Asia's hottest dining destinations

If you haven’t noticed, food pictures are the new travel photos.

When your friend goes to New York, chances are you’ll see less pictures of Times Square or the Empire State Building; instead the Instagram feed would probably consist of burgers from Shake Shack, Wagyu buns from Baohaus, chicken liver toast from The Spotted Pig, poached egg with biscuits from Telepan or cocktails from Little Branch. This is the new way to show you’ve arrived.

In a world where food festivals draw hordes and food tours are de rigueur, there’s nothing more perfectly normal than stuffing your face the moment you exit Customs. Take Kenneth Ling, a Web developer, who looks forward to long weekend excursions to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

“The food is the main thing. Hong Kong has more restaurants than I can keep up with — new ones like Enomod and Fatty Crab keep popping up. In Kuala Lumpur, hawker fare is still excellent. And they’ve got cool malls like Publika with lots to eat and check out, like Ben’s General Food Store,” he said.

Some even visit the same destination repeatedly within a year to feast — budget and travel time allowing. “I go to Bali twice a year because the food is cheap and good. The good restaurants don’t charge an arm and leg like some do over here,” said PR manager Charmaine Lin. “A meal at my favourite restaurant, Metis, costs less than S$400 for four. The coffee and brunches in Bali are great too.”

Other travellers like Annabelle Fernandez, co-founder of Magpie, an independent magazine retailer which stocks celebrated food titles like Lucky Peach and The Gourmand, creates lists and an Instagram album just for chow-hunting. “I get recommendations from friends, and friends of friends. I also check out websites and food blogs specific to each country, like Serious Eats for New York, Broadsheet for Melbourne, That Food Cray for Hong Kong.”

She added: “I constantly take screen grabs of pictures of amazing food across the world on other people’s Instagram feeds and save them in a ‘Travel’ album, which I can easily refer to when coming up with my list.”

She has even made a pilgrimage to food mecca San Sebastien in 2012. “The city lives up to its rep. The sheer variety of pintxos at every bar was mind blowing; and, considering the base ingredients are usually the same, the creativity and innovation displayed was impressive.”

But you don’t have to go all the way to San Sebastien, especially since some of our favourite dining destinations are less than a three-hour flight away and cramming more deliciously good things per square metre than we can manage. Then again, there’s always space for more.

BANGKOK

The political demonstrations may have put a dampener on things in the Thai capital, but the foodies will return the moment all the fuss is over. Last year saw a bumper crop of exciting new eateries opening in Bangkok, and the city now has the likes of Daniel Thaiger, a food truck rolling out the best burger this side of America; Appia by Soul Food Mahanakorn’s Jarret Wrisley; its first Brazilian churrascaria, Brazilia Steakhouse (which opened last month); and hipper-than-thou spots such as Opposite Mess Hall and Tinee Eatery. F&B powerhouses such as the guys behind Hyde&Seek launched new ventures, too, starting with coffee house Rocket, injecting the city’s cafe culture with their brand of cool. Here are two to make reservations for:

LADY BRETT. Located just next door to Rocket, Lady Brett exudes a sultry New York tavern allure. After all, the name is a nod to Hemingway’s Lady Brett Ashley from the novel, The Sun Also Rises. The cosy 35-seater serves “modern comfort food driven by Josper barbecued meats” revealed co-owner Thomas Anostam, so revel in BBQ pork chop and belly with braised kale and chili, and beef tenderloin with blue cheese crostini and raspberry vinegar pearl onions. Don’t miss the bar above, U.N.C.L.E (United Nations Of Cocktail Lovers Everywhere), and order yourself a classic Bramble.

PASTE. You can’t leave Bangkok without savouring wonderful Thai food; and Paste is the place to have some. It has been garnering rave reviews from all quarters since it opened in March last year. Award-winning chef Jason Bailey and wife Bee Satongun previously ran restaurants in Australia for 12 years but the couple moved back to Bangkok to pursue a smaller operation after she was pregnant.

At Paste, they whip up modern Thai creations which respects “the complexity of flavour, balance, depth of flavor of Thai food while using modern techniques and temperature control” according to Satongun, who trained in traditional Thai cooking. Try their crispy skin free range duck rubbed with northern Thai makhwaen pepper, drizzled with fresh orange and star anise sauce, or the slow cooked Australian beef cheek with fresh “hung lay” curry paste, pickled garlic, ginger, lemongrass and dry spices.

BALI

Foodie stalwarts such as Naughty Nuri’s, Sarong, Mosaic, Metis (previously Kafe Warisan) have kept travellers going back there even as the competition heats up. Note-worthy entrants opening in resorts last year include Luke Mangan’s Salt in Sentosa and To’ge in Rimba, while New York’s nightlife kingpin Mark Baker launched Townhouse in Seminyak. There’s no shortage of newbies inching onto this food-mad playground, such as:

OLD MAN’S. When you tire of all that is hip and happening in Bali, a gem like Old Man’s reminds you of what’s so great about this island. This beer garden by Sean Cosgrove, the restaurateur behind the hugely popular Petitenget Cafe, is unpretentiously laidback. Tucked behind an eye-catching graffiti wall, it looks out to the ocean and serves no-frills comfort food and a good selection of breakfast faves like green eggs.

MERAH PUTIH. Expectations ran high when this restaurant opened last April as owner Jasper Manifold used to manage Ku De Ta. The name is inspired by the colours of the Indonesia flag and this stunning newcomer provides good-looking, fine-dining Indonesian food courtesy of homegrown chef Wayan Mustika and Australian chef Kieran Morland who boasts stints in New York’s Momofuku. Dishes are separated into traditional and modern, small and large plates. Go for the beef shin pak bao, bebek goreng and grilled Jimbaran fish. Be sure, too, to sip on Pomelo Gimlet in the stylish adjoining bar.

MOTEL MEXICOLA. The current IT place to see and be seen. Motel Mexicola’s an explosion of technicolour with beautiful murals, funky furniture and over-the-top kitsch inspired by Acapulco in the 60s. Owner Adrian Reed — who also opened Rojo Rokot in Sydney — has Mexican head chef, Silverio Martinez Altamirano, dishing out delish seafood-based tostaditas and ceviches which can be washed down with the impressive range of tequilas.

KUALA LUMPUR

Our neighbour is getting more sophisticated in the dining scene these days. You can lap up the best roast pork at Wong Kee before hopping over to one of the many artisanal coffee joints that have sprouted up in recent years.

“A lot of Malaysians went to Australia for their tertiary education and returned with a very healthy appreciation of the cafe and coffee culture,” commented Jenifer Kuah, the owner behind popular cafes Food Foundry and Butter & Beans. “KL-ites are more well travelled and lot of Gen Ys (the main driving force in the cafe movement) look to Singapore cafe culture for inspiration, too.”

Trendy restaurants and cool digs abound these days as foodies are constantly on the lookout for the latest places. “As much as we have a great variety of food choices, we never tire of exploring the newest cafes and restaurants,” said Catherine Chin, senior marketing executive at The Big Group which is behind KL’s popular spots like Plan B and Hits And Mrs. “From the cheap eats to premium dining, we’re always game.”

FEEKA. Located on Jalan Mesui, Feeka opened last November and has quickly become a hit with the brunch crowd. Coffee snobs will love it here: Beans are specially sourced from award-winning farms and carefully roasted in Kuala Lumpur to ensure very little roast flavours so the clarity of the flavours are retained. It’s also invested in a Curtis Gold Cup Brewer machine for filter brew specialty coffee. Of course, you could also just focus on the photogenic premises while tucking into the brioche French toast or mustard braised beef with cous cous.

BEAST. The sexy Beast was unleashed last June and has gained a rep for its wide variety of premium steaks ranging from the Master Kobe Wagyu to US Prime and Black Angus. It’s also one of the few steakhouses in KL to boast a Josper oven so you can expect perfectly seared meats paired with accompanying sauces of natural beef jus, truffle bearnaise and bone marrow gravy. The ambience is deliciously dark, manly and dramatic — just order the hot smoked salmon and you’ll see what we mean.

LIMA BLAS. The eatery-choked Jalan Mesui adds another must-visit with KL’s most popular Peranakan restaurant at the mo. Lima Blas’ nostalgia chic confines belie hearty, heady Nyonya food courtesy of an executive chef who’s the husband of famed Peranakan cook book author Florence Tan. Get your heat on with the aromatic laksa served only at lunch (it’s limited to only 15 bowls on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). Other standout dishes include the cincaluk omelet, chicken pongteh and sambal udang petai, best finished off with cendol.