The 50 Best Restaurant Awards for Asia have been revealed at an awards ceremony in Singapore with last year's number four, Le Du, rising three spots to take top honours.
Already known as a food capital of Asia, Bangkok shone through as one of the fine dining hotspots with four restaurants in the top 10, including first and third spot with Le Du and Nusara in first and third. Tokyo was the other go-to city with four venues in the top 10, the highest placed being Sézanne in runner's up spot and Japan's best restaurant.
The top placed restaurants are as follows:
1. Le Du, Bangkok - coming from the French word meaning 'season', Le Du has been steadily climbing the list of Asia's Top 50 Restaurants steadily since 2017. Led by chef-owner Thitid 'Ton' Tassanakajohn, the restaurant showcases refined modern Thai cuisine based on the country's extraordinary agricultural heritage and centuries-old culinary techniques.
2. Sézanne, Tokyo - British chef Daniel Calvert leads this venue based on the seventh floor of the Four Season Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi which opened in July 2021. Calvert, formerly of Pied à Terre (London), Per Se (New York) and then Epicure (Le Bristol Hotel, Paris), has curated a menu that champions modern French cuisine, drawing inspiration from the town of the same name in France's Champagne region.
3. Nusara, Bangkok - This popular Hong Kong eatery which opened in 2020 serves traditional Thai cuisine with a modern twist. This family restaurant boasts a 12-course tasting which features a range of intricate snacks as well as larger family-style courses including Bumbai Neua, a tender beef cheek in a rich, Bombay-style curry with pickled cucumber.
4. Den, Tokyo - This iconic restaurant is unlike any other in Japan. Led by chef Zaiyu Hasegawa, Den took the top spot in 2022 thanks to its menus which incorporate a diverse range of flavours, from Japanese home cooking to fast food favourites, plus plates influenced his numerous overseas travels and collaborations.
5. Gaggan Anand, Bangkok - Named after owner chef Gagan Anand, this venue previously took top honours a record four times between 2015-2018 before closing in October 2019. Anand reopened a subtle reincarnation of the restaurant in November 2019, bouncing right back that year to take the Highest New Entry Award in 2021 when it placed fifth on the list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.
Discover the full list for 2023 here.