Gaggan in Bangkok, Thailand was named the 2018 Best Restaurant in Asia—its fourth consecutive year. Chef-owner Gaggan Anand addressed the “49 restaurants and chefs” present onstage at the Wynn Palace’s grand ballroom on Tuesday, March 27. “I am not just a proud winner but this time—for the first time—I was least stressed for what my number would be, and the more happening thing was that we [restaurants and chefs] would meet and greet. We have become a family and that’s the best thing that’s happened over the six years with 50 Best. We have young chefs taking over the old ones. So it’s time for us to leave and you guys to take over.”
Watch his beautiful winning speech here:
The Philippines’ Toyo Eatery was named the recipient of this year’s One To Watch Award, sponsored by Miele. Selected by the organizers of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, in collaboration with its regional experts, the award is presented to a restaurant that is outside the Asia’s 50 Best list but is identified as the rising star of the region. At the awards ceremony, a short video showcasing Toyo’s space and philosophy took the big screen before chef-owner Jordy Navarra and his wife May were invited onstage to receive the award.
There were big leaps in this year’s Top 5: Den in Tokyo jumped nine places to No. 2, Florilege also in Tokyo jumped twelve places to No. 3; Suhring in Bangkok jumped nine places to No. 4, and Odette in Singapore jumped four places to No. 5.
There were also eight new entries this year: Whitegrass in Singapore (No. 50), Shoun RyuGin in Taipei (No. 47), Toc Toc in Seoul (No. 42), Belon in Hong Kong (No. 40), Neighborood in Hong Kong (No. 32), Paste in Bangkok (No. 31), Il Ristorante- Luca Fantin in Tokyo (No. 28) and the highest new entry, La Cime in Osaka (No. 17).
This was the first year that the sixth edition of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, organized by William Reed Business Media, was held in Macau. Next year, it will be held there as well.
#50BestTalks
Leading up to the awards, this year’s #50BestTalks, held at the grand ballroom of the Wynn Macau, talked about “exploring identity.” Mume’s Richie Lin, Long Xiong and Kai Ward talked about how they forged a fresh culinary identity in Taipei; Hiroe Higuchi of Shima Kanto Hotel in Japan spoke about sustainability; Native Bar Singapore’s Vijay Mudaliar spoke about sourcing ingredients in Asia and likewise their Asian-inspired cocktails; and Andre Chiang (this year’s Lifetime Achievement Awardee) spoke about his next chapter after closing his landmark Restaurant Andre in Singapore. Chiang will be opening a new concept “in a new city” by the end of 2018, and also putting a new restaurant at the Andre space, revealing that it was “a cuisine category that Singapore doesn’t have yet.”
Best Female Chefs
A personal highlight for me was the spotlighting of female chefs, specifically Asia’s Best Female Chefs, in the form of a seven-course six hands lunch between our very own Margarita Fores (2016), Vicky Lau of Tate Dining Room in Hong Kong (2015) and Lanshu Chen of Le Mout in Taiwan (2014). So thrilled to see our Filipino food spotlighted before the region’s biggest gastronomes! Fores prepared a (dry) sinigang of mackerel in batwan miso, and lamb glazed with Philippine coffee, adlai sinangag and guava jelly—and the entire lunch was paired with Chateau Palmer wines, no less!
This year’s Top 50 are:
1. Gaggan (Bangkok, Thailand)
2. Den (Tokyo, Japan)
3. Florilege (Tokyo, Japan)
4. Suhring (Bangkok, Thailand)
5. Odette (Singapore)
6. Narisawa (Tokyo, Japan)
7. Amber (Hong Kong)
8. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (Shanghai, China)
9. Nihonryori Ryugin (Tokyo, Japan)
10. Nahm (Bangkok, Thailand)
11. Mingles (Seoul, Korea)
12. Burnt Ends (Singapore)
13. 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana (Hong Kong, China)
14. Le Du (Bangkok, Thailand)
15. Raw (Taipei, Taiwan)
16. Ta Vie (Hong Kong, China)
17. La Cime (Osaka, Japan)
18. Mume (Taipei, Taiwan)
19. Indian Accent (New Delhi, India)
20. L’Effervescence (Tokyo, Japan)
21. Locavore (Bali, Indonesia)
22. The Chairman (Hong Kong, China)
23. Waku Ghin (Singapore)
24. Lung King Heen (Hong Kong, China)
25. Ministry of Crab (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
26. Jungsik (Seoul, Korea)
27. Sushi Saito (Tokyo, Japan)
28. Il Ristorante- Luca Fantin (Tokyo, Japan)
29. Les Amis (Singapore)
30. Fu He Hui (Shanghai, China)
31. Paste (Bangkok, Thailand)
32. Neighborhood (Hong Kong, China)
33. Eat Me (Bangkok, Thailand)
34. Hajime (Osaka, Japan)
35. Jade Dragon (Macau, China)
36. Corner House (Singapore)
37. Bo.Lan (Bangkok, Thailand)
38. Quintessence (Tokyo, Japan)
39. Issaya Siamese Club (Bangkok, Thailand)
40. Belon (Hong Kong, China)
41. Ronin (Hong Kong, China)
42. Toc Toc (Seoul, Korea)
43. House of Sathorn (Bangkok, Thailand)
44. Jaan (Singapore)
45. Nihonbashi (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
46.Caprice (Hong Kong, China)
47. Shown Ryugin (Taipei, Taiwan)
48. La Maison de la Nature Goh (Fukuoka, Japan)
49.Wasabi by Morimoto (Mumbai, India)
50. Whitegrass (Singapore)
For more information on the awards, visit <www.worlds50best.com>
