What does the delicious. on Sunday team most covet? Mind-blowing meals, of course. In search of the dishes that you should be lusting after from around the world, I asked our resident gastronomes for their suggestions. What’s intriguing is most of the meals they chose are cheap, accessible and, quite often, street food.

Perfect pizza in Naples

Naples is mad, but the madness becomes charming when your belly is full of true Neapolitan pizza. I’d pick Ristorante Pizzeria Mattozzi, where the dough is superbly light and the tomato sauce is intense thanks to the San Marzano tomatoes that are hung to dry before using to intensify the flavour. Closer to home, I’ve had a similar offering from Pizza e Mozzarella Bar in Pirie St, Adelaide.

Satay in Malaysia

Just south of Kuala Lumpur is the town of Kajang, which is best known in Malaysia for satay. Here you’ll find street corners crowded with charcoal barbecues and jumbled plastic seating. At Willy Satay, the meat is crusty from a lemongrass-heavy spice paste that makes the crispy, fatty lamb and beef sticks good enough to eat, even without any peanut sauce. It’s super cheap so you can afford to splash out on the chicken and, local favourite, rabbit satay as well.

Ssam in Seoul

Much fuss is made of Tokyo’s fish market in Japan, but over in South Korea, Seoul’s huge Noryangjin Fish Market is just as compelling with fewer tourists and, arguably, better food. The local twist is that many of the stalls will prepare their seafood on the spot. You then take your fish to one of the local canteens where you buy rice, soup, side dishes and all the shiso, lettuce and young cabbage leaves you need to wrap up the fish into little ssam (wrapped) bundles with a dab of ssamjang (fermented soybean paste) and chopped green chilli and garlic. Unbelievably fresh and totally delicious.

Breakfast in Chiang Mai

This is not just any breakfast, but a bowl of khao soi. A coconut curry noodle soup, the best versions are full of excellent crunchy pork bits, according to delicious. food director, Phoebe Wood.

Cancha salada in Peru

Queensland food reviewer Anooska Tucker-Evans is in love with Peruvian dried maiz chulpe corn fried in oil and seasoned with salt and spices. It’s served as a snack in restaurants instead of bread before a meal, or in bars instead of nuts. “There’s a reason it’s nicknamed ‘crack corn’ – it’s seriously addictive,” she says.

Roti in Singapore

When pushed to name just one dish, Phoebe Wood picks the “insane flaky roti and a lip-tingling curry” from Sin Ming Roti Prata in Singapore.

Hot dogs around the world

Take your pick where you want to start – with a spicy snag from the stall near the market in Stockholm, a curry wurst in Berlin or a choripan (grilled chorizo with chimichurri) in Buenos Aires. But make sure you finish with a Mexican hot dog at Anaheim’s Cinco de Mayo festival. For more than 40 years, the local Mexican community have come out in force for these four days in May to eat the chorizo-like spicy sausages topped with pick de gallo. “They remain, to this day, the best hot dog I’ve ever had,” says Anooska Tucker-Evans.

Chilli in Bangkok

At his Bangkok restaurant, Nahm, Aussie chef David Thompson serves a pork curry so hot it almost has a psychotropic effect. The heat is a slow burn – the best Thai food is all about timing different layers of flavour release – that grows so it’s like your tongue has slow-motion, bungee-jumped into the deepest, hottest pit of Hell. Heck, my vision even blurred. For some, this becomes addictive. While in Bangkok, Phoebe Wood demands you eat the drunken noodles cooked over charcoal at Jay Fai, too.

Suckling anything in Madrid

The countryside around Madrid specialises in roasting piglets and lambs to the most delectable, tender, crispy-on-the-outside-juicy-on-the-inside conclusion. If you can’t get to Spain, gather 20 mates and get the Flower Drum in Melbourne to roast a Chinese suckling pig for you instead.

Empanadas in Buenos Aires

The empanadas at the creaky Pizzeria y Bar Pedro Telmo, just around the corner from San Telmo’s covered flea market, are ace. Tender pastry encases the freshest fillings, such as spiced greens or sweet corn kernels.

Banh Mi in Vietnam

National reviewer Anthony Huckstep dubs the banh mi that Madam Khanh has been making in Hoi An for more than 50 years as not only the best in Vietnam but also the best thing on a bun in the world. It’s full of barbecued pork, paté, sausage, pickles, carrots, papaya, parsley, fried egg, pickles, chilli sauce, soy sauce and her secret sauce.

Potatoes in Bangladesh

It is strange, but true, that in Dhaka they love their potatoes more than even the Irish. Baked with rice, mutton and spices in the local biryani, they are incredible. But mashed bhorta-style with mustard oil and green chillies, they are a revelation.

Oysters and pearls in California

At the luxe end of the scale, Anthony Huckstep nominates Thomas Keller’s signature dish at The French Laundry in the Napa Valley. In just a few mouthfuls, it is everything – a hug from grandma thanks to the sabayon of pearl tapioca and utter indulgence with Malpeque oysters and Ossetra caviar. It is one of the few dishes to ever make him cry.

Lox bagels in New York City

The slightly elastic chew of a properly cooked bagel, the richness of the cream cheese and the thin swathes of smoked salmon make this a must. Russ & Daughters is my pick given the range of smoked and cured fish available.

Croissants in Paris

There’s much debate over who does the best, but Claire Damon at Des Gateaux et du Pain or Christophe Vasseur at Du Pain et Des Idees are top of my list for their buttery, flaky deliciousness.

Gnocchi in Italy

Everything served at Massimo Spigaroli restaurant, Antica Corte Pallavicina, is grown on the farm that surrounds the turreted, medieval fort outside Parma. It is his ridiculously light gnocchi, however, that has me dreaming of returning. While you are there, nip across to Bologna for the porcini and white truffle salad at Ristorante Diana and to find teeny, handmade tortellini the size and beauty of Venus’s belly button.

Granita in Sicily

The Baroque city of Noto in Sicily’s southeast is the holy grail for lovers of all things icy, and the almond granita at Caffe Sicilia is the pinnacle. It’s the very milky essence of the best almonds turned to a cooling ice. The mulberry granita, with its sweet berry blackness, runs at a close second.

Knafeh in Istanbul

Anooska, Phoebe and myself all have a thing for Istanbul, whether it’s the perfect kebabs, the fried fish sandwiches, or, perhaps best of all, the knafeh. The honey or syrup-drenched threads of crisp, buttery kataifi pastry sandwich a sort of creamy ricotta. Sigh.

Lemon tart in San Francisco

The lemon tart at Tartine Bakery in San Francisco is the best I’ve ever tasted. It’s closely followed by the warm, wobbly offering served at Saint Peter in Sydney and Philippa Sibley’s deliciously satiny one at Syracuse in Melbourne.

Chocolate nemesis in London

London’s River Cafe is an institution. A table on the terrace by the Thames in spring is a quintessential dining experience, and it absolutely must be ended with the chocolate cake to end all chocolate cakes. Melbourne reviewer Dan Stock doesn’t even particularly like chocolate cake, but he still dreams of the decadence of this dessert.

Close but no dice…

Here are 10 more contenders for the top 20 that didn’t make the cut, and the brutal reasons why they lost out.

Pierre Herme’s rose macaron in Paris

If Adriano Zumbo is Tim Cahill, then uberhip Parisian patissier Pierre Herme is Lionel Messi. His white truffle and hazelnut praline macarons were what I was eating when I found out I had the job on MasterChef and he kindly sent a box down when we were filming in Paris so all the crew could taste them. Top bloke, or what?

Didn’t make the grade because: I suspect the macaron craze is over.

‘Real’ barbecue in the US

You’ll need to try slow-cooked pork from one of the roadside pit barbecues of South Carolina and then a serving of finger-burning jerked pork pulled sizzling from a 50-gallon drum barbecue way up in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains to work out which is the true barbecue of the Americas, where barbecue was invented.

Didn’t make the grade because: our foodie team couldn’t make up their minds over which barbecue was best.

Chicken rice in Malaysia and Singapore

Just as Australia and New Zealand argue as to who invented pavlova, so Malaysia and Singapore both claim credit for this delicious combination of sticky rice and tender, succulent chicken. Think of it as a non-liquid chicken soup. I’d recommend BB Chicken Rice in Kuala Lumpur but am open to other suggestions from both sides of the border.

Didn’t make the grade because: as above – we couldn’t agree, so it didn’t go in.

Tacos in Los Angeles

Los Angeles does tacos really well, whether it’s the traditional pork ‘al pastor’ ones at Leon’s food truck, Ricky’s Fish Tacos served under an awning in a suburban hairdresser’s car park, or the fusion kimchi short rib tacos from modern food truck pioneer Roy Choi.

Didn’t make the grade because: I’m not sure you can send people to LA for tacos if you don’t also send them to Mexico as well.

Pani Puri in Mumbai

On hot summer nights, up to 250,000 people in Mumbai descend on the city’s widest beaches like Juhu to promenade, paddle and ride human-powered fairground rides. They also eat, and a favourite snack is this super-thin, crisp pastry cup filled with cubes of creamy potato, onion and chickpeas with a herby sauce, green with fresh coriander, mint and green chilli, with a sour tamarind hit. They are extremely moreish.

Didn’t make the grade because: unfortunately, there was only so much space in the top 20 list and something had to give.

Eclairs in Paris

Forget the macaron – the cutting-edge versions of this classic is what pastry-loving Parisians and Insta-tourists are currently going crazy for.

Didn’t make the grade because: it’s a fad that will probably be over by the time you get there, even if they are tasty.

Lobster rolls in New England

There’s something perfect about the Maine tradition of selling lobster meat, heated in butter and loaded into a sweet, soft hot dog roll as a luxe roadside stall delicacy.

Didn’t make the grade because: I secretly blame lobster rolls for inspiring the use of brioche buns in overly sweet gourmet burgers. Also, Supernormal in Melbourne does a really good one and, quite frankly, I’d rather head to Robe or any other great local lobster port to sandwich slabs of cray tail between thick slices of brown bread spread liberally with butter. A squeeze of Meyer lemon would be good, too.

Beef in fish sauce caramel in Vietnam

Bo La Lot is a fixture on many Vietnamese menus, but you haven’t lived until you’ve had these fragrant rissoles, wrapped in leaves and cooked over coals, eaten with a fish sauce caramel in the serene surroundings of a traditional garden house in the old imperial city of Hue.

Didn’t make the grade because: I fear this magical restaurant may no longer exist and it would be wrong to send you on a unicorn hunt.

Pork buns in Sydney

Yes, it’s always best to eat a dish from its origin, but if you can’t afford to fly to New York or Hong Kong, you can taste David Chang’s pork bun in Sydney at Momofuku Seiobo or Tim Ho Wan’s famous pork buns in Melbourne and Sydney.

Didn’t make the grade because: it’s not really an object of desire unless you have to fly over 8 hours to get it.

Cubano in Florida

This pressed and toasted Cuban sandwich of roasted pork, ham, pickles, cheese and mustard where the meat juices soak into the bread are crazy good – and even better than they look in the movie Chef.

Didn’t make the grade because: isn’t it really just a ham and cheese toastie? Albeit a very big and tasty one. But if you start naming the cubano, surely croque monsieur from Sebastien Gaudard’s Salon de Thé in Paris or a Cape Town Gatsby should get a mention as well?

We’d love to know the best things you’ve ever tasted to add to our bucket list. Share them with the delicious. team on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, using the hashtag #EatBeforeYouDie.