The Best Things Our Editors Ate in 2025

At Serious Eats, we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about food: the recipes we're excited to make, the dining trends we're tired of, and, as 2025 draws to a close, the best things we ate this year. Though we're all avid cooks, most of our favorite meals in 2025 were enjoyed at restaurants or while traveling. Below, you'll find the most memorable bites our editors ate this year, which include simple pleasures like a freshly shucked oyster from the waters of Jakolof Bay in Alaska and creamy homemade double-vanilla ice cream. Here's hoping 2026 brings just as much deliciousness—for us and for you!

A Simple Sandwich

"Honestly, the best thing I ate was a turkey sandwich. After pregnancy, a 52-hour labor, and an unexpected surgery, that sandwich tasted absolutely blissful. It helped that I was craving cold cuts for months, too." - Riddley Germperlein-Schirm, associate editorial director

Couscous With Fish in Palermo

"Couscous di pesce from Zero Spine in Sferracavallo, Sicily. I think about how flavorful this couscous was once a month. One of my best friends and I were wandering around a small beach neighborhood in western Palermo and sat down at Zero Spine for lunch. It was a peak Mediterranean summer scene: sweltering June heat, brightly patterned table with old Italians sitting around smoking, and the youngest waiter sent over to deal with the two Americans who didn't speak a lick of Italian. The couscous came topped with swordfish and was so rich and soft—I was so absorbed in my meal that I almost missed the picturesque scene of a wedding party setting up for pictures right down the street." - Amanda Suarez, associate visuals director

Double-Vanilla Ice Cream

"Growing up, family gatherings often included homemade ice cream from my grandmother's old-fashioned churner, hand-turned in shifts by my rowdy older cousins. I recently had the pleasure of testing all of our favorite ice cream machines by making quarts (and quarts and quarts) of former Serious Eats editor Stella Parks' double-vanilla ice cream from her book BraveTart, and it sent me right back to my childhood. It was light and fluffy in texture but rich in flavor, with floral notes of vanilla shining through. All it needed was a pinch of salt on top to replicate the flavor of the rock-salted, melty ice that inevitably found its way into our scoops as kids. I think this homemade ice cream is worth every ounce of effort (especially if you don't have to turn it by hand)." - Ashlee Redger, writer

Whole Fish in Queens

"The standout meal for me this year was the whole fish at AbuQir, a no-frills neighborhood seafood spot in Astoria, Queens. Ordered Egyptian-style, the bass arrives with a blackened, spice-coated exterior and crisp edges, while the flesh inside stays buttery and moist, separating easily from the bone. It's served simply with lemon, and that's all it needs." - Laila Ibrahim, associate culinary editor

Smoked Eel With Cabbage in Vienna

"I was lucky enough to eat at Steirereck, one of Vienna's highest-rated restaurants, this year, and the standout dish was smoked eel with cabbage. One bite of the eel, all buttery and rich, and I thought there couldn't possibly be anything better. Then I ate the cabbage under it and learned how wrong I was. But the two of them together? Magical." - Daniel Gritzer, editorial director

The Century Egg at Wing in Hong Kong

"I had one of the most spectacular meals of my life at chef Vicky Cheng's restaurant Wing in Hong Kong. Cheng's signature dish is a golden century egg preserved in-house, served in a pool of mala chili oil. It was bright, savory, and just a touch spicy—and one of the best things I've eaten this year." - Genevieve Yam, senior editor

A Dirty Martini Burger in Rhode Island

"It’s so difficult to choose one thing (I ate a ton of great food this year), but I keep coming back to the dirty martini burger at Club Frills in Providence, RI. In a world where crispy, smashed patties are the norm, Club Frills’ burger is big and meaty—this is a two-inch thick piece of meat. It gets a hit of umami from briny green olives and is draped in American cheese and piled with thinly sliced sweet onions—all on a squidgy bun. It’s simple, salty, and excellent paired with the High Horse, a horseradish and apple highball." - Grace Kelly, senior editor

A Very Fresh Oyster in Alaska

"The best thing I’ve eaten this year was a freshly shucked oyster pulled straight from the waters of Jakolof Bay in Homer, Alaska. I ate it standing in my wellies on a cool, crisp September day, with the Chugach Mountains rising behind me, as Lindsay from Spinnaker SeaFarms casually shucked it and handed it over, briny liquor still clinging to the shell. The oyster was bright, clean, and impossibly crisp, with a fresh cucumber finish that tasted like cold seawater and clean air. It was a perfect expression of terroir, or more accurately, merroir—the idea that sea doesn't just shape flavor, it is the flavor." - Leah Colins, senior culinary editor

Homemade Thai Food in SoCal

"Oh, wow, this is hard to narrow down, but I think I have to say the best thing I ate was probably on a trip to Southern California to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews this summer. We had phenomenal Mexican, South Indian, and Vietnamese food out at restaurants, but I think my favorite was the Thai meal my brother put together at home, with grilled chicken, som tam Thai, nam prik, and more. I also loved going to the various shops and the farmers market to help gather the ingredients—I love my NYC farmers market, and you can't beat our apples, but it's hard to beat being able to buy fresh, local avocados. Runner-up is the lobster roll at Essex Pearl at Pier 57 in NYC, which I learned about from this Instagram post by cookbook author Grace Young." - Megan O. Steintrager, associate editorial director

Sausage and Potato Soup

"I spend a lot of time cross-country skiing in the winter, and my favorite spot, at the Von Trapp Family Lodge, in Stowe, Vermont, has miles of trails through the woods. At the top of one of the tallest climbs sits a rustic old cabin that's open for hot beverages, Austrian-inspired baked goods, and soup. In January, after a particularly cold morning on the trails, I warmed up with a cup of sausage and potato soup and a big hunk of brown bread slathered in butter. The memory of that meal still gets me excited to lace up my ski boots." - Rochelle Bilow, writer

3-Ingredient Parmigiano-Reggiano Mousse in Parm's Hometown

"I was served a luxuriously creamy Parmigiano-Reggiano mousse in Parma, Italy. I was told the mousse contained just three ingredients...and no dairy beyond the cheese itself! It was so deeply nutty and savory, and I loved it so much I'm still trying to recreate it in my own kitchen. (They won't share the recipe. I asked!)" - Genevieve

Candied Seaweed at Smithereens in NYC

"It's been a long time since I've fallen in love with a restaurant, but after a first trip with friends in January to Smithereens, it has become my favorite in NYC. I've been three times this year (absolutely unheard of for me in my 10-ish years in New York), dragging all my out-of-town visitors whenever I can. I recommend ordering everything off the menu because each dish is delicious and the vibes are perfect. However, the dish that comes to mind when I picture Smithereens is their candied seaweed with licorice and citron. It's complex, indescribably delicious, and executed perfectly each time." - Amanda

Ultra-Buttery Butter Chicken at Adda in NYC

"I recently visited Adda in New York City's East Village for their 'Butter Chicken Experience.' They smoke the chicken in front of you, then prepare it tableside with your compound butter of choice. The chicken is served with butter dal and rice, and while the food is delicious, what I really enjoyed was how fun and delightfully interactive the meal was!" - Genevieve