Bali's Locavore Among Asia's 50 Best Restaurants
Jakarta. The fourth edition of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list was unveiled during an awards ceremony held at W Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday (29/02).
A spin-off of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, this year's list recognizes 50 most innovative restaurants from 13 Asian countries — a testament to the rich and increasingly diverse dining experiences across the continent.
Gaggan, a modern Indian restaurant led by chef Gaggan Anand in Bangkok, took the top titles as the Best Restaurant in Asia and the Best Restaurant in Thailand for the second consecutive year. At his eponymous restaurant, Anand reinterprets classic Indian dishes with modernity and flair — among his signature dishes is chargrilled Indian cottage cheese sandwich and chutney bubbles.
Tokyo-based Narisawa, a specialist in avant-garde French cooking with Japanese ingredients, nabbed the second spot on the list. It is followed by Singapore's Restaurant André, whose chef-owner, André Chiang, masterly reinterprets southern French nouvelle cuisine, as reflected in his "Octaphilosophy" dish.
Among the 10 new entries this year is Locavore, a restaurant situated in Ubud, Bali, which landed the 49th spot and was named the Best Restaurant in Indonesia. It became the third Indonesian restaurant to enter the list after Mozaic and Sarong — both also based in Bali — in previous years.
Led by Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah, Locavore champions local produce — Sumbawa oyster, Balinese abalone, Lombok pickled seaweed — in its European-Indonesian dishes.
"Plates might include pan-fried mackerel from Jimbaran, South Bali, served on pickle sour dough and paired with a cocktail of fresh tomato, basil leaves, jackfruit syrup and homemade apple brandy," a profile of the restaurant explains.
Published by William Reed Media Group, the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list is a snapshot of the opinions and experiences of over 300 restaurant industry experts — food writers and critics, chefs, restaurateurs and well-regarded foodies — in the continent.
"Asia's 50 Best Restaurants strives to reward creativity as well as culinary excellence and all 50 restaurants on the list, as well as the individual award-winners, exemplify these qualities," William Drew, the group editor of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, said in a statement.
—
To see the full list of the 2016 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, visit this link.