheard-of value
9+ = brilliant and innovative cocktails that are delicious, highly memorable, and provide something for everyone OR world-class wine list from world-class sommelier
8+ = excellent cocktails OR excellent wine list
7+ = good
6+ = average
5 and below = varying degrees of bad beverage management, often providing only bad well-liquor from a single distributor OR ‘wines-by-the glass-only’
0 = ‘natural-wine-list-only’

Wajo Teppanyaki in the St. Regis, Osaka, Japan got an incredible score! 9.5 for service, 9 for food, and 10 for atmosphere

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