Bangkok, Thailand, and Tokyo, Japan, were jointly ranked as the top culinary cities in Asia on the 'Asia's 50 Best Restaurants (A50B)' list, each featuring 9 restaurants. In South Korea, Mingles and Onjium ranked 5th and 10th, respectively, elevating the status of Korean cuisine.
According to industry sources on the 26th, the 'Asia's 50 Best Restaurants' is an award ceremony initiated by the British media company William Reed, which has also announced the 'World's 50 Best Restaurants' since 2013. It was established to discover relatively lesser-known Asian restaurants and chefs compared to those in Europe and the United States, and to promote Asian culinary culture to the world.
A balanced jury of 350 food specialists, including journalists, critics, chefs, restaurant operators, and local culinary experts, determines the restaurants in the 16 regions of Asia through voting.
The awards announce restaurant affiliations by city rather than by country. The cities with the most representation in the top 50 this year are Bangkok and Tokyo, with each boasting 9 places on the list.
The top spot on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list was taken by 'Gaggan' in Bangkok. Run by star chef Gaggan Anand, this restaurant has previously been awarded the title of Asia's Best Restaurant four times, holding the record for the most awards. This year, it reclaimed the top position, breaking its own record. Gaggan is acclaimed for harmoniously blending Indian cuisine with influences from Japan, France, and Thailand.
At Gaggan, 25 dishes are served over a 2-hour period, accompanied by various music. Guests can request the music they want to hear. Chef Anand noted during a press conference after the awards ceremony the day before that he rethought the restaurant's direction through the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced the restaurant's capacity to 14 seats. He said, “Many people do not expect special emotional experiences from fine dining. They often just want to visit because it’s famous or fine dining,” adding, “I want customers to dance, sing, enjoy, and be happy in my restaurant. I believe there is definitely synergy between music and food.”
Other restaurants in Bangkok include Nusara (6th), Shring (11th), Photong (13th), Sorn (16th), Le Du (20th), Gaggan at Louis Vuitton (31st), Baan Tepha (44th), and Samrub Samrub Thai (47th).
The top restaurant in Tokyo is 'Sezanne,' which ranked 4th. Sezanne, which secured the top position last year, is famous for its neo-French cuisine that combines modern classic with excellent Japanese ingredients. In addition to Sezanne, Narizawa (12th), Fluolierie (17th), Den (22nd), Crony (30th), Sushisaito (33rd), Sazanka (34th), Mazu (43rd), and Myo Ya Kyu (45th) also made the list. Including La Cime (8th) in Osaka and Ko (36th) in Fukuoka, Japan boasts 11 restaurants in the top 50, the highest representation in Asia.
Following Bangkok and Tokyo, Hong Kong has 7 restaurants and Seoul has 4 restaurants on the list. In Seoul, Mingles, Onjium, Seventh Door, and Itanic Garden were selected. Although the number of restaurants from Seoul did not increase from the 4 selected last year, most saw significant improvements in their rankings.
Mingles moved from 13th last year to 5th this year, Onjium rose from 21st to 10th, and Itanic Garden climbed from 64th last year to 25th. Chef Son Jong-won of Itanic Garden, newly included in the top 50 this year, said during the press conference, “The global spread of K-culture is ongoing, but what has been known so far is not the entirety of K-culture.” He expressed, “More traditional and Korean aspects can be found in various areas, and I see it as my role to convey this through cuisine.” He added, “While red pepper paste and soybean paste are important in Korean cooking, I also see seasonal greens as significant,” stating, “This spring, I want to capture the essence of Korea's mountains and green leaves, which I aim to reflect in the menu.”
Seventh Door, which ranked 18th last year, saw a slight drop to 23rd this year. Mosu, which was awarded 41st in the 2023 ceremony, did not operate last year, thus did not receive an award this year.
In addition to traditional culinary stronghold cities, restaurants from various Asian cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi in India, Taipei and Taichung in Taiwan, and Manila in the Philippines were included in the rankings. Notably, Beijing in China made its debut on the list this year with Landre at 50th.
The award ceremony, held in Seoul for the past two consecutive years, was sponsored by San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, and organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Seoul Metropolitan Government.