‘Our monkfish marinated in galangal was cooked at our table – and delicious’

The food we eat fixes our memory of a place, as your accounts of favourite gourmet experiences on your travels show

When my children were grumpy, know-it-all teenagers, we went on a caravan holiday to the south of France. Someone suggested a trip to “Bounty Beach”, the story being that it had featured in an advert for the chocolate bar. It was Caribbean in ambience but not in temperature (it was mid-April).

We shivered for most of the morning before the teenagers demanded lunch. Behind the beach was a van serving just ham, egg and fries – no choice. We sat at a ramshackle table and ordered a plateful each, along with a carafe of Provençal rosé. I don’t know whether it was the chill or our sharpened appetites, but we are still talking about that magical meal 25 years later. Margaret Cox, Monmouthshire

PERFECT STORM

In Singapore we planned to visit an Indian restaurant in Little India but a sudden, torrential storm sweeping in from Sumatra made walking past the overflowing storm drains in Orchard Road unappealing. We hurried to the nearest restaurant we could find.

It was a tiny place serving Peranakan cuisine, about which we knew nothing. The owner recommended his signature fish-head curry and bakwan kepiting (pork-and-crab meatball soup), then invited us into the kitchen to see it prepared. He tempted us with nyona pancakes – a blend of coconut and mango in the lightest of batters, which I have never replicated since. I shall just have to return to Singapore. Rosie Rushton, Northamptonshire

HUNGRY EYES

Surf roars behind the reef, vanillascented air sighs among the palms, waitresses wear flowers. Each fisherman is named alongside his catch: Layne Nakagawa caught my opakapaka, steamed with Hawaiian ginger, Asian vegetables and macadamia oil. The ahi – grilled in a ti-leaf, accompanied by baked Hana banana and papaya – was captured by Mike Holley.

Our son orders Tristan Island lobster – named after the remote island in the Atlantic, half the world away from our Pacific paradise. It’s not just the fish that are famous. Michelle Pfeiffer (we think) appears gorgeously at the next table. Hardly a glance is sent her way, as we only have eyes for the meal. Liz Kolbeck, Manchester

Flavours of Vietnam: cha ca la vong – a variation on the recipe loved by our winner

CHEF KNOWS BEST

Ravenous from cycling all morning in Piedmont, we stopped at the only restaurant we had seen open. Told there was only lasagne, we accepted. Then, without asking, the chef produced roasted peppers and bread as well. We scoffed the lot before the lasagne arrived.

Declining red wine, we got a bottle anyway. Chef was on hand to see we ate everything. I don’t know why he asked if we wanted pudding, as we knew it would arrive whatever we said. Sure enough, out came a superb apricot tart – one piece each, with chef doling out seconds.

Then we spotted the wall of framed culinary awards from Rome, in honour of our chef. Thank goodness he had retired to our holiday cycle route – and that our road after lunch was downhill. Janet Chase, Bedfordshire*

CHICKEN FOR PICKIN’

We were staying at a tented camp by a water hole in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. With the sunset as a glorious backdrop, the game came to drink after a long hot day, led by young and excited elephants. As the light faded, jackals could be heard all around.

The fire was lit, but even before the cooking began, the whiff of the smoke seemed exotic. Then came the food: “Chicken for pickin’” – tender chicken with only lime juice and salt. What a meal – and what an experience to share with my wife of only a few weeks.

Just when I thought life couldn’t get any better, I glanced up at millions of stars and could hear no other sounds but those of the wild. No one spoke; there was complete silence apart from the distant call of hyenas – surely one of the most evocative sounds in Africa. It was our greatest meal, even to this day. John Davies, West Sussex

PERFECT PROVENANCE

Casas Noves is a beautiful little boutique hotel in Guadalest, 30 minutes inland from Benidorm. The fruit preserves at breakfast are made from locally grown figs and berries; the nuts in the goat’s cheese salad are grown in the village – as are the olives for the oil used in dressings and cooking; the bakery in the next village provides the breakfast bread and the butcher provides pork for the medallions at dinner.

A local farmer delivers eggs daily and whatever fish is on the dinner menu has been collected by Sofi the chef/owner from the coast that morning. Toni, her husband, takes delight in explaining the provenance of every delicious morsel on your plate. It is hard to pick a favourite meal but every dinner and breakfast is memorable when sitting on the terrace looking towards the sea with the stunning mountains as a backdrop.