The rules for splashing out on a fancy meal while travelling

Rule number one: commit. Do not go into this half-heartedly. Do not go in with regret. Do not make the decision to spend an incredible amount of money, more than a week's rent, more than a decent mortgage repayment, more than a month's worth of groceries, with anything but absolute commitment.

Otherwise you're in for disappointment.

If you decide to splash out on a fancy meal on your travels, on three-Michelin-starred grandeur, on pomp and ceremony and cuisine elevated to the highest level imaginable, then you have to be 100 per cent sure of your decision.

Think of it in terms of sport, if that helps. If you love football, then you want to see the best of the best play. You want to see Lionel Messi line up with Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain. You would pay hundreds or even thousands of euros for that opportunity.

Or think of it in terms of music. You want to see Bruce Springsteen play somewhere iconic, you want to travel to Madison Square Garden and see the Boss do his thing in front of his adoring fans. You would pay thousands of dollars to have that chance.

And so that brings us back to food. You love food. You live for food. It brings you joy in all of its forms. And so you want to experience the best of the best. You want to see just how far this thing can be taken by the greatest in the game.

That's the way to think before committing to a breathtakingly expensive meal overseas. This is a thing you love. Let's see just how good it can be.

You need to choose the restaurant carefully, of course. Just because it's expensive, doesn't make it good. There are some terrible restaurants out there charging far too much for the experience of discovering that.

You need to decide what sort of food you're going to enjoy too, what is right for you: do you want cutting edge dishes, avant garde ideas, the sort of cuisine that doesn't even resemble food, that challenges you to reconsider everything you know about eating?