The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2017 - the complete list

Gavin Hanly 05 April 2017

The San Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant list is the restaurant world's nearest equivalent to the Oscars. Every year hundreds of restaurant experts - all 'well-travelled restaurant commentators, chefs or restaurateurs’ vote for their favourite restaurants.

Here are 2017's Top 10 restaurants - with some explanation as to why they're considered to be at the top of their game. as well as the rest of the top 50 and the notable British entries. Read our news story - and commentary - here.

No. 1: Eleven Madison Park

Where in the world? Manhattan, New York, USA
What's so great about it?Reaching the top of the list for the first time, Chef Daniel Humm and GM Will Guidara continue to innovate - maître d' Justin Roller hit the headlines when his practice of Googling diners ahead of their meal was revealed in a story in New York magazine. EMP's cosseting but informal approach to service is where it's at. It will cost you though. The tasting menu is now a cool $295 and if you're heading there between April and June this year they're serving a menu of 11 of their top courses from the past 11 years. Hot Dinners' set lunch there was a highlight of a previous trip to New York.

For more info: Eleven Madison Park website

No. 2: Osteria Francescana

Where in the world? Modena, Italy
What's so great about it? Chef Massimo Bottura's playful approach to food often begins with childhood memories. His family's favourite dish of eggs and prosciutto is transformed into a single faultless disc of tortelloni filled with prosciutto. Another key dish here is the five ages and textures of Parmesan and then there's his take on the Magnum - a fois gras parfait lolly on a stick covered with hazlenuts. This restaurant is never stuffy and always great fun. Reservations open three months in advance.

For more info: Osteria Francescana website

No. 3: El Celler de Can Roca

Where in the world? Girona, Spain
What's so great about it? Run by a trio of brothers, head chef Joan Roca, maitre d’ and head sommelier Josep and pastry chef Jordi, El Celler de Can Roca is a restaurant with its own lab, which has helped it come up with concepts such as perfume cooking. "The genius of Can Roca is serving food that is astonishingly inventive yet still feels Catalan," says UK food blogger Chris Pople. Yep, it's pretty bloody hard to get a table here, but if you are wanting to have a go, tables are released at midnight CET [Central European Time] on the first day of every month.

For more info: El Celler de Can Roca website

No 4: Mirazur

Where in the world? Menton, France
What's so great about it?This two Michelin-starred restaurant in Menton, France is run by Mauro Colagreco who hails originally from Argentina. The restaurant itself couldn't be in a prettier position, hugging the hill and looking out over the Riviera. The restaurant has an extensive vegetable garden where Maura grows produce from South America as well as fruit native to the area here.

For more info: Mirazur website

No 5: Central

Where in the world? Lima, Peru
What's so great about it? Chef Virgilio Martinez - who also owns Lima in London - is all about discovering and championing local ingredients, whether from the lower Andes or the coastline of Peru. Each dish on the menu features the altitude its key ingredient can be found. How about Valley of the Trees, featuring carob, avocado and cactus from 230m? For the past three years, Central has also taken the top slot in the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurant list.
For more info: Central website

No 6: Asador Extebarri

Where in the world? Atxondo, Spain
What's so great about it? Located between Bilbao and Spanish food mecca San Sebastian, this is wood-fired barbecue like you've never had it before. Its chef Victor Arguinzoniz is a local and his kitchen is all built by himself. Victor has his own buffalo grazing nearby and serves up produce from his garden too. It'll knock you back 140 Euros for dinner here.

For more info: Asador Extebarri website

No. 7: Gaggan

Where in the world? Bangkok, Thailand
What makes it the best? Gaggan in Bangkok leaped from 23 last year up to the Top 10 list. And if you're travelling across the world for a meal then you really are going to want to order the 19-course tasting menu which currently costs £92. Billed as 'progressive Indian cuisine' it's a labour of love by chef Gaggan Anand who arrived in Bangkok in 2007 for a consultancy job and never left. The restaurant itself is pretty special too - housed in an old Colonial style, whitewashed house.

For more info: Gaggan website

No 8. Maido

Where in the world? Lima, Peru
What's so great about it? Maido in Lima is a Nikkei restaurant serving up a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese food. Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura from Lima trained up first in America and then Japan. The tasting menu, we understand, comes in at around £100. Expect dishes like dulce de leche churros with cinnamon ice cream and the 50-hour wagyu shortrib is not to be missed.

For more info: Maido website

No. 9: Mugaritz

Where in the world? San Sebastián, Spain
What's so great about it? You've got to want to try the cuisine of any chef who's so into his food he's willing to spend two years of his life studying the chemistry of coagulation in order to produce the perfect poached egg. Mugaritz was opened by chef Andoni Aduriz in 1998, and caused quite a stir when it leaped into the no 10 position in the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2006. We tried his food when Andoni made a trip to the UK, including the famed edible stones.

For more info: Mugaritz website

No 10: Steirereck

Where in the world? Vienna, Austria
What's so great about it? Unusually for somewhere on the list you can actually go a carte at this Viennese restaurant, although most folk will opt for the tasting menu (currently £127 for 6 courses). Expect to find such challenging combinations as Calf´s Brain with Medlar, Mustard Pickle & Chupetinho on that menu by chef Heinz Reitbauer. The good news is that it's relatively bookable - we were able to find a midweek lunch next month without too much bother.

For more info: Steirereck website

World's 50 best restaurants 2017: 11 - 50