Top Dining in Port

TEMPURA IN TOKYO is far more delicate — lighter, lacier — than we eat at home. Cooked properly, it’s amazingly greasefree. In Japan, restaurants focus on one cooking style only: no sushi with tempura, for instance. Try two- Michelin- star Tempura Kondo in the Ginza and you may never eat tempura in the United States again. Trust me, the shrimp heads are delicious.

IN SHANGHAI, head to Din Tai Fung, an excellent chain with some U. S. branches. Back home, you’ll dream about DTF’s dim sum, par ticularly the soup dumplings ( xiaolongbao).

HEAD TO BANGKOK’s Blue Elephant for modern takes on traditional Thai food, such as organic prawn croquettes and rose-shaped spring rolls stuffed with free- range chicken. You’ll also spot many familiar dishes, like chicken satay or green curry with beef.

IN BEIJING, dim sum rules again at Din Tai Fung ( as in Shanghai), but for a swoon- worthy Peking duck experience, book Duck de Chine, my personal favorite.