The winners of the S.Pellegrino- and Acqua Panna-sponsored Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2014 were announced this morning. Notably, Australian chef David Thompson and Indian-born Ferran Adrià protégé Gaggan Anand, took the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, respectively, with their Bangkok restaurants Nahm and Gaggan. Yoshihiro Narisawa’s namesake restaurant dropped to the No. 2 spot this year, slipping just a little with Seiji Yamamoto’s 18-seat Nihonryori Ryugin, which drops to No. 5 from its second-place position last year.
Elsewhere, Joël Robuchon’s empire is still very much in effect, and the chef has two restaurants on the list, while the famed Sukiyabashi Jirō ranks at No. 38.
Canadian Matt Abergel moved up a spot with Yardbird in Hong Kong, French chef Paul Pairet’s Ultraviolet maintains its No. 8 ranking, and in general, the list is replete with the wide-reaching influence of modernist techniques. It’s telling, for example, that Shinobu Namae’s Tokyo restaurant L’Effervescence is a new entry entirely, coming in at No. 25, the midpoint. Namae trained with Michel Bras and Heston Blumenthal, and is known for serving savory snacks in playful packaging, like savory apple pies delivered to the table in red paper boxes made to look like the ones served at McDonald’s.
1. Nahm, Bangkok,Thailand
2. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan
3. Gaggan, Bangkok, Thailand
4. Amber, Hong Kong, China
5. Nihonryori Ryugin, Tokyo, Japan
6. Restaurant Andre, Singapore
7. Waku Ghin, Singapore
8. Ultraviolet, Shanghai, China
9. Lung King Heen, Hong Kong, China
10. 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong, China
11. Mr And Mrs Bund, Shanghai, China
12. Iggy’s, Singapore
13. Caprice, Hong Kong, China
14. Les Amis, Singapore
15. Bo Innovation, Hong Kong, China
16. Ishikawa, Tokyo, Japan
17. Jaan, Singapore
18. L’atelier De Joel Robuchon Hong Kong, China
19. Fook Lam Moon, Hong Kong, China
20. Jungsik, Seoul, South Korea
21. Sra Bua By Kiin Kiin, Bangkok, Thailand
22. Quintessence, Tokyo, Japan
23. Tippling Club, Singapore
24. Le Moût Restaurant, Taichung, Taiwan
25. L’effervescence, Tokyo, Japan
26. Fu1015, Shanghai, China
27. Bukhara, New Delhi, India
28. Bo.Lan, Bangkok, Thailand
29. Indian Accent, New Delhi, India
30. Dum Pukht, New Delhi, India
31. Issaya Siamese Club, Bangkok, Thailand
32. Varq, New Delhi, India
33. Hubin Road, Hangzhou, China
34. Takazawa, Tokyo, Japan
35. Shinji By Kanesaka, Singapore
36. Wasabi, Mumbai, India
37. Eat Me, Bangkok, Thailand
38. Sukiyabashi Jiro, Tokyo, Japan
39. Robuchon Au Dome, Macau
40. Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Singapore
41. Sawada, Tokyo, Japan
42. Hajime Restaurant, Osaka, Japan
43. Sushi Saito, Tokyo, Japan
44. Nihonbashi, Colombo, Sri Lanka
45. Yardbird, Hong Kong, China
46. Family Li Imperial Cuisine, Shanghai, China
47. Sarong, Bali, Indonesia
48. Franck Bistro, Shanghai, China
49. Karavalli, Bangalore, India
50. Tenku Ryugin, Hong Kong, China
Asia’s 50 Best [World’s 50 Best]