It’s that time of year once more. The annual World’s 50 Best list has been released. Last night (5th October 2021), the industry’s who’s who gathered in Antwerp, Flanders, for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards 2021, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. This year’s ranking includes 26 countries from five continents. Chef Rene Redzep’s Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark, was named the world’s greatest restaurant for the fifth time in 11 years. Chef Redzepi and his team’s unwavering focus on rare seasonal foods has earned Noma this honour.
The menus within each “season” change: seafood in the winter, vegetables in the summer, and game and forest in the autumn, and no two experiences at the restaurant are said to be the same.
Eight restaurants in Asia listed
Asia received eight spots, with Odette from Singapore taking the top spot in the region. This year, the National Gallery Singapore, under the direction of chef Julien Royer, jumped 10 places to No. 8. Chef Royer, who is in Antwerp for the event, shared an Instagram post: “We could not be happier challenging ourselves at every turn and to continue to be able to do what we love; today is a wonderful reminder of the intangible value this industry brings.”
Burnt Ends in Teck Lim Road, with chef Dave Pynt at the helm, debuting at No. 34.
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Here is the list of restaurants within the Asia region:
8. Odette (Singapore)
10. The Chairman (Hong Kong, China)
11. Den (Tokyo, Japan)
19. Narisawa (Tokyo, Japan)
34. Burnt Ends (Singapore)
35. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet (Shanghai, China)
39. Florilege (Tokyo, Japan)
40. Suhring (Bangkok, Thailand)
Only one restaurant in Bangkok was acknowledged in the 2021 edition, and that restaurant is Sühring, the award-winning diner by German twin brothers Thomas and Mathias Sühring, which made it to the list at no. 40, up from no. 45 in 2019. The Chairman of Hong Kong, China, wins the Highest Climber Award, climbing 31 places to No. 10 on the list.
The highest-ranking Japanese restaurant on the list is Den, a modern Japanese restaurant recognised for its contemporary take on kaiseki traditions. With modernist food influenced by Japanese, Chinese, and French cooking, Narisawa followed suit at No 19. Florilège, a French-Japanese restaurant in Jingumae, was ranked No. 39.
How is the voting system like
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, consist of some 1,040 industry insiders made up of food writers and reviewers, chefs, restaurateurs, and worldwide culinary specialists, with a 50/50 gender balance, votes to create the yearly restaurant list.
To compensate for the previous year’s restrictions on international travel and limited dining options, the 2021 list was created using a combination of votes cast in January 2020 (which were never published) and a ‘voting refresh’ in March 2021. Each voter was given the opportunity to update their 2020 choices based solely on restaurant experiences in their own region in the 14 months since the previous voting round, reflecting the growing importance of local dining. As a result, the 2021 list is based on a combination of wider pre-pandemic experiences and, where possible, current local updates.
At least 25% of the academy members in each region change every year. Each member chooses 10 restaurants. Academy members must vote for at least four restaurants outside of their regions.
