Australians rise up in Asia’ 50 Best Awards
by Leon Gettler
Australian chefs have taken out honours in the Asia’s 50 Best restaurants awards.
Top of the list was Tetsuya Wakuda for his ultra-swish Singapore restaurant Waku Ghin, located at Marina Sands. That was ranked sixth in the region, well up on ninth place last year.
He was followed by Australia’s world-renowned specialist in Thai cuisine David Thompson. His Bangkock restaurant Nahm was named Asia’s best in 2014. This year it was still in the top 10, coming in at eighth position, slipping one spot from its 2015 ranking.
And Perth-raised David Pynt’s high class Singapore barbecue restaurant Burnt Ends, which has a strong Australian feel to it, hit 14th spot. That was up from 30th last year.
The best 50 list is compiled with the scores from six panels of 318 voters in regions getting tallied across the vast Asian market (excluding Australia).
It’s a system that has its detractors. Some critics question the impartiality of the panels. And then there are questions around the methodology of giving restaurants numerical values.
But for the Australians, getting a spot in the Best 50 was good enough.
“Expectations are difficult things to manage, and lists like this certainly create expectations,” Pynt told The Australian. “We’re not a conventional restaurant in the context of this list. It’s not small portions or delicate morsels.”
“So maybe we’ll get more complaints. As far as I’m concerned, if you’re on the list, well done.”
But it was not all good news. The Australian-run Bo.lan, in Bangkok, disappeared from the list altogether.
The overall best restaurant on the list was Gaggan in Bangkok.
Chef Gaggan Anand's cuisine draws heavily from Indian street food, re-interpreted with a modernist cooking style.
Tokyo’s Narisawa came in second. It was followed by Singapore’s Restaurant Andre, Hong Kong’s Amber and Tokyo’s Nihonryori RyuGin.
1st March 2016
