We Asked 11 Chefs What The Best Meal They Ate In 2025 Was And Their Answers Sound Delicious

While chef Helen Nguyen specializes in Vietnamese cuisine at her Manhattan restaurant Saigon Social, one of the better meals she's had this year was from the Unapologetic Foods group's Adda. The original Adda location opened in Long Island City back in 2018, and a newer iteration opened its doors in 2025, just a mere 10 minute walk from Nguyen's restaurant.

Adda's kitchen is helmed by chef Neel Kajale, who previously made a showstopper of a crab dish at sister restaurant Dhamaka, and took the crustacean to another level with his new curry leaf dish at Adda. Adda's menu also features grilled items like sea bass and prawns, as well as mains like lamb shank korma and a baby goat biryani. It also offers a limited number of Butter Chicken Experience feasts, which Adda says is "built around one of the most popular, yet misunderstood dishes in Indian cuisine."

Chef Nguyen said Adda does "really good Indian food." She added, "I just feel like it's incredible flavors all around from start to finish. From the starters to even the salads and ... [its] desserts have incredible spice and flavor."

addanyc.com

917-502-3396

107 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

One of the hottest restaurants in New York, both in popularity and in spice, is Semma. This is yet another restaurant from the culinary visionary team of Unapologetic Foods. It opened in 2021 and earned a Michelin star a mere year later. Chef Vijay Kumar is at the helm at Semma, where southern Indian cuisine centered on the state of Tamil Nadu is transported from the old country to plates and gobbled up in the cozy confines of this West Village destination.

Chef Eric Huang knows a thing or two about Michelin-starred restaurants, having sharpened knives in kitchens like Cafe Boulud, Gramercy Tavern, and Eleven Madison Park, and he truly enjoyed using a fork when he visited Semma this year. Huang is the current occupant of the fried chicken-friendly Pecking House, and he gushed about his visit, saying, "It was really great. Those guys are lovely, and they're so talented. What they're doing for Indian cuisine is awesome."

Padma Lakshmi is also a big fan and fervent defender of Semma, and even once took to TikTok to rebut a bad review of the restaurant. She lambasted the reviewer by saying, "Semma isn't made for you, it's not. It's made for us." In 2025, Lakshmi released a new cookbook called "Padma's All American: Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond," and Semma even played host to its launch party, where signature bites like paniyarm dumplings and crispy dosas made the rounds.

semma.nyc

212-373-8900

60 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10011

For Maneet Chauhan, 2025 was certainly a well-traveled and nourishing year. The chef and Food Network star perused endless food photos on her phone from the past year before deciding that the restaurant closest to her current home in Nashville, Tennessee — Kisser — stood out as the most memorable.

Kisser is the very first restaurant by the husband-wife chef team of Brian Lea and Leina Horii, and describes itself as "an homage to the Japanese kissaten – a neighborhood spot serving comfort food." It opened in 2023 and quickly became a place to be in the Music City. It's earned such accolades as having Food & Wine's best new chefs, as well as being a James Beard finalist.

Chef Chauhan was impressed with Kisser's well-balanced menu, which includes an egg salad sando, chicken curry rice, and a creamy bacon udon. She says, "It was not one of those menus that was trying to be overly ambitious. It was a precise menu ... making sure that each and every dish hit it out of the box."

kisserrestaurant.com

747 Douglas Ave, Suite 105B, Nashville, TN 37207

Chefs don't often have time to try the delicious dishes that other chefs whip up in their own kitchens, but for Lingo's chef Emily Yuen, she found the time to cross the East River from Brooklyn to Tribeca to dine at Huso. Huso began as a speakeasy-like restaurant in 2019, tucked within the confines of the retail store of Marky's Caviar. Chef Buddha Lo and his team worked culinary wonders with an eight-course menu cooked in a tiny kitchen. Demand for a seat at its small table (and for chef Lo, as a two-time "Top Chef" champion) warranted a larger location, which opened in early 2025.

The new Huso more than tripled the seating of its previous digs, and is constantly filled with diners plunking down $285 per person to tackle the 12-course menu. The menu changes with the season, but one can always expect plenty of caviar, truffles, seafood, and fresh vegetables to occupy the beautifully plated courses, as well as enlighten and delight the soul. On chef Yuen's visit, the one item that created a lasting food memory was a cherry bread. She says it was "to die for. Like, one of the best breads I've had in a long time."

husony.com

917-891-1837

323A Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013

For seafood lovers, there is no destination more swimming in riches from the sea than the New England region. One of the more interestingly delicious seafood restaurants in all of Connecticut is The Shipwright's Daughter of Mystic, where chef David Standridge holds sway. Standridge has been making quite a name for himself, crafting excellent dishes with a conscience — he strongly values sustainability, local sourcing, and protecting the environment. In a more informal setting, he is also working wonders with a fryer soaked in beef tallow at his other venture, Mystic Fish Camp.

About 50 miles north up I-95 from The Shipwright's Daughter, chef Standridge reeled in some scrumptious bites of seafood at Providence, Rhode Island's Gift Horse. Opened in 2023 by chef Benjamin Sukle of Oberlin fame, this raw bar and restaurant also emphasizes sourcing as locally as possible, especially when it comes to the oysters that all hail from within the borders of Rhode Island.

The kitchen is overseen by Sky Kim, who Standridge pointed out recently won a James Beard award for best chef of the Northeast in 2025. Out of all the delectable items the Gift Horse has to offer, Standridge's recommendation is an easy one: "The scallop crudo there was incredible."

gifthorsepvd.com

401-383-3813

272 Westminster St, Providence, RI 02903

John Kanell may bring both looks and a unique style to his Preppy Kitchen world of cooking, but he often likes to have others take a turn making dishes for him. For him, two New York places stood out in his mind, both classic and new — Monkey Bar and Raf's.

Monkey Bar has been a fixture in the eastern part of Manhattan's midtown area since 1936. The white tablecloth restaurant is accented with art deco touches, lush red booths, dim lighting complete with table lamps, and murals with a silly, playful simian touch. This aesthetic look and feel is part of why it appeals to Kanell, who likes "the old-school vibe." There's plenty to indulge in here, with nine martinis to pair with salads, pastas, seafood steaks, prime rib, and cheeseburgers.

Downtown, 290 Elizabeth Street had long been home to the Little Italy staple Parisi Bakery, but since 2023, that address has been home to Raf's, a place Kanell really enjoys. Raf's is the casual sister restaurant to the nearby Musket Room. Chefs Mary Attea and Camari Mick have extended their talents into this hotspot bakery filled with sweet and savory croissants, which turns into a dining destination by night. It offers a bright white decor and dishes like arancini, corn and crab ravioli, and a whole dorade fish.

nycmonkeybar.com

212-404-0365

60 E 54th St, New York, NY 10022

rafsnewyork.com

290 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10012

Beef looms large in British cuisine, with some of the more famous dishes being Beef Wellington, steak and ale pie, and steak and kidney pudding. Steaks themselves were elevated to new heights when the first Hawksmoor steakhouse opened in East London back in 2006. A year later, The Guardian's food critic, Jay Rayner, swooned over its proper flavor, char, and perfect temperature, calling his meal "Quite simply, the best steak I have ever eaten in this country." Diners seemed to agree as it expanded to nine locations before adding a tenth, and its first one across the pond, in New York City in 2021.

Located in Gramercy Park, and housed in the landmark Assembly Hall of the United Charities Building that dates back to 1892, this location of Hawksmoor has food and ambiance that are both worthy of eating up. Tyler Spengle hails from a small town in Alabama and often broadcasts his creative cooking skills for all to see on his social media channels, but when in town for the New York City Wine & Food Festival, one place on his list was Hawksmoor. He was not disappointed, calling the steakhouse "absolutely incredible," and mirroring what critic Rayner said 18 years ago, noting it was "one of the best steaks in my life."

While British in style and spirit, the U.S. outpost selects its beef from wide-open ranches in the Pacific Northwest and small family farms in the Northeast. There's plenty of dry-aged cuts to choose from, as they are grilled over live-fire charcoal, cooked to your liking.

hawksmoornyc.com

212-777-1840

109 E 22nd St, New York, NY 10010

The bustling East Village neighborhood of Manhattan is overloaded with food options, and this is where influencer Ahmad Alzahabi, aka The Golden Balance, and his literally fresh-on-his-mind choice hails from. "So yesterday and the day before I went to the same restaurant, and that's a really good sign," he says. The place with such drawing power is called Nishaan.

What drew him to Nishaan is that "it is home of the first Pakistani chopped cheese." The one he speaks of is the Chapli Kabob Chopped Cheese, which consists of beef patties, chopped onions, and bell peppers, and finished with a layer of American and pepper jack cheese, fresh tomatoes, mayo, tamarind chutney, and lime cilantro on a toasted hero. On paper, those words alone are mouthwatering.

There's plenty more on the menu, including Tandoori Buffalo Chopped Chicken Sandwich, tacos, loaded fries, and even an elotes chaat, but that Chopped Cheese proved to be worth the repeated visits. Alzahabi proclaims it to be "one of the best bites in the city." For a city like New York crawling with bites, that's quite an accomplishment.

eatnishaan.com

630-340-2981

160 1st Ave, New York, NY 10009

Ayo Balogun hails from Nigeria, and since moving to New York in 1997, has been spreading the flavors of West Africa across his new hometown. His current restaurants include Brooklyn's Dept of Culture and Radio Kwara, and he pegged his upcoming restaurant opening in Williamsburg as already one of the year's best. Aside from being passionate about his own endeavors, chef Balogun reveals Persian bakery Sofreh Cafe as one place he particularly embraces. He says, "If you want to feel like home, just go there and believe me, it will do that."

Sofreh Cafe is an offshoot of chef Nasim Alikhani's Iranian-infused restaurant Sofreh, which opened in 2018. This is actually the second coming of the Sofreh Cafe, which originally opened in 2021 before quickly closing. This current iteration, located right by the Barclays Center, has been making great baked goods since 2024. Sofreh Cafe's menu is rather expansive, with so many delectable treats that repeat visits are required. Might we interest you in some Tahini Date Banana Bread, a Kaak Purse Bread, or Kadaifi or Baklava of the day? Yes, please, all day and every day.

sofrehnyc.com/sofrehcafe

929-294-9240

216 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Alissa Nguyen is quite the busy lady, as a full-time mom and full-time food influencer with north of 3 million followers on TikTok alone. The North Texan spends a lot of time in her bright white kitchen doling out OMG moments, but also seeks them outside of her home. While she praised the Korean barbecue of Ari in nearby Carrollton, she experienced love at first bite at OMG Tacos.

Calvin Nguyen is the brains behind OMG Tacos, and he started slinging California-style street tacos, loaded fries, and more under that catchy name starting in 2015. It has now expanded to include two additional locations. Even though she lives 40 minutes from the closest one, Alissa Nguyen was more than happy to make the trip to try what she called "Mexican fusion with Vietnamese food."

While plenty of standard tacos, burritos, and bowls dot the menu, among the more popular items are the ones with a dash of "OMG," such as OMG Chicken Taco, which features Teriyaki-style chicken, or the OMG Pork Taco, which is done up in a Vietnamese banh mi style. If you plan to visit, be sure to take advantage of OMG Tacos' Happy Hour, Reverse Happy Hour with discount party shots, and its legendary Taco Tuesday offerings.

omgtacos.com

Multiple locations in Texas

Stephanie Bonnin was born and raised in Colombia, and has brought a taste of her roots to New York as the chef and co-owner of La TropiKitchen in Brooklyn. As someone proudly sharing her culinary culture in a richly diverse city, she appreciates others who do the same. Bonnin says, "When I go to a restaurant, I go for comfort food. But most important I go to understand about a culture, and that's the beauty of New York City. You can travel the world just going to the restaurants." One of her new favorite restaurants is Mapo BBQ in Flushing, Queens.

While New York's most famous Koreatown occupies space on 32nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, perhaps the area of Flushing known as Murray Hill is the real Koreatown. In what former New York Times food critic Pete Wells once affectionately referred to as the Queens kimchi belt, Mapo BBQ has been welcoming eaters from far and wide for well over a decade.

Chef Bonnin singled out Mapo's freshly made banchans, and says, "It's the only place in New York where you can eat Korean barbecue with real charcoal." Bonnin wasn't only taken by the restaurant's offerings, but the female owner and her standout hairdo as well. She adds, "That's why I know that she's the boss."

718-886-8292

14924 41st Ave, Flushing, NY 11355