Bangkok emerged as Asia’s champion culinary heavyweight last week as the list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 was announced.
The world of gastronomy came together in Las Vegas for the announcement of the list, with Barcelona’s Disfrutar named The World’s Best Restaurant and The Best Restaurant in Europe.
The awards ceremony, hosted at Wynn Las Vegas, honored the best gastronomic talent from 26 territories across five continents.
Bangkok served notice of its amazing high-end options by tying with Paris as the city with most restaurants in the top 50. The Thai capital notched four with Gaggan Anand the highest placed at number nine on the overall list.
This year’s No.3 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, Gaggan’s progressive Indian cuisine reinterprets traditional dishes while carrying signals and influences from Japan, France, Thailand and beyond with dishes a riot of colour and texture.
Bangkok’s other list inclusions were Suhring (23), Sorn (38), and Le Du (40).
There were numerous other highlights for Asian dining destinations, with 11 restaurants from cities including Bangkok, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Seoul making the list.
Based in Hong Kong, Chef Vicky Cheng’s Wing (No.20) is recognised with the Highest New Entry Award 2024, and The Chairman (No.26) – also in Hong Kong – bags the Highest Climber Award 2024, sponsored by Highstreet World. The Chairman moved up 24 spots from the 2023 list and was also recognised as The Best Restaurant in Hong Kong by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024.
Seoul restaurant Mingles enters the list for the first time at No.44. Named The Best Restaurant in Korea 2024 by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, the menu from chef Mingoo Kang explores unsung local ingredients, and has impressed local and international diners with refined Korean cookery that weaves in inspiration from Hong Kong and Europe.
William Drew, Director of Content for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, comments: “This year sees the culinary community celebrate a truly global list featuring restaurants across 26 territories, demonstrating that the appetite for diversity and excellence in hospitality shows no sign of waning.”
Disfrutar is famed for modern techniques and beautiful ingredients, resulting in an experience that subverts traditional fine dining in a completely surprising way. The tasting menu showcases a Mediterranean identity with avant-garde flavours to deliver daring contemporary food that is truly thought-provoking. Disfrutar is followed in the ranking by Asador Etxebarri (No.2) in Atxondo and Table by Bruno Verjus (No.3) in Paris.
In other awards announced on the night, Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura, the chef-owner of Maido in Lima, wins the Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award 2024, the only award to be voted for by his peers, in light of his dedication to putting Peru onto the world culinary stage, evidenced by Maido’s position as No.1 on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2023.
Australian chef and restaurateur Neil Perry – whose restaurant portfolio has included the legendary Rockpool Bar & Grill, Rosetta and Spice Temple, as well as his latest venture, Margaret – has enjoyed a career spanning more than 45 years and is now rewarded with the Woodford Reserve Icon Award. Perry is arguably his country’s most influential chef and is known for his visionary interpretations of Modern Australian and Asian cuisines.
Nina Métayer is named The World’s Best Pastry Chef 2024, sponsored by Sosa. Métayer’s sculptural creations have garnered attention the world over and her beautiful work is inspiring a new generation of pastry chefs.
Restaurants from three further new cities have entered or re-entered the list, with La Colombe in Cape Town (No.49), SingleThread in Healdsburg (No.46) and Oteque in Rio de Janeiro (No.37) showing the awards’ ever-expanding international footprint in recognising the best restaurants across the globe.