2025 was another rewarding year for my wife Jun and I for our culinary journey where we continued to explore restaurants (both old favorites and new discoveries) in DC, NYC and beyond. It was a year filled with amazing trips that broadened our horizon. Early in the year, we made a long overdue trip to Mexico City, and Mexican food in the Stateside never felt the same afterwards. We’ve certainly hit some of the most popular restaurants in the city, but what I still remember fondly is all these incredible tacos at humble taquerias. I had visited Cape Town back in 2014, and it was a truly eye-opening trip that led me to fall in love with travel; to that end, I was super excited to bring Jun along this time, and our anniversary trip in Cape Town, along with the exceptionally beautiful Namibia, was truly awesome. Cape Town’s culinary scene, already outstanding on my first visit, was even better than I had remembered. Jun and I had always been partial to red wines (particularly pinot noirs from Burgundy, Oregon and California), but 2025 was a year we finally fell in love with champagne during our trip to Champagne (and a brief stint in Paris). I had no idea how much hard work and dedication go into producing these bubblies until we visited some of the leading champagne houses like Billecart-Salmon and Taittinger in the summer, as well as the variety of styles and characters where you can discover your favorites even among relatively unknown growers. We also hung out with my parents for my mother’s 70th birthday in Switzerland, and while the food was not the focus of our trip, we ate relatively well and enjoyed the stunning beauty of the Jungfrau region. We again made a few trips to NYC visiting old favorites like Frevo and Atomix, but 2025 is the year we discovered Sushi Sho which truly set the standard for sushi. On the DC side, we were extremely sad to see one of our favorite restaurants Reverie close (best of luck to chef Johnny Spero for his next endeavor), but we also found a few places like Queen’s English and Moon Rabbit that we found ourselves coming back to again and again. I am thankful for a memorable 2025 and look forward to another journey full of surprises and enjoyment in 2026. Below are the top 40 dishes from 2025 that I can’t stop thinking about. 

NOTE: We did go to Los Angeles in late December 2025; this list excludes the dishes from our visits to restaurants in LA. I will make sure to include favorite dishes from that trip in the 2026 list.

Top Dishes of the Year

1. Corzetti Stampati @ Osteria Mozza (DC)

One of the hottest openings in DC in the last couple of years is the new outpost of acclaimed chef Nancy Silverton’s Osteria Mozza in the former Dean & DeLuca space in Georgetown. We visited Osteria Mozza a couple of times and the restaurant did live up to its hype. My favorite from the visits was this pasta dish with eggplant, olives and ricotta cheese; the explosion of flavor even without the use of meat ingredients was quite a feat from the kitchen.

2. Wagyu Steak @ Kappo (DC)

Another new restaurant we discovered in DC in 2025 was Kappo where the famed Japanese wagyu beef is the centerpiece. Jun and I were impressed with the high level of execution and consistency from the restaurant’s tasting menu. I had eaten some outstanding wagyu beef dishes before but I would say the steak from Kappo was one of the best I’ve had, with juicy texture and impeccable marbling. The only pet peeve was there wasn’t enough of this beautiful steak!

3. Lamb Barnsley Chop @ Vern’s (Charleston, SC)

Back in January, Jun and I made a brief trip to Charleston to see our friend’s family. Our friend told us Vern’s is her favorite restaurant in the city so we had a dinner there during our stay. Vern’s did deliver with a very satisfying New American meal, and the lamb chop with red wine jus and truffle Hollandaise sauce was one of the best lamb cuts I’ve had in recent years, with terrific texture that would serve as a worthy model for how lamb meat should be cooked.

4. Carrots @ The Dabney (DC)

Earlier in the year, one of our beloved friends visited DC so Jun and I took him to The Dabney. The restaurant never disappointed us every time we visited, and this time was no exception. I always knew Jeremiah Langhorne cooks some exceptional vegetable dishes, but the charred fireside farms carrots on our visit, accompanied by beef fat Hollandaise sauce, would easily be one of the best I’ve had at the restaurant from multiple visits, with its perfectly smoky flavor and fine texture.

5. Whole Fried Hot Quail @ La’ Shukran (DC)

Michael Rafidi’s restaurant Albi in Navy Yard is one of our favorite restaurants in DC, so we knew we had to check out his new project La’ Shukran in the Union Market area. The restaurant is a more casual, free-wheeling version of Albi, with a somewhat chaotic (not necessarily in a bad way) environment. The dishes at La’ Shukran still lived up to what we expected from a sister restaurant of Albi, and the perfectly moist and tender quail is one reason why.

6. Mayan Octopus “Ceviche” @ Máximo (Mexico City, Mexico)

Before Jun and I visited Mexico City, I turned to Reddit for restaurant recommendations in the city. One restaurant that consistently turned up was Máximo so I decided to check out the restaurant (coincidentally on Valentine’s Day). Our experience at the restaurant had both hits and misses, but the one hit that I can’t stop thinking about is these insanely delicious octopus pieces with guacamole spread on top of tostadas. Seeing how Jun kept munching on the tostadas even after the octopus was gone, I knew this was one heck of a dish.

7. Quelites Tostada, Abalone, Green Mole, Cured Egg Yolk @Pujol (Mexico City, Mexico)

One restaurant during our stay in Mexico City I was really looking forward to was Pujol from Enrique Olvera who is one of the trailblazers in introducing modern Mexican cuisine to the world. Pujol was indeed the best restaurant experience we’ve had in our trip, and I would absolutely pay to have this wonderfully crunchy tostada delivered to our home. Our hands quickly got messy while holding on the tostada, and I didn’t mind at all.

8. Tuna and Sea Urchin Tostada @ Entremar (Mexico City, Mexico)

One restaurant in Mexico City that you might have heard is Contramar, a venerated seafood institution in the city. If you have trouble getting a reservation at this popular dining destination, the good news is that its sister restaurant Entremar (with pretty much the same menu) is so much easier to get a table. We had a quick lunch at Entremar on our last day in the city, and this tostada was really something else with marvelous combination of texture between the fresh tuna and sea urchin. 

9. Crispy Whole Branzino @ Queen’s English (DC)

Jun and I had visited Queen’s English a couple of times before 2025, but our visit to the restaurant earlier in the year was even more memorable. The restaurant’s modern taken on Hong Kong cuisine is seriously well-executed and one thing that really shines and I highly recommend you get at least once is this branzino with napa cabbage; the fish’s texture was spot on and the combination of chili sauce and crab butter delivered an incredibly delicious mix of spicy and sweet. A true showstopper.

10. Langoustine, White Pepper, Kombu @ Frevo (NYC)

Our visit to Frevo earlier in 2025 was our tenth to the restaurant (and the staff left a gracious thank you card for us at the end). As usual, we had an outstanding dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in NYC, and on this visit one visit I couldn’t stop thinking about was this stunning Norwegian langoustine with white pepper sauce and sushi rice underneath, a dish of complex explosion of flavor and texture. How in the world did the kitchen come up with this beauty?

11. Tuna ‘La Colombe’ @ La Colombe (Cape Town, South Africa)

12. Dry Aged Duck, Celeriac @ La Colombe (Cape Town, South Africa)

13. Rose, Raspberry, Pistachio @ La Colombe (Cape Town, South Africa)

When I visited Cape Town in 2014, La Colombe was one of the best restaurants I had visited so I was quite excited to bring Jun along this time. The restaurant has moved to a new location since my visit, and our dinner at La Colombe was even better than my last visit. The kitchen certainly has no shortage of flair for dramatic effect but what really stood out was the commitment to sustainability (showcasing bountiful produce from South Africa) and strong execution. Tuna ‘La Colombe,’ which had been on the menu for over 10 years, was exceptional, with special sauce using 20-25 different ingredients at any given time, while the dry aged duck was one of the most delicious duck dishes I’ve had in recent years. The main dessert was another showstopper, consisting of rose and raspberry with little balls of pistachio ice cream to give a mini-garden impression. If you are in Cape Town, a trip to La Colombe absolutely must not be skipped.

14. Venison Tataki @ Belly of the Beast (Cape Town, South Africa)

15. Duck Biryani @ Belly of the Beast (Cape Town, South Africa)

Before Jun and I arrived in Cape Town, I wanted to figure out a way to visit Belly of the Beast. I was unable to get a dinner reservation that fit our schedule so the best I could do was lunch on our last day in the city, and I’m so glad we visited the restaurant. One dish that impressed me deeply was the tataki of kudu with caramelized onions and roasted grapes with its magically chewy texture (after all the delicious antelope meats we’d eaten in South Africa and Namibia, this was the best one). And oh boy that flawless duck, even better with the addition of biryani rice with date chutney, exotic mushrooms and crispy onions… Next time we are in Cape Town, I hope Belly of the Beast is around so we can visit for a proper dinner.

16. Black Banana, Monkfish Liver @ Atomix (NYC)

17. Tilefish, Gim Sauce @ Atomix (NYC)

We visited NYC in the spring again and I made sure we visit Atomix again. Even with the restaurant now in its mature stage after receiving accolades left and right from the culinary world, I find it quite astounding that the food here is still quite amazing. How about this truly unique combination of black banana and monkfish liver with perilla leaves? For Jun, who is always a fan of Korean seaweed (gim), she was absolutely in love with the tilefish with gim sauce. Talk about beauty, elegance and soulfulness in one place!

18. Matcha Crepe @ HOUSE Brooklyn (NYC)

19. White Asparagus @ HOUSE Brooklyn (NYC)

One new restaurant in NYC that Jun and I visited in 2025 was HOUSE Brooklyn in Greenpoint, led by a chef who started out in Tokyo before relocating to the Big Apple. We really liked the elegant French cuisine with minimalistic Japanese sensibilities. Exhibit 1: matcha crepe with tofu mousse and turnip leaves that was not just beautifully plated but gave that ethereally clean flavor that aptly epitomized the chef’s culinary philosophy. The other dish that I was very fond of was the asparagus for its crunchy texture and complexity of flavor coming from soy sauce koji rice, asparagus puree and oeuf mayonnaise. This would’ve been a standout dish at some of the finest restaurants in Paris.

20. Curried Corn Bisque @ Elmina (DC)

One splashy restaurant opening in DC in 2025 was Elmina, featuring modern Ghana cuisine from celebrity chef Eric Adjepong. I was intrigued to explore dishes from the Western African influence, and our dinner at Elmina was overall solid. One dish that really shined was this colorful curried corn bisque. The addition of cockle clams and pork lardons was a stroke of genius to the aromatic bisque, and I would gladly come back to the restaurant to try this dish again.

21. Mackerel, blueberry @ Le Clarence (Paris)

22. Pigeon, Clams, White Beans @ Le Clarence (Paris)

In the summer of 2025, Jun and I had a short but eventful trip to France, shuttling between Paris and the Champagne region. Le Clarence in Paris had long been on my radar, and the restaurant certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the premier dining institutions in the city, with a focus on seafood. We were quite pampered with all kinds of side dishes accompanying the ostensibly “five-course” tasting menu. Tasting mackerel and blueberry together in a single dish was certainly not on my bingo card and they quickly won me and Jun (who is not even a fan of mackerel) over. Another killer dish was a playful surf and turf take with flawlessly cooked pigeon meat alongside clams and white beans; I certainly miss more conventional meat such as beef or pork.

23. Tomato Confit, Mackerel @ L’Assiette Champenoise (Champagne)

24. Red Mullet, Eggplant Millefeuille @ L’Assiette Champenoise (Champagne)

Our trip to Champagne was truly a milestone for Jun and I in a sense that having been hardcore red wine drinkers since we were of the drinking age, we finally fell in love with champagne while touring different houses. During our time in the region, we also visited L’Assiette Champenoise. While not everything was perfect, there were some dishes that blew my mind, starting with the tomato confit that somehow beautifully worked with mackerel despite our initial worry that they might overpower each other. Another dish that I couldn’t stop thinking about is the red mullet paired with eggplant millefeuille; the gorgeous combination was truly a showstopper. 

25. Apricot and Lobster Pasta @ Géosmine (Paris)

26. Lettuce, Apple and Parsley Sorbet @ Géosmine (Paris)

We concluded our France trip with a dinner at Géosmine in Paris. It’s the kind of restaurant that makes me want to visit Paris as frequently as I can, a stylish modern bistro led by a young chef with creative take on French cuisine. Géosmine certainly didn’t disappoint in that regard. The only complaint I had about the apricot and lobster pasta with lobster bisque was that there were only three pieces! Give me one or two dozens of these for the dinner and I would’ve called it one happy night. And whoever thought of using apple and parsley sorbet on top of lettuce deserves a price for the palate cleanser of the year!

27. Mochi Beignet, Freshwater Eel @ Moon Rabbit (DC)

28. Tofu Cheesecake @ Moon Rabbit (DC)

For whatever reason, it took a while for Jun and I to make a trip to Moon Rabbit after the restaurant moved from the Wharf to the Penn Quarter neighborhood in early 2024. I wish we had visited the restaurant more often, as we were pleasantly surprised how much we liked our dinner experience. If it is on the menu, don’t overthink it and order mochi beignet and freshwater eel. It was one of those dishes that I wasn’t sure would work together but somehow created enormous synergy. And don’t ever skip desserts from the acclaimed pastry chef Susan Bae; I was blown away by the ethereal texture of the tofu cheesecake with more savory than sweet flavor.

29. Tagliolini, White Bolognese @ Centrolina (DC)

One of the stalwarts in the DC dining scene Jun and I finally managed to visit in 2025 was Centrolina, which has been around for more than ten years. We had a pretty solid experience there, and undoubtedly the star of our dinner was the tagliolini pasta with white Bolognese sauce; there was just something magically addictive about the richness from the sauce. Good news is that the store next door also sells the sauce from time to time and Jun already took advantage of it a couple of times since our visit to the restaurant.

30. Crispy Lotus Root and Shrimp Salad @ Baan Siam (DC)

Baan Siam is one of those reliable restaurants in DC that Jun and I keep going back to for our love of Thai food. On our last visit in 2025, we couldn’t stop digging into this super addictive crispy lotus root and grilled shrimp salad, with an explosive flavor of sweet, spicy and salty that was very hard to resist. It is a perfect gateway appetizer before you dig into larger dishes at the restaurant.

31. Hearth Dried Tomato @ The Dabney (DC)

In August of 2025, Jun and I headed back to The Dabney to check out the dinner collaboration between the restaurant and Osip, one of the rising stars in the UK dining world from a young chef Merlin Labron-Johnson. Not surprisingly based on our experience at The Dabney, the dinner was a success, and this hearth dried tomato, accompanied by shelling beans and okra, left a deep impression on me, showcasing the mastery of vegetables by the two chefs, with more or less perfect balance of flavor and texture. 

32. Durian @ Moon Rabbit (DC)

We loved our experience at Moon Rabbit so much that when a long-time friend came to visit us, we took her to the restaurant for a second visit of the year. I was very excited to find out that the dessert menu had changed significantly from our last dinner. If there is a pastry chef who would think to use durian, a fruit from Southeast Asia notorious for its pungent smell, for dessert, it would be Susan Bae. Instead of the smell, the durian mousse with passionfruit granita was gorgeous flavor all around.

33. Smoked Oyster Mushroom Pie @ YELLOW (DC)

It took us a while for us to finally visit Albi’s sister restaurant YELLOW café (largely because we would just keep going back to Albi), but a dinner at the café’s Georgetown location already has us looking forward to the next visit. The Georgetown branch features sourdough pies (playfully called “(not) pizzas”) that are not to be missed, especially the pie with smoked oyster mushroom. The smoky flavor of the mushroom, along with the extra chewy dough, was certainly one of the best pizzas we’ve ever eaten in DC.

34. Guinea Fowl @ Frevo (NYC)

Jun and I made it back to Frevo for the second time in the fall. I still think it is one of the most underrated restaurants in NYC, and one big reason is that the dishes from the restaurant keep surprising us with brilliance and consistency we haven’t quite seen elsewhere. How about this moist and juicy guinea fowl, which is probably the last meat that any chef would want to use? The texture of the guinea fowl was simply marvelous.

35. Pheasant Mandu @ Joo Ok (NYC)

36. Branzino @ Joo Ok (NYC)

In November, Jun and I went back to Joo Ok, which was one of the restaurants we had visited in 2024. The restaurant, which did the unthinkable by leaving its home in Seoul to start over in NYC, just got its second Michelin star, and our dinner was just as good as the first visit. One of the dishes from the tasting menu, a colorful dumpling made of sekdong (modeled after Korean traditional clothes hanbok) sujebi dough with pheasant meat inside, was even better than I had remembered from 2024. One new dish that was among my favorites was a perfectly steamed branzino and ganjang sauce and lotus leaf, with irresistible umami flavor. I have no doubt that we will be back to Joo Ok this year.

37. Monkfish Liver @ Sushi Sho (NYC)

38. Ohagi @ Sushi Sho (NYC)

39. Nodoguro @ Sushi Sho (NYC)

One of the very best restaurant experiences Jun and I had had in 2025 was our fall visit to Sushi Sho in NYC. We couldn’t find proper words for how amazing the dishes from the legendary sushi master Keiji Nekazawa was; all I could think of was that the other sushi restaurants we had visited previously were all “child’s play” compared to Sushi Sho. The monkfish liver with pickled watermelon was better than almost all of the foie gras dishes I had eaten in my lifetime. Two other favorite dishes that I can’t stop thinking about these days were from the okonomi supplements section, a dish called ohagi which could possibly be the best tuna tartare you could ever ask for with impeccable texture, as well as an immaculately grilled blackthroat seaperch that showed the total command Nakazawa-san has on anything from the sea. Sushi Sho properly ruined sushi for us in many ways and I can only hope to be proven wrong.

40. Lomo Saltado @ Causa (DC)

Full disclosure: this was a free treat from chef Carlos Delgado on our visit to Causa toward the end of 2025. We hadn’t visited Causa in a while at that point and it was great to reconnect with chef Carlos and some of the staff members we conversed with before. The tasting menu from the restaurant hadn’t changed much from its Nikkei-style menu, but chef Carlos’ lomo saltado with wagyu beef was an absolute revelation. I would love to get this dish again, whether at Causa or its more casual sister restaurant upstairs Amazonia.