This Modern Thai Restaurant in Bangkok Has Been Crowned the Best in Asia

Tori Latham
·3 min read
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Rankings are, by their nature, subjective. And none may be more so than best-restaurant lists. What’s more personal than taste, after all? But according to a group of more than 300 gourmands, Asia has a new top spot.

The 50 Best organization released on Tuesday its latest list of the premier establishments on the continent on Tuesday, with Bangkok’s Le Du coming in first, Bloomberg reported. The Thai spot, which was No. 4 on last year’s list, is known for dishes such as marinated squid with fermented tofu and raspberry rice crackers as well as grilled river prawns with deep-fried egg and black organic rice, all prepared by the chef Thitid Tassanakajohn.

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Bangkok was well represented in the rankings, with eight other spots appearing alongside Le Du, including another one from Tassanakajohn. “Many people said it’s not good that you have two restaurants,” the chef said during a press conference. “I want to do it for the Thai cuisine.” He added that he had no current plans to expand his operations, “but maybe now I will have to.”

After Le Du, the organization rated Tokyo’s Sézanne as the No. 2 restaurant in Asia, followed by Bangkok’s Nusara as No. 3, Tokyo’s Den as No. 4, and Bangkok’s Gaggan Anand as No. 5. Den was knocked down from its No. 1 spot last year, but Sézanne and Nusara moved up from No. 17 and No. 10, respectively. Gaggan Anand was absent from last year’s list, as it was mostly closed then, but it debuted at No. 5 in 2021.

William Drew, the director of content at 50 Best, noted to Bloomberg that this year’s list is almost a return to normal after a few years of pandemic-induced changes to the rankings. However, it was still impacted by travel restrictions, with voters asked to rank six restaurants in their home country and two from the rest of Asia (prior to the pandemic, it was 10 spots in total, with at least four outside one’s own country).

That didn’t stop voters from giving accolades to some new spots this year, though: 15 of the 50 restaurants didn’t appear in last year’s ranking. Alongside Gaggan Anand, that includes Singapore’s Euphoria at No. 25, Chennai’s Avartana at No. 30, and most of the restaurants ranked Nos. 40 to 50.

As Asia continues to reopen more broadly to the rest of the world, the 50 Best list seems like as good a reason as any to plan a long-delayed trip to the continent.

Here are the 50 best restaurants in Asia, according to 50 Best:

  1. Le Du, Bangkok

  2. Sézanne, Tokyo

  3. Nusara, Bangkok

  4. Den, Tokyo

  5. Gaggan Anand, Bangkok

  6. Odette, Singapore

  7. Florilege, Tokyo

  8. La Cime, Osaka

  9. Sorn, Bangkok

  10. Narisawa, Tokyo

  11. Labyrinth, Singapore

  12. Sazenka, Tokyo

  13. The Chairman, Hong Kong

  14. Villa Aida, Wakayama, Japan

  15. Mosu, Seoul

  16. Masque, Mumbai

  17. Meta, Singapore

  18. Fu He Hui, Shanghai

  19. Indian Accent, New Delhi

  20. Ode, Tokyo

  21. Zen, Singapore

  22. Suhring, Bangkok

  23. Onjium, Seoul

  24. Burnt Ends, Singapore

  25. Euphoria, Singapore

  26. Cloudstreet, Singapore

  27. Les Amis, Singapore

  28. Mingles, Seoul

  29. Neighborhood, Hong Kong

  30. Avartana, Chennai

  31. Ensue, Shenzhen

  32. Cenci, Kyoto

  33. Ms.Maria and Mr.Singh, Bangkok

  34. Da Vittorio, Shanghai

  35. Potong, Bangkok

  36. Born , Singapore

  37. Wing, Hong Kong

  38. Raan Jay Fai, Bangkok

  39. Wing Lei Palace, Macau

  40. Anan Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City

  41. Mono, Hong Kong

  42. Toyo Eatery, Manila

  43. Sichuan Moon, Macau

  44. L’Effervesence, Tokyo

  45. Mume, Taipei

  46. Baan tepa, Bangkok

  47. Born & Bred, Seoul

  48. Metiz, Makati

  49. Caprice, Hong Kong

  50. Refer, Beijing

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