Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018: Bangkok’s Gaggan is No. 1 for Fourth Consecutive Year, Odette is Singapore’s Best Restaurant

The sixth edition of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants was announced yesterday evening at Wynn Palace in Macao, and unsurprisingly, Gaggan in Bangkok has maintained its hold on the crown for the fourth consecutive year. For the individual awards, Chef André Chiang (of Raw, Taipei and previously Restaurant André, Singapore) and Chef Bee Satongun (Paste, Bangkok) clinched two of the most important respectively – the Diners Club Lifetime Achievement award and Elit Vodka Asia’s Best Female Chef.

While Japan dominates with 11 restaurants on the list – eight in Tokyo, two in Osaka, and one in Fukuoka – Singapore maintains a strong showing with seven restaurants, such as Best Restaurant in Singapore Odette (No. 5), Dave Pynt’s Burnt Ends (No. 12), and first-timer, Sam Aisbett’s Whitegrass (No. 50). In the land of the rising sun, Den (No.2) is Best Restaurant in Japan, replacing five-time title holder Narisawa (No. 6). Other restaurants that made the cut include Florilège (No.3), this iteration’s highest new entry La Cime (No. 17, Osaka), L’Effervescence (No. 20, winner of Sustainable Restaurant award), and Fukuoka’s La Maison de la Nature Goh (No. 48), which is back this year after dropping out of the top 50 in 2017.

Odette, Singapore

Bangkok and Hong Kong tie with nine restaurants apiece. Besides Gaggan Anand’s eponymous restaurant and new entry Paste (No. 31), we’re happy to see the city’s favourites Sühring (No. 4, up nine places), Nahm (No. 10), and Le Du (No. 14, up 23 places) return. The Fragrant Harbour sees Amber (No. 7) taking the Best Restaurant in China for its third successive year in the row; familiar names, such as 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana (No. 13) and Four Seasons Hong Kong’s Lung King Heen (No. 24), entertain a sort of homecoming while new restaurants like Neighbourhood (No. 32) and Belon (No. 40) make names for themselves.

Amber, Hong Kong

Other restaurants worth noting include Hong Kong’s The Chairman (No. 22) and Taipei’s Mume (No. 15), who tied for the Highest Climber Award. Raw (No. 15) is Taiwan’s best restaurant for the second year, while Locavore (No. 21) and Ministry of Crab (No. 25) secures Best Restaurant in Indonesia and Best Restaurant in Sri Lanka for the third consecutive year. Asian giants India and Mainland China’s best restaurants go to Indian Accent (No. 19) in New Delhi and Shanghai’s Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (No. 8).

See the full list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants below:

  1. Gaggan, Bangkok, Thailand
  2. Den, Tokyo, Japan
  3. Florilège, Tokyo, Japan
  4. Sühring, Bangkok, Thailand
  5. Odette, Singapore
  6. Narisawa, Tokyo Japan
  7. Amber, Hong Kong, China
  8. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, Shanghai, China
  9. Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo, Japan
  10. Nahm, Bangkok, Thailand
  11. Mingles, Seoul, South Korea
  12. Burnt Ends, Singapore
  13. 8 ½ 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, South 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. Neighbourhood, Hong Kong, China
  33. Eat Me, Bangkok, Thailand
  34. Hajime, Osaka, Japan
  35. Jade Dragon, Macao, China
  36. Corner House, Singapore
  37. Lan, Bangkok, Thailand
  38. Quintessence, Tokyo, Japan
  39. Issaya Siamese Club, Bangkok, Thailand
  40. Belon, Hong Kong, China
  41. Ronin, Hong Kong, China
  42. TocToc, Seoul, South Korea
  43. The Dining Room at The House on Sathorn, Bangkok, Thailand
  44. JAAN, Singapore
  45. Nihonbashi, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  46. Caprice, Hong Kong, China
  47. Shoun RyuGin, Taipei, Taiwan
  48. La Maison de la Nature Goh, Fukuoka, Japan
  49. Wasabi by Morimoto, Mumbai, India
  50. Whitegrass, Singapore

All images courtesy of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.


Chief Editor

Emily heads the editorial team on City Nomads by being a stickler for details, a grammar Nazi, and a really picky eater. Born and bred in Singapore, she loves cats, the written word, and exploring new places. Can be bribed with quality booze across the board.