Ahead of the announcement of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025, discover the restaurants ranked from 51st to 100th this year. Spread across 23 cities, the extended list features some of the most esteemed dining spots in the region, from Bangkok to Vientiane.
No.100 Au Jardin – NEW ENTRY
Penang
@restaurantaujardin
Located in a once-forgotten warehouse surrounded by gardens, this French-inspired, fine-dining restaurant celebrating the rich tapestry of flavours Malaysia has to offer beckons you with an invitation to step "into the garden". Since 2018, chef Su Kim Hock has cooked creative dishes with a focus on sustainability: 85 per cent of the ingredients are sourced from local Malaysian farmers, and 65 per cent are procured within a 20km radius. Dishes on the tasting menu include river shrimp with green curry, petit pois and crispy shrimp legs and mandarin and Penang vanilla espuma with fennel crème patissiere.
No.99 Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh
Bangkok
@mariaandsingh
Ms. Maria & Mr Singh is a vibey, casual, Indian-meets-Mexican restaurant from the one and only Gaggan Anand. The restaurant moved to a new location in March 2023, with a chef’s table space and a bustling open kitchen overseen by Anand's right hand, chef Rydo Anton. As with all Anand’s ventures, Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh serves flavour and spice alongside a heavy dose of fun and funk. Head chefs Hernán Crispín Villalva and Roshan Kumar present a twist on classic, home-style dishes inspired by the foods of Oaxaca, Mexico, and Jodhpur, India, paired with natural wines and cocktails.
No.98 Bo.Lan – RE-ENTRY
Bangkok
@bo.lan_essentially_thai
After closing for three years, this popular samrub-style fine-dining restaurant in Bangkok, headed by chef Duangporn ‘Bo’ Songvisava – Asia’s Best Female Chef 2013 – reopened in 2024. The food, which includes soup, curry, meat and rice dishes from all over Thailand, is served at the same time to promote a communal dining experience akin to a traditional Thai family dinner. Set in a wooden home decorated with local trinkets and crafted souvenirs (which are available to buy), the space is a calming respite from the busy Sukhumvit Road outside.
No.97 Gia – NEW ENTRY
Hanoi
@gia.hanoi
From the moment you enter this Hanoi hideout, you’re greeted with dark mahogany woods, deeply detailed emerald walls and warm orb lighting. But when it comes to the 12-course tasting menu, it’s all forward-thinking. At heart, the food is traditionally Vietnamese, but the founding duo of Sam Tran and Long Tran have worked hard to create a thread around influences from their time spent abroad. Rotating with the seasons, there is a zero-waste and nose-to-tail philosophy, making the most of the ingredients and textures that chef Sam Tran has worked hard to source.
No.96 La Bourriche 133 – NEW ENTRY
Shanghai
@labourriche133_modernseafood
This modern seafood restaurant, founded by local restaurateur Shen Jialin, endeavours to redefine the sea-to-table dining experience and honour seafood from the most pristine waters of the world. Executive chef Lee Jia Wei serves seafood – and only seafood, pushing the boundaries with techniques including ikejime, fermentation, dry-aging and preservation. The menu regularly changes based on freshness and seasonality, but guests are invited to the live seafood section to learn what’s available.
No.95 Summer Pavilion
Singapore
@summerpavilion
Old-school Chinese luxury is the order of the day at this sophisticated restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore hotel. Start with a drink in the Chihuly lounge before moving into the dining room, which is set in a modern Chinese garden and therefore particularly striking at lunch. Led by chef Cheung Siu Kong, the kitchen dishes up decadent signatures such as braised three-head South African abalone and steamed Dongxing grouper fillet with aged tangerine peel, preserved lemon and superior stock.
No.94 8 1/2 Otto E Mezzo Bombana – RE-ENTRY
Hong Kong
@ottoemezzobombana_hongkong
Award-winning chef Umberto Bombana opened 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana – the name is a tribute to Italian film director Federico Fellini’s 1963 movie 8 ½ – in 2008. Other than the Italian-leaning tasting and a la carte menus, there’s great hospitality on offer too: Chef Bombana and his team turn it up a notch, waltzing between the tables and graciously accommodating diners’ requests without pretension. The five-course tasting menu includes dishes such as blue lobster with mushroom and black truffle, and homemade tagliolini with butter, parmesan and Alba white truffle.
No.93 Feuille – NEW ENTRY
Hong Kong
@feuillehk
Feuille is the first international venture from Normandy-born, Paris-based culinary star David Toutain. Located in central Hong Kong, this earthy, minimalist space – its name meaning ‘foliage’ – is an ode to local farmers and the beauty of plants. Feuille's root-to-seed ethos, overseen by executive chef Joris Rousseau, shines through its predominantly vegetarian tasting menu, celebrating every edible inch of the harvest. With plating as artful as its philosophy, Feuille showcases Toutain’s capacity to marry elegance with ingenuity, and a deep respect for the land.
No.92 Locavore NXT – NEW ENTRY
Ubud
@locavorenxt
As the name suggests, Locavore NXT is all about hyper-local produce, with everything from the ingredients to the furniture and glassware made in the region. Dutch-Indonesian chef duo, Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah, opened the next evolution of their award-winning restaurant, Locavore, in 2023. About a 10-minute drive from the centre of Ubud in Bali, the expansive site features a roof garden and permaculture-style ‘food forest’ growing indigenous Indonesian produce. The menu includes foraged ugly mushrooms (the restaurant employs a mushroom expert among its extensive team); savoury fruit with butterfly peas, peanuts and sea beans; and cashew fruit with coffee and salted caramel.
No.91 The Bombay Canteen
Mumbai
@thebombaycanteen
Vast interiors inspired by Mumbai’s heritage bungalows – stone walls, stained-glass windows, high ceilings – The Bombay Canteen opened in 2015, proving a popular, family friendly addition to the city’s dynamic dining scene. Led by executive chef Hussain Shahzad, diners can choose from lunchtime tiffin boxes, quick canteen munchies, a tasting menu, chhotas (small plates), specials, badas (big plates), sides and desserts. The bar has an impressive selection of reimagined classics, with local and seasonal ingredients used in infusions, bitters, shrubs and tonics.
No.90 Jungsik – RE-ENTRY
Seoul
@jungsik_inc
Polished black surfaces, a geometric light feature and several indoor trees provide a sleek setting for this boundary-pushing restaurant. Jung-sik Yim – who also has a renowned namesake restaurant in New York – riffs off traditional dishes using techniques such as spherification, foams and fermenting. The signature tasting menu begins with banchan – small side dishes served with rice – before diving into the likes of caviar, abalone, gimbap, ok dom (tilefish), and hanwoo beef, before finishing with fun and whimsical desserts.
No.89 Dum Pukht
New Delhi
Opened in 1988, Dum Pukht at the ITC Maurya hotel has preserved and honoured the culinary traditions of the Awadhi nawabs for more than 30 years. At its heart is master chef Ghulam Qureshi, a fifth generation cook who joined the hotel in 1977 and learnt everything he knows about dum cooking – the ancient art of slow-roasting food in a sealed pot called a handi – from his father. The biryani is an absolute must order, along with the kakori kebabs, soft and squidgy breads and shahi tukra (bread pudding).
No.88 The Table – RE-ENTRY
Mumbai
@thetable_colaba
With inspiration from all over Asia, the Americas and Europe, The Table offers an eclectic and extensive selection of global food. The restaurant presents a menu of small and large sharing plates such as sweet and sour fried brussels sprouts, yellowfin tuna tataki, pork belly buns and shrimp dumplings with spicy ginger broth. Low lighting, cosy seating and excellent cocktails make it ideal for a special occasion, but it’s equally suitable for a casual lunch or brunch.
No.87 Inja – NEW ENTRY
New Delhi
@injarestaurant
Inja blends the rich traditions of India and Japan in its whole concept, from the food to the restaurant interior, where minimalist design sits alongside vibrant pieces. The unique concept marries the delicate, technique-driven approach of Japanese cooking with the rich, complex flavours of Indian cuisine. The result is an experience that is both refined and approachable, with standout dishes from chef Adwait Anantwar including the shiso leaf tuna and pomelo chaat, and lobster rasam chawanmushi, alongside a tasting menu.
No.86 Doi Ka Noi – NEW ENTRY
Vientiane
@doikanoi
Ponpailin ‘Noi’ Kaewduangdee was born in 1980 in Pon Paeng village in central Laos. The second iteration of her restaurant, Doi Ka Noi, opened in 2016 and serves a small weekly changing menu of around 10 dishes, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only. The focus is on regional, seasonal Lao cuisine and includes dishes from the country’s Indigenous groups, with many recipes and ingredients seldom found elsewhere. Ingredients are bought in the local morning market, grown in the restaurant’s organic garden or foraged. Noi is the first and currently only Lao member of the global food movement, Slow Food, and the restaurant is the first in Laos to appear on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants extended list.
No.85 Ensue
Shenzhen
@ensue_sz
American chef Christopher Kostow opened Ensue in 2019. The kitchen is run by chef Jeff Wu, who blends Cantonese flavours with Western techniques. Ensue features an incredible backdrop: perched on the 40th floor, it’s high enough to overlook the city of Shenzen while also glimpsing the magnificent mountain landscape beyond. The food is focused on organic products, natural simplicity and finding the best season to present them. This philosophy is combined with the ingredients, traditions and techniques of China in dishes like fish maw, bitter melon and onion.
No.84 Dewakan
Kuala Lumpur
@dewakanmy
A portmanteau of the Malay words for ‘god’ and ‘food’, Dewakan’s mission is to honour the bounty and blessing given to the land. Chef Darren Teoh uses his dishes to express a deep connection to the Indigenous people of Malaysia, while applying a modern twist. The restaurant is located on the 48th floor of Naza Tower, offering a spectacular view over the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Floor-to-ceiling windows allow the light to stream in, adding to the bright and luxurious atmosphere of the dining room.
No.83 Hajime – RE-ENTRY
Osaka
@hajime.restaurant
Cameras are forbidden behind the contemporary glass doors of Hajime, which is tucked away in a quiet side street in Osaka’s Nishi district. Design engineer-turned-chef Hajime Yoneda focuses on the meaning of life through food. His signature dish, Planet Earth, is quite the feat, with an almost incomprehensible 110 different vegetables, grains and herbs meticulously arranged around shellfish foam to represent land and sea. The tasting menu is prepared a day in advance of diners’ arriving.
No.82 Xin Rong Ji (Nanyang Road)
Shanghai
In a traditional Shanghai Mansion, Xin Rong Ji has a classic, almost timeless, appeal. Packed with lacquered wood furniture and moody-hued upholstery, the entrance of the dining room is dominated by a fish tank and display of seafood where guests are encouraged to choose their own dinner, with daily deliveries of top-quality ingredients coming in from Taizhou. One of multiple restaurants in Shanghai's Xin Rong Ji group, the restaurant specialises in both Taizhou and Cantonese cuisines.
No.81 Wana Yook
Bangkok
@wana.yook
Chalee Kader’s menu shares its DNA with khao gaeng, the culture of ‘curry on rice’ found in eateries across the country. But here, in a delightful colonial house setting – complete with antique furniture and stained glass – guests witness its evolution to fine-dining standards. Across 12 courses, Kader travels the country, flexing his perspective on regional stalwarts with a deep respect for Thai culinary traditions. He takes key elements, and reimagines them entirely. His layering of flavour is something to behold and the stylish plating is a pretty as a picture.
No.80 Blue by Alain Ducasse
Bangkok
@bluebyalainducasse
Executive chef Wilfrid Hocquet has trained in many prestigious kitchens around the world, including the legendary Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse à l'Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo, Monaco. At Blue, you can expect imaginative, yet disciplined cooking, and seamless, polished hospitality, staying true to Ducasse’s unwavering standard. Overlooking the Chao Phraya River, the restaurant enjoys one of the best views in Bangkok, with the majestic royal blue dining room as much of a highlight as the French food.
No.79 Zén
Singapore
@restaurantzen.sgp
Dining at Zén is an experience that almost transcends a conventional meal. Dinner is broken into three acts: beginning with a series of snacks or small bites on the first floor; it’s up to the second floor for the main; then desserts and petit fours are presented on the third floor. There are three signature dishes Zén shares with its revered Stockholm sibling, Frantzén: the Råraka, French toast and Onion Soup. The rest of chef Toraik Chua’s menu diverges, with Zén using more Japanese produce and high-quality seafood.
No.78 Hommage
Tokyo
@restauranthommage
In the heart of Tokyo's tradition-steeped Asakusa district is this little slice of France. Chef-owner Noboru Arai opened Hommage in 2000 aged 26, as just that – an homage to the Gallic culinary arts he spent years perfecting before returning home. Expect fresh, seasonal ingredients in each dish, paired with a stunning selection of wines. The set menus change with the seasons, but the quality is consistent, with dishes including abalone, ripe plum and cannoli.
No.77 Jaan by Kirk Westaway
Singapore
@jaanbykirk
Perched on the 70th floor of the Swissôtel, Jaan boasts one of the most spectacular views of Singapore. UK-born chef de cuisine Kirk Westaway took the reins in 2015. Armed with a philosophy to showcase British dining in a modern, fine dining light, Westaway reimagines dishes like the classic fish and chips, cheddar pancake, and puts the English winter garden on a plate, with more than 30 vegetables, herbs and edible flowers artfully arranged.
No.76 Harutaka – NEW ENTRY
Tokyo
The 12-seat hinoki counter at Harutaka is a vanilla-coloured ode to good taste, carved from a single piece of timber. Harutaka Takahashi spent 10 years as an apprentice to Jiro Ono, who shot to fame in the award-winning documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. While his sushi shares the generous cuts of fish and heavily vinegared and salted shari (rice) of his mentor, Takashi also offers a selection of imaginative tsumami (appetisers).
No.75 Côte by Mauro Colagreco
Bangkok
@cote.bangkok
Côte sees Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco’s renowned food philosophy – made famous at Mirazur, a former No.1 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list – transported from the French Riviera to the banks of Bangkok’s River of Kings. You’ll find it in the Capella hotel, where Colagreco’s flagship style – clean, contemporary reimaginings of classic Riviera dishes, driven by a respect for ingredients and sustainability – is showcased expertly by executive chef Davide Garavaglia in a range of multi-course menus, including Carte Blanche, which sees a surprise meal play out over nine dishes.
No.74 Cloudstreet
Singapore
@cloudstreet.sg
Cloudstreet is the signature restaurant of Sri Lanka-born and Australia-trained chef-owner Rishi Naleendra and his wife Manuela Toniolo. The tasting menu draws on Naleendra’s professional coming-of-age years in Australia as well as his Sri Lankan heritage, with signature dishes including grilled oyster with betel leaf, coconut and finger lime; Sri Lankan marron curry with aromatic coconut broth; and bread and butter pudding with Vegemite caramel. The restaurant is named after Naleendra’s favourite book: an award-winning novel by Australian writer Tim Winton about two working class families living in Perth.
No.73 Xin Rong Ji (Xinyuan South Road) – RE-ENTRY
Beijing
This is the flagship of the Xin Rong Ji chain, which now has more than 30 branches. This iteration opened as part of Beijing’s Bulgari Hotel in 2019 (although it’s located in the Genesis Beijing East Building opposite, rather than in the hotel itself), with a modern dining room that feels elegant yet relaxed. It’s the only Xin Rong Ji to serve a sensational rendition of Peking duck, but the menu also includes the likes of soy-braised sea cucumber and stewed lamb soup, all made with authentic Chinese ingredients.
No.72 Gallery By Chele – RE-ENTRY
Manila
@gallerybychele
Diners enjoy modern interpretations of Philippine ingredients in a contrastingly casual setting at Gallery By Chele, which is described as a rural farmhouse in an urban jungle. The CVs of chefs Chele González and Carlos Villaflor read like a roll call of Spain's best restaurants (El Bulli, El Celler de Can Roca and Mugaritz) and both regularly tour the country gathering regional inspiration. In the industry, Chele is known as 'the innovative chef', inspired by the bonds he establishes with growers, producers, breeders, makers and communities he meets on his travels and channels into his six-course tasting menu.
No.71 Americano
Mumbai
@americanobombay
Since its March 2019 debut, Americano has been a go-to for creative cuisine and cocktails in Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda arts district. With high ceilings and fluted glass windows, the elegant space sets the stage for chef Alex Sanchez’s dishes. Trained under Daniel Humm, Sanchez co-founded Americano with his partner Mallyeka Watsa. The menu features standout pizzas, alongside corn ribs and handmade pasta. The tiramisu, served tableside with a hidden layer of tempered chocolate, has a cult following.
No.70 Thevar
Singapore
@thevar.sg
Dim lighting, green leather and counter seating may give Thevar the informality of a sport’s bar, but the quality of the food is worlds above. Chef Mano Thevar draws inspiration from his Penang childhood and his Indian heritage, alongside his formative years spent training under French chef Guy Savoy, to create flavourful, modern dishes that are light yet punchy. The tasting menu features the likes of Irish oysters topped with rasam vinaigrette and sambal oil, which is an homage to his grandmother’s rasam soup.
No.69 L'Effervescence
Tokyo
@leffervescence
A chef, food researcher and sustainability campaigner, Shinobu Namae distils his world vision into edible bites at L’Effervescence. It’s an upscale dining experience that feeds not only the stomach, but also the mind, gently prompting diners to reflect on the environment and society. Only one recipe has remained a constant since L’Effervescence opened in 2010. Named A Fixed Point, it consists of a Tokyo turnip, slow cooked for four hours and served with a ham brioche and parsley purée.
No.68 Farmlore – NEW ENTRY
AMERICAN EXPRESS ONE TO WATCH AWARD 2025
Bengaluru
@farmlore.in
There are a lot of farm-to-table restaurants in the world, but Farmlore stands apart with its truly immersive experience on an actual working farm. The brainchild of chef Johnson Ebenezer and entrepreneur Kaushik Raju is driven by seasonality, sustainability and local produce. The farm-to-table restaurant only seats 18 people and features large floor-to-ceiling glass windows offering views of lush greenery: banana and bay trees, and swathes of lemongrass, which was planted to ward off mosquitos. Fresh produce includes jackfruit, mulberry and coconut, as well as five varieties of mango.
No.67 Esquisse
Tokyo
@esquisse_inside
The name translates as 'sketch', but nothing is left to chance in Corsican-born chef Lionel Beccat's precise Japanese-inspired French cuisine. Recent iterations of Beccat's set menus, which change daily, have featured dishes including Silence, made with curdled sheep’s milk, squid and caviar; A Gentle Strength, with turnip, fir needles and truffle; and Animality, with duck, fermented grape and beetroot. The surroundings are just as sophisticated as the cuisine: nine floors up in the fancy Ginza district.
No.66 Naar – NEW ENTRY
Kasauli
@restaurantnaar
Naar looks and sounds like every chef’s wildest fantasy: a 16-seater, chef-driven experimental restaurant with views of the Himalayas. Here, chef Prateek Sadhu – who made his mark at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants regular Masque in Mumbai – and his crew can breathe in crisp mountain air, stroll to the two-acre farm less than a kilometre away and forage wild herbs along the banks of nearby brooks and rivers. The multi-course menu follows the six distinct seasons of the Himalayas, with wine, cocktail and non-alcohol drinks pairings available.
No.65 Gaa
Bangkok
@restaurant_gaa
Inspired by her father’s home cooking as a child, Mumbai-born Garima Arora recognised her calling as a chef at a young age. Most notably, she spent two years in Copenhagen cooking at Noma. Melding flavours from India and Thailand, Arora builds progressive dishes with ingredients dictated by the seasons. Guests enjoy a tasting menu – which changes every three months – in a 60-year-old traditional Thai house featuring curved ceilings and a string art installation that represents the spiritual connection and bliss shared by those gathered in the space.
No.64 Ta Vie
Hong Kong
@ta_vie_hk
Located in the boutique Pottinger Hotel, Ta Vie translates to ‘your life’ in French and ‘journey’ in Japanese. In line with this, the tasting menu juxtaposes East and West. Pure, simple and seasonal sums up the character of the cuisine – accentuating the purity of the seasonal produce through simple yet precise cooking, seasoning and presentation. Japanese chef Hideaki Sato worked at the renowned Nihonryori RyuGin in Tokyo and moved to Hong Kong to open Tenku RyuGin (now closed), before launching Ta Vie in 2015. His wife, Hiromi, runs the front of house.
No.63 Cenci
Kyoto
@cenci.kyoto
Combining Japanese precision with Italian techniques and flavours, chef-patron Ken Sakamoto surprises and delights diners with his ever-changing tasting menu filled with hyper-seasonal and local produce which ensures no guests has the same experience twice. The restaurant, which opened in 2014, has strong ties to the city of Kyoto and its heritage. Located in a century-old Japanese house near the Heian Shrine, the dining room is accessed through a red-brick tunnel built by Sakamoto and his team.
No.62 Kwonsooksoo
Seoul
@kwonsooksoo
Kwonsooksoo is a modern Korean restaurant with a traditional name: ‘sooksoo’ is an old word for a professional cook. The dialogue between ancient and modern informs every aspect of chef-owner Kwon Woo Joong’s cooking, which is a creative and contemporary take on Korean cuisine that never loses sight of time-honoured techniques. The menu features dishes such as steamed blue crab, truffle bean noodles and Korean beef tteokgalbi (minced and grilled beef ribs).
No.61 Alla Prima
Seoul
@restaurant_allaprima
Stylish and compact, Alla Prima only hosts 28 diners, with a number of house rules to follow, from no videos and no strong perfumes to no flip flops and no small children. As long as you stick to these parameters, you're in for a great time – there's a reason so many Seoul-dwellers choose to celebrate their birthdays here. The menu (and its price) changes constantly based on seasonality and the quality of produce available, ranging from six to 11 courses which demonstrate some delightful touches of whimsy from chef Jin-hyuk Kim.
No.60 Testina – NEW ENTRY
Hong Kong
@testinahk
Milan restaurant Trippa and Hong Kong-based ZS Hospitality joined forces to create Testina, a stylish homage to modern northern Italian cuisine. The name is taken from its signature pig's head dish served with salsa verde, but executive chef Marco Xodo's love of offal doesn't stop there. The Italian wine list is worth exploring too, with a hand-picked flight of the team's favourite bottles available alongside a choice by the bottle or the glass. And, in true Italian style, there's homemade limoncello to round off your meal.
No.59 Ru Yuan – NEW ENTRY
Hangzhou
@ruyuan_hangzhou
Housed in a minimalist, three-storey pinewood property, this award-winning restaurant is the work of chef-owner and Hangzhou native Fue Yue Liang. The tree-enveloped spot – complete with a ground floor of stylish, low seating, eight, glass-wrapped private dining rooms and a dramatic whisky bar upstairs – has become the city's premier dining destination. Ru Yuan reinvigorates old-school Hangzhou cuisine, pairing heritage recipes and ingredients. The restaurant’s reinterpretation of the Zhejiang traditional dish of braised pork belly in an intricate, pyramid-shaped presentation has become a TikTok sensation.
No.58 Ministry of Crab
Colombo
@ministryofcrab
Set in a preserved 400-year-old Dutch Hospital in Colombo with a minimalist but huge open kitchen, Ministry of Crab is a haven for crustacean fans, celebrating the Sri Lankan crab in everything from the food to the crab-claw plants that serve as the restaurant’s only decor. The restaurant was set up by the country’s leading chef-restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa together with Sri Lankan cricket legends Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara. As the name suggests, there is crab, crab and more crab on the menu.
No.57 Soigné – NEW ENTRY
Seoul
@soigneseoul
Chef Jun Lee has had a fascinating career – he trained at the Culinary Institute of America, worked at Thomas Keller's Per Se, held positions in Toronto and New York, then returned to Seoul to launch a series of pop-ups, eventually opening Soigné in 2013 on the backs of their success. In the intervening decade, Lee has implemented all he has learned to channel into this acclaimed destination, quite unlike anything else in the city.
No.56 Xin Rong Ji
Hong Kong
Xin Rong Ji Hong Kong is all about the cuisine and the produce of the Eastern coastal Taizhou region. The quality of produce here is everything, with a bountiful selection of fresh seafood shipped in every day and used in dishes including sweet potato noodles with sea anemones or abalone with chopped pepper. Even the root vegetables are an event, with sweet potatoes sourced exclusively from Ninghai County. Only red-centred potatoes are selected as suitable for the chefs at Xin Rong Ji, before being braised in brown sugar and served drizzled in honey.
No.55 Solbam
Seoul
@solbam_restaurant
Named after the hometown of chef-patron Tae-jun Eom, who returned to Seoul after training at the Culinary Institute of America in NYC, Solbam offers contemporary Korean fine dining that champions local, seasonal ingredients. Marrying classic cooking techniques with a thoughtful, modern approach, the tasting menu is preceded by the participatory DIY amuse bouche, with diners offered a selection of ingredients to mix themselves. Taking its design inspiration from an art gallery, the pared-back, white-toned dining room allows guests to concentrate on the food and the comforting power of nature.
No.54 Born
Singapore
@restaurantborn
Chef Zor Tan is a former protégé of the legendary André Chiang. Born – housed in Jinrikisha Station, a historical landmark that dates back to 1903 – is Chef Tan’s inaugural independent restaurant, where he showcases his cuisine rooted in the founding philosophy of his childhood: contentment comes from having a full belly. Blending contemporary French and Chinese cuisines, the tasting menu follows the chef’s nine guiding principles: Birth, Roots, Memories, Craft, Relationship, Vicissitudes, Time, Progress and Legacy.
No.53 Vea
Hong Kong
@vea_hk
“Chinese x French” is how chef Vicky Cheng describes his cuisine. Chinese dishes – ingredients from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China – are wielded using French techniques, which Chef Cheng honed while working at Restaurant Daniel in New York. The marble counter fronting the open kitchen is the best place to enjoy the tasting menus, which always include the popular Chinese delicacy, roasted sea cucumber, prepared in various ways. The excellent service sets Vea apart, where the thorough dining service is underpinned by the ethos, One Team One Dream.
No.52 Mume
Taipei
@mume_taiwan
Set up in 2014 by chef trio Richie Lin, Long Xiong and Kai Ward, Mume has been run solely by Lin for the last few years. Born in Hong Kong, the chef moved to Sydney to work alongside Peter Gilmore at Quay, then to Noma in Copenhagen before deciding to move to Taiwan permanently. At Mume, he combines his international outlook, predilection for minimalist, Nordic-inspired plating and passion for Taiwanese produce all into one. The chef’s philosophy is all about exploring underrated local ingredients and applying modern European techniques to create stunning, colourful dishes.
No.51 Born and Bred
Seoul
@bornandbredkorea
You’ve heard of wagyu, but how about hanwoo? To put it into perspective, wagyu is to Japan what hanwoo is to South Korea. On the menu at Born and Bred is a staggering succession of dishes – typically between 15 and 18 – that highlight the myriad ways hanwoo beef can be prepared, from cuts grilled over charcoal to beef pho, a katsu sando and even a Philly cheesesteak. Born and Bred is located in a four-storey building that encompasses a butcher shop and casual café (first floor), an a la carte dining hall (second floor), and four private dining rooms (third floor). But the real show goes down in the basement-level speakeasy.
Recap the list in video:
The full list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 will be revealed on 25 March from Seoul.
