I don't generally do "bests" on much of anything, and especially with food. So much of what I like is situational.
For example, I can buy sausages at the market, and cooking them along with peppers and onions and sticking it in a bun is really easy.
But there's nothing quite like buying the identical thing outside Fenway before a game. I don't know if there's a food reason like the grill has absorbed a couple decades of sausage grease, but I suspect it's the entire package of the food the place and the time.
The very first game fish I caught and pretty much last too, a yellow perch my grandfather cleaned and fried...Amazing.
And one I sampled but hadn't ordered, a grouper steamed on lemongrass, at a place in Chinatown. Very fresh, like there were 6 in the tank when we went in and only 5 when we left.
Some large beef meal at the old Durgin Park
A few breakfasts at small old run down diners.
The big breakfast at a place where the outside was decorated with deer antlers and the description was just "some of each" And was literally an entire plate of everything on the menu. (Which had not just the usual 1,2 or three egg breakfasts but also 4,5 and six egg... the big breakfast was huge. The very big flannel wearing guys stayed to see if I'd finish it, leading to probably the best nod and thumbs up I've ever recieved.
And at least one really odd one.
Chinese buffet - yes, not a place known for food much beyond the "edible" range- small hotdogs wrapped in puff pastry. Hit the perfect balance between done and overdone. And the grease had made the puff pastry perfectly crispy on the bottom. Not highbrow, and them hitting everything exactly right I'm sure was not intentional. My friend laughed for a long time when I described them as "exquisite" at least until he tried some.
And yes, my tastes are generally pretty far away from 5 star and more towards "how the heck is this place still open"
All the truly fancy stuff I've had was good but not memorable.
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