While sitting barefoot at a seaside bar overlooking the placid surf of Phuket Island’s Panwa Beach in Thailand, I gazed at the horizon toward a scattering of pastels cast by the shadows of dusk. Taking an occasional swig from a 21-ounce bottle of Chang (a type of beer), I watched the sun vanish behind a hill topped with a silhouetted statue of Buddha sticking up through the trees. Amidst the sounds of lapping waves and reggae music coming from a bamboo bar with thatched roofing, our waiter (also barefoot) arrived with an onslaught of inexpensive dishes, including the best beef noodle soup and yellow curry I encountered during my 12-day rendezvous in Thailand.

When traveling abroad, you always tend to remember the best meal. A meal that is considerably heightened by the place, the people, the fact that you may never have it or be able to find it anywhere as good, ever again. But that doesn’t stop you from trying.

Upon returning home to your rigorous 9-to-5 reality, any time that same dish graces the pages of a local menu, or if a particular restaurant claims it makes it best, a challenge commences.