The World's 50 Best Restaurant list is the restaurant world's nearest equivalent to the Oscars. Here's a closer look at the 2023 World's 50 Best Restaurants List, including what's so great about the top 10 (and how much they cost).
World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023: The top 10
1 - 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?
How much: Various menus, from around £225 per person
2 - Disfrutar
Where in the world? Barcelona, Spain
What's so great about it? Founders Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch all met whilst working at el Bulli. Here in their restaurant in the heart of Barcelona, they're all about the element of surprise, so you won't see a menu before you arrive. It's molecular gastronomy, but it's a restaurant where taste hasn't been sacrificed at the altar of 'just because we can'.
How much: From €255 for the classic tasting menu
3 - Diverxo
Where in the world? Madrid, Spain
What's so great about it? Chef Dabiz Muñoz may not have survived the cutthroat London restaurant scene, but in Madrid, his restaurant continues to be a huge deal. You're unlikely to have been anywhere quite like this, from the punk interiors to the crazy, but delicious flavour pairings Muñoz employs. It may be one of Spain's highest restaurants on the list but the menu here is just as likely to be inspired by Japan and India.
How much: €365 a head
4 - 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.
How much: The menu is €264
5 - Alchemist
Where in the world? Copenhagen
What's so great about it? If you love the idea of restaurant as theatre, then Alchemist in the industrial heart of Copenhagen is for you with chef Rasmus Munk giving guests a culinary journey that physically takes them through various locations. Diners are asked "Please arrive with your mind open, and ready to expand your idea of culinary art together with us".
How much: The tasting menu is circa £550
6 - Maido
Where in the world? Lima
What's so great about it? This Nikkei restaurant in Lima sees chef Mitsuharu Tsumura who was born in Peru, but of Japanese heritage, presiding over a kitchen that fuses Latin American and Eastern culinary influences. The 12-course Nikkei Experience is the one to try if you have the time and budget.
How much: Tasting menu from around £175 (or from £100 for vegetarian)
7 - Lido 84
Where in the world? Gardeone Riviera, Italy
What's so great about it? Brothers Giancarlo and Riccardo Camanini picked the perfect spot on Lake Garda for their restaurant (it used to be an open-air pool, hence the name). Giancarlo runs the dining room while Riccardo (who trained under Raymond Blanc) presides over the kitchen. Seasonality and locality provide the key for the menu and there's a lot of tableside theatre going on here with chefs actively encouraged to come out of the kitchen and interact with the diners.
How much: From €130
8 - Atomix
Where in the world? New York
What's so great about it? As a successor to Atoboy, this counter dining restaurant in New York City sees husband and wife team chef Junghyun and manager Ellia Park serve up a tasting menu that is, they say, "inspired by Korean traditions and technique". The rice ice cream with honeycomb is said to be truly memorable.
How much: $375
9 - Quintonil
Where in the world? Mexico City
What's so great about it? This multi-lauded restaurant (it's on both the World's 50 and 50 Best Latin American lists), serves a modern Mexican menu that puts plants front and centre. Run by Alejandra Flores and Jorge Vallejo they say their aim is "to express Mexican flavors with a personal touch."
How much: The tasting menu is circa £200
10 - Table by Bruno Verjus
Where in the world? Paris
What's so great about it? Ten years after swapping his career as a food writer for chef, Bruno Verjus has made it into the top echelons of the industry. It's an intimate experience with just one table and counter dining and respect for produce grown sustainably is uppermost.
How much: €400
More about Table by Bruno Verjus
World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023: 11 - 50
UK entries are in bold below:
- Trèsind Studio - Dubai
- A casa do porco
- Pujol, Mexico City
- Odette - Singapore
- Le Du - Bangkok
- Reale - Italy
- Gaggan Anand - Bangkok
- Steirereck - Vienna, Austria
- Don Julio - Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Quique Dacosta - Denia, Spain
- Den - Tokyo, Japan
- Elkano - Getaria, Spain
- Kol - London
- Septime - Paris, France
- Belcanto - Lisbon, Portugal
- Schloss Schauenstein - Fürstenau, Switzerland
- Florilege - Tokyo, Japan
- Kjolle, Lima
- Boragó - Santiago, Chile
- Frantzen - Stockholm, Sweden
- Mugaritz - San Sebastián, Spain
- Hisa Franko - Slovenia
- El Chato - Bogotá
- Uliassi - Senegallia, Italy
- Ikoyi - London, UK
- Plenitude, Paris
- Sézanne - Tokyo
- The Clove Club - London
- The Jane - Antwerp, Belgium
- Restaurant Tim Raue - Berlin, Germany
- Le Calendre, Italy
- Piazza Duomo - Alba, Italy
- Leo, Bogotá - Colombia
- Le Bernardin - New York, USA
- Nobelhart and Schmutzig - Berlin, Germany
- Orfali Bros Bistro - Dubai
- Mayta - Lima, Peru
- La Grenouillère - La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil, France
- Rosetta - Mexico City
- The Chairman - Hong Kong, China
World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023: 51 - 100
UK entries in the top 51 - 120 are in bold below:
- Narisawa - Tokyo
- Hof Van Cleve - Kruishoutem
- Brat - London
- Alcalde - Guadalajara
- Ernst - Berlin
- Sorn - Bangkok
- Jordnær - Copenhagen
- Lasai - Rio de Janeiro
- Mérito - Lima
- La Cime - Osaka
- Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare - New York
- Arpège - Paris
- Neolokal - Istanbul
- Aponiente - El Puerto de Santa María
- Burnt Ends - Singapore
- Turk Fatih Tutak - Istanbul
- Le Clarence - Paris
- SingleThread - Healdsburg
- Zén - Singapore
- Sud 777 - Mexico City
- Core by Clare Smyth - London
- Sühring - Bangkok
- Cosme - New York
- Nusara - Bangkok
- Fyn - Cape Town
- Oteque - Rio de Janeiro
- Tantris - Munich
- Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen - Paris
- Nuema - Quito
- Flocons de Sel - Megève
- Azurmendi - Larrabetzu
- Enigma - Barcelona
- Sazenka - Tokyo
- Meta - Singapore
- Enrico Bartolini - Milan
- Lyle's - London
- Ossiano - Dubai
- Potong - Bangkok
- Mingles - Seoul
- Wing - Hong Kong
- Kadeau - Copenhagen
- Neighbourhood - Hong Kong
- Kei - Paris
- La Colombe - Cape Town
- Ceto - Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
- Ricard Camarena Restaurant - Valencia
- Labyrinth - Singapore
- Saison - San Francisco
- Fu He Hui - Shanghai
- Maito - Panama City
Special awards
- Sommelier - Miguel Angel Millan, Diverxo
- Pastry chef - Pia Salazar, Nuema, Quito
- Sustainable restaurant - Fyn, Cape Town
- Icon award - Andoni Luis Aduriz Mugaritz, Basque Country
- Best female chef - Elena Reygadas Rosetta, Mexico City
- One to watch - Tatiana by Kwame Onwuachi, New York
- Champions of Change 2022 - Nora Fitzgerald Belahcen, Marrakech; Damián Diaz and Othón Nolasco, LA
The Best of the Best (The hall of fame)
Previous chart-toppers aren't allowed to win the top spot again (Noma excepted because it's a new restaurant), so they move into this list:
- Geranium, Denmark
- Noma (new location), Copenhagen
- Mirazur, France
- El Bulli, Spain
- The French Laundry, USA
- The Fat Duck, UK
- Noma (original location), Copenhagen
- El Celler de Can Roca, Spain
- Osteria Francescana, Italy
- Eleven Madison Park, USA
For more, visit the World's 50 Best Website
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