11 in Japan win Asia's 50 Best Restaurant honors, but Gaggan is tops

Japan Times

26-03-2025

Gaggan Anand is back. The Kolkata-born, Bangkok-based, self-styled rebel chef's eponymous restaurant, Gaggan, won the crown at the 2025 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony held in Seoul on March 25.
For Anand, this represents more than just a professional success. It is also vindication for his decision to walk away from the initial iteration of his restaurant — also called Gaggan — despite it having held top spot on the list for four consecutive years, from 2015 through 2019.
Speaking after the ceremony, Anand said the hiatus between the two operations not only allowed him to evolve his India-meets-Europe-meets-molecular cuisine but also to give it a setting that is more operatic — music, much of it rock, is high in the mix — and interactive with guests.
Gaggan was one of nine restaurants in Bangkok that made it onto the prestigious 50 Best list — including two others that Anand is involved with. Gaggan at Louis Vuitton (No. 31) is a collaboration with the global luxury fashion brand, while he is also part owner in Suhring (No. 11), the stylish, modern German restaurant which has held spots in the top 10 for the past seven years.
After walking away from his first self-named eatery, chef Gaggan Anand has returned to glory in this year's Asia's 50 Best Restaurants rankings. |
ASIA'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS
Although Bangkok tied with Tokyo as the cities with the largest number of entries on this year's list, Japan won bragging rights for having 11 in all. Dropping three places from last year's top billing, Sezanne (No. 4) was still the highest-ranking restaurant in Japan, followed by perennial favorites Narisawa (rising two spots to No. 12), Florilege (down from second place to No. 17) and Den (down 14 to No. 22).
Three Tokyo restaurants cracked the list for the first time: Crony (No. 30); Maz (No. 43) and Myoujyaku (No. 45), while Sushi Saito made a surprise return to the rankings at No. 33. Rounding off the Tokyo contingent is Sazenka (No. 34), joined by Osaka's La Cime (No. 8) and Fukuoka's Goh (No. 36).
Meanwhile Crony's co-owner and sommelier, Kazutaka Ozawa, won the Asia's Best Sommelier award.
The South Korean capital was hosting the influential event for the second straight year. This has helped boost Seoul's presence on the list, with Mingles at No. 5, the highest result to date for chef Mingoo Kang, and Onjium rising 11 slots to No. 10. They were joined by 7th Door (No. 23), and Eatanic Garden, which won the Highest New Entry award at No. 25.
The annual Icon Award was presented posthumously to the late Margarita Fores of the Philippines. As the 2016 recipient of the Asia's Best Female Chef award, she was honored for her influence in putting Filipino cuisine on the map.
To the chefs involved in the ceremony, the importance of the rankings pale in comparison to the sense of community the 50 Best events have fostered over the years. |
ASIA'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS
It was a somber moment in an otherwise upbeat and enthusiastic event punctuated by great applause and cheering from all sides for the restaurants on the list. The warmth and enthusiasm that pervade the awards ceremonies is something that Anand touched on in his acceptance speech.
"When I was young I never imagined Asia could be a gastronomic hub,' the 47-year-old chef said. 'Today, look who we are. We are not just one city or one country. We are a family of so many people from around Asia, representing our families, our culture, our cuisine."
While the media focus is always — and understandably — on the countdown to the great reveal, the awards ceremony is just the climax of a much longer gathering taking place around the 50 Best event. There are talks and workshops, as well as feasts that bring together all the chefs of the restaurants on the list.
This year, a number of workshops or introductions to jang (sauces and pastes prepared from fermented soybeans) were held at restaurants around Seoul during the run-up to official events, a response to UNESCO recognizing Korea's deep-rooted culture of jang production as an Intangible Cultural Heritage on Dec. 4 last year.
There were also numerous four-hands (or more) collaborative meals arranged by individual restaurants, an indication of how the 50 Best ceremony has become an opportunity for Asia's chefs to rub shoulders and do what they do best — cook together, share recipes and serve the results to the assembled gastronomes and foodies who make sure to arrive well ahead of the awards ceremony.
To round off the celebrations, there were the inevitable afterparties, many of them running till the not-so early hours of the morning. This is the process that has created the camaraderie, fostered the friendships and turned the Asia's 50 Best event into an annual culinary carnival for chefs across the region — no matter which city is hosting it.