I've had good luck traveling.
In Paris in 2001, I had a sort of pasta primavera that was delicious. I had a phenomenal venison meal in Munich back in '98. I had a wonderful dinner in a Toronto restaurant near the theater district about six months ago.
But the best meal was in Istanbul, on the Asian side. We went to this restaurant, and as you walked in there were easily 15 or 20 different kinds of fish on ice on the left side as you walked in. We were looking and pointing, and laughing, and soon we were seated. A man took our drink order, and other than the amazingly beautiful Turkish woman that delivered them, there wasn't a soul around our table for about a half hour, 45 minutes. Then, in flurry of activity, a bunch of what we would call "sides" were delivered family style. Other than the cucumbers in a sour cream/vinegar sauce (which was a dish my grandmother used to make when I was a kid) nothing stands out, but then the fish came.
All the fish we pointed at was delivered to our table in various preparations. I can't tell you what we had, except for the coup d'grace. A brass box with bolts on it - about three feet long and about ten inches square - came wheeled up to the table. A waiter took a wrench, undid the bolts, taking the top off to expose a white "block" inside, which he proceeded to chip away with a knife and fork. It was salt. Underneath was a fish, I don't know what kind, other than it was the sweetest, moistest fish I've ever had. UNBELIEVABLE. I can't even guess the fish, since there are something like 400 fish in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea but it was a light, white fish, flaky, but again, moist and not scaly at all. One of the best meals I ever had.
K Paul's - Paul Prudhomme's place - was outstanding too. Had a steak with andouille sausage and fried oysters on top that was to beat the band.