Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026: Hong Kong’s Chairman #1, S’pore’s Top Restaurant Odette
As with every year, there is controversy surrounding the results. “Why is Mosu (lauded Korean fine-diner by chef Anh Sung-jae of Culinary Class Wars) ranked lower than Labyrinth?" questioned a food writer who requested anonymity.
Hong Kong’s Cantonese restaurant Chairman has been named Asia’s Best Restaurant in the 14th edition of the awards, held on Mar 25 in Hong Kong at Kerry Hotel. It was also voted #1 on the list back in 2021.
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Photo: Wing
Hong Kong also takes the runner-up position with excellent modern Cantonese fine-diner Wing (No 2), while Bangkok’s progressive Indian Gaggan is No 3.
Completing the top five is Seoul’s modern Korean Mingles (No 4) and Bangkok’s Thai Nusara (No 5).
Photo: The Chairman
Chairman’s owner Danny Yip paid tribute to his team, where 60 to 70 per cent have worked at least 10 years at the 17-year-old restaurant. He said: “Winning the top award makes our hard work and staying in the industry worthwhile. I’m very happy to see that the top two restaurants are in Hong Kong.”
Photo: Florence Fong
Six out of the top 10 restaurants were from mainland China and Macau, including Hangzhou’s Ru Yuan, which debuted on the list at No 10 as the Highest New Entry award winner. Beijing’s Lamdre (No 17) jumped 33 spots from last year’s rankings to clinch the Highest Climber Award.
Singapore’s six restaurants on the list
Singapore has a total of six restaurants on the list: French restaurants Odette (No 19) and Les Amis (No 38), modern Singaporean restaurant Labyrinth (No. 40), Korean Nae:um (No 45), as well as modern Asian restaurants Born, who re-entered the list at No 23, and Seroja (No 20). Back in 2019 and 2020, Odette was #1 on the list.
There were also four Singapore restaurants on the extended 51-100 list: modern Indian restaurant Thevar (No 58) and modern Korean restaurant Meta (No 77), Australian barbecue place Burnt Ends (No 59), and Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay’s modern Chinese restaurant Peach Blossoms (No 78).
Photo: Nae:um
Nae:um’s chef-owner Louis Han shared: “I am just happy to be on the list. We just renovated the restaurant and changed the menu to one with a more specific identity, where we create Korean food that can only be found in this region, with regional ingredients and influences.”
Photo: Labyrinth
Han Liguang, Singaporean chef-owner of Labyrinth, which has been on the list for the past six years, added that he has been “making massive changes to the menu in the past two years through a more mature use of ingredients, showcasing traditional recipes and global techniques. The priority is to make cuisine that is tasty and makes our diners happy.”
This year’s list spans 17 cities across the region, with three cities — Kasauli, Penang and Ubud — in the 1-50 ranking for the first time.
Photo: Website/odetterestaurant.com
Asia’s Best Sommelier from Odette
Special industry awards were also given out. Asia’s Best Sommelier accolade went to Odette’s Taiwan-born head sommelier Lesley Liu, while the Best Pastry Chef is Ardika Dwitama from Jakarta’s August (No 42).
The only peer-voted accolade, the Chef’s Choice Award, went to Thai chef Thitid 'Ton' Tassanakajohn of Nusara and Le Du (No 36). Bangkok’s Baan Tepa (No 53) picked up the Sustainable Restaurant Award.
Chef Cho Eun-hee from Seoul’s Onjium (No 14) was named Best Female Chef while Chinese restaurateur Zhang Yong, the founder of Xin Rong Ji, which has branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, took home the Icon Award.
Controversy surrounding results
As with every year, there are rumblings among industry players and foodies about the results. “Why is Mosu (the famous Korean fine-diner in Seoul by celeb chef Anh Sung-jae of hit show Culinary Class Wars) ranked lower than Labyrinth?" questioned a food writer who requested anonymity.
Another regular diner who also asked not to be named, posited: “How is Singapore’s best restaurant only Asia’s #19? And so many highly rated ones not even in the 50 Best list?”
The list has long been plagued by controversy surrounding how restaurants are awarded. Former head of Noma’s fermentation lab, Jason Ignacio White, the whistle blower behind abuse allegations against Noma chef René Redzepi, had posted on Instagram:
“World’s 50 Best voters get flown out & pampered in groups behind the scenes to insure they vote for places. Evaluating ethics or quality of cuisine is compromised in this scenario. A lot of your favorite restaurants have participated in this pay to play scheme”.
Jason tagged Bangkok-based chefs Gaggan Anand of restaurant Gaggan (voted Asia’s #1 restaurant five times, including 2025) and chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn of restaurant Le Du (voted #1 in 2023) in response to a netizen's comment of "when the best restaurant in Asia is Gaggan, you know there's [sic] issues" and another's reply of "or Le Du...".
He promised to "address ethics policies” for various awards including World’s 50 Best in a later post.
The rankings are voted by a gender-balanced panel of 350 experts comprising food writers, critics, chefs, restaurateurs and regional culinary leaders with the results adjudicated by professional services consultancy Deloitte.
The full list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026:
1. The Chairman (Hong Kong)
2. Wing (Hong Kong)
3. Gaggan (Bangkok)
4. Mingles (Seoul)
5. Nusara (Bangkok)
6. Meet the Bund (Shanghai)
7. Chef Tam’s Seasons (Macau)
8. Gaggan at Louis Vuitton (Bangkok)
9. Ling Long (Shanghai)
10. Ru Yuan (Hangzhou)*
11. Fu He Hui (Shanghai)
12. Sorn (Bangkok)
13. La Cime (Osaka)
14. Onjium (Seoul)
15. Masque (Mumbai)
16. Sezanne (Tokyo)
17. Lamdre (Beijing)
18. Suhring (Bangkok)
Photo: Odette
19. Odette (Singapore)
20. Seroja (Singapore)
21. Sazenka (Tokyo)
22. Logy (Taipei)
23. Born (Singapore)**
24. Neighborhood (Hong Kong)
25. Potong (Bangkok)
26. Eatanic Garden (Seoul)
27. Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh (Bangkok)**
28. Maz (Tokyo)
29. 102 House (Shanghai)**
30. Naar (Kasauli)*
31. Florilège (Tokyo)
32. Estro (Hong Kong)
33. Myoujyaku (Tokyo)
34. Crony (Tokyo)
35. Caprice (Hong Kong)
36. Le Du (Bangkok)
37. Narisawa (Tokyo)
Photo: Les Amis
38. Les Amis (Singapore)
39. Au Jardin (Penang)*
40. Labyrinth (Singapore)
41. Mosu (Seoul)**
42. August (Jakarta)
43. Bium (Seoul)*
44. Locavore NXT (Ubud)*
45. Nae:um (Singapore)*
46. Mono (Hong Kong)
47. Wana Yook (Bangkok)*
48. La Bourriche 133 (Shanghai)*
49. 7th Door (Seoul)
50. JL Studio (Taichung)
*new entry
*re-entry
Additional reporting by Florence Fong
Source: CNA/bt
The original version of this story first appeared in CNA Lifestyle.
For more CNA Lifestyle stories, visit https://www.cnalifestyle.com.
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