My Favourite Dishes I Tried in 2025
Looking back, 2025 was a year measured less by months and more by meals. I was lucky to travel, to sit at bars and small tables and quiet corners of dining rooms around the world, and to eat dishes that reminded me why food matters so much to me in the first place.
It’s the place to meet others, to ask questions, to taste a culture’s history (so much cod in Portugal…BUT WHY?!?) and maybe a better understanding of its people. It’s what stays with me the most long after the trip is over.
Below are the dishes I keep thinking about. The ones that felt comforting or special or new or weird or surprising, for whatever reason. Sometimes all of it.
Also…I didn’t “choose” my ranking here. I log everything on Beli, and these were statistically my favourite dishes!
Steak Au Poivre — Bistrot de la Tournelle, Paris
Paris has a way of stripping food down to its essentials (but with lots of butter and cream and stuff). Bistrot de la Tournelle did that better than anywhere else I tried out.
This steak au poivre arrived perfectly cooked, blanketed in pepper sauce, with a pile of thin, salty fries. No reinvention. No distractions. Just classic bistro cooking done with confidence and care. The girl next to me at the bar told me she should have ordered it. It tasted like tradition, and it tasted right. I wanted simple but excellent French food. I got it here. They wouldn’t make me a martini (they had gin and vermouth lol) but hey, it’s Paris. I didn’t argue.
Tortellini Pomodoro — Torrisi, New York
This dish is talked about constantly in articles and Instagram reels for a reason. Small tortellini filled with creamy ricotta, sitting in a clean tomato sauce. It sounds simple, and it is, but it’s also flawless.
One bite explains the reputation. It’s comfort food, elevated just enough to feel special. Thank you, Torrisi.
Cheese Pizza with Sausage and Peppers — Lucali, Brooklyn
Lucali has its own gravity. The pizza reflects that. Celebrities visit. People talk about it. Lines are an every day guarantee. I was so glad I waited the two hours.
The crust had chew and char, the cheese was perfectly orange (what you want from a NY slice), the sausage rich, the peppers sweet and sharp. Nothing overwhelmed anything else. It was the kind of pizza that asks you to sit with it, to enjoy it properly, and to be present while you’re eating it in this beautiful and small BYOB room as pizziolos rolled dough out with wine bottles.
Tofino King Salmon — Bravo, Vancouver
This was one of those dishes that makes you pause when it hits the table. It’s as beautiful as the pictures. But will this dry-aged Tofino king salmon, rich and silky, paired with ginger, tamari, and maple, taste as good as it looks?
Cucumber and avocado added freshness and balance. It was elegant without feeling precious or pretentious, indulgent without being heavy. A dish that felt very Vancouver…fresh seafood, using local ingredients with international influence.
https://www.bravovancouver.com/
Cheese Slice — Badiali, Toronto
Badiali lived up to everything I’d heard and more. I ate more than 60 slices of pizza after two months in New York (normal behaviour), and I went to Toronto for a healthy break. Badiali ruined all that.
A simple cheese slice that reminded me how powerful fundamentals can be when they’re done right. Perfect crust, bright tomato sauce, perfectly melted cheese. Honestly, the best “cheese melt” I’ve ever had anywhere.
No gimmicks, no shortcuts. Just a slice that made the case for why pizza doesn’t need much, even if SOMETIMES I did drench it in their homemade ranch and hot honey.
I’m grateful I got to eat like this in 2025. Grateful for the cooks, the rooms, the bars, the small moments of unexpected conversation between bites. That steak au poive actually led me to a party in France that ended up at a bar that ended up in an all. out. BRAWL that was completely nuts to witness. I stood there watching it, drunkenly clueless, watching punches and listening to French expletives. I’m lucky I didn’t get hit. Anyways…
Here’s hoping 2026 is even better (with less brawls).
Stay tuned…and follow along on Beli and Instagram.
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