The World's 50 Best Restaurant list is the restaurant world's nearest equivalent to the Oscars. Here's a closer look at the 2024 World's 50 Best Restaurants List, including what's so great about the top 10 (and how much they cost).
1 - 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 €290 for the classic and seasonal tasting menus
2 - 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 the kitchen here 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 €280
3 - 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
4 - 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 Spanish in terms of its chef and location, but the menu here is just as likely to be inspired by Japan and India.
How much: €450 a head
5 - 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 £200 (969 Sol)
6 - 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: $420 for the chef's counter, $195 for the chef's table
7 - 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
8 - 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. Chef Rasmus Munk gives 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 £560 (4900 DKK)
9 - Gaggan
Where in the world? Bangkok
What's so great about it? If an immersive experience is what you're seeking when you eat out then Gaggan in Bangkok fits the bill. The restaurant's offering is described as 'food theatre with progressive Indian cuisine'. It's an event where chef Gaggan Anand (who trained at El Bulli, where else?) presides over a meal which challenges diners to change their perception of dining out. The real seat to get is up at the 14-seat chef's table.
How much: Lunch starts at around £85
10 - Don Julio
Where in the world? Buenos Aires
What's so great about it? If Heineken did steak restaurants. Don Julio is now, by dint of its position in the top 10 one of the world's best steak restaurants (after Extebarri). Obviously where the meat comes from is key and owner Pablo Rivero sources it from a mix of grass-fed Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cows that graze in a regenerative livestock farming environment outside Buenos Aires. The meat is then aged for 21 days before it comes into the restaurant where every bit of it is served up, perfectly. Oh and the wine option is amazing here too.
How much: You could eat here for as little as £50 per person.
World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023: 11 - 50
UK entries are in bold below:
- 11 - Septime, Paris
- 12 - Lido, Italy
- 13 - Trèsind Studio - Dubai
- 14 - Quique Dacosta - Denia, Spain
- 15 - Sézanne - Tokyo
- 16 - Kjolle, Lima
- 17 - Kol, London
- 18 - Plenitude, Paris
- 19 - Reale
- 20 - Wing, Hong Kong
- 21 - Florilege - Tokyo
- 22 - Steireck - Vienna
- 23 - Suhring, Tokyo
- 24 - Odette, Singapore
- 25 - El Chato, Bogota
- 26 - The Chairman, Hong Kong
- 27 - El Casa do Porco, Sai Paolo
- 28 - Elkano,
- 29 - Borago
- 30 - Restaurant Tim Rae - Berlin
- 31 - Belcanto - Lisbon
- 32 - Den, Tokyo
- 33 - Pujol, Mexico
- 34 - Rosetta, Mexico
- 35 - Frantzen, Stockholm
- 36 - The Jane - Antwerp
- 37 - Oteque - Rio de Janeiro
- 38 - Sorn - Bangkok
- 39 - Piazza Duimo
- 40 - Le Du, Bangkok
- 41 - Mayta, Lima
- 42 - Ikoyi, London
- 43 - Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Berlin
- 44 - Mingles - Seoul
- 45 - Arpege, Paris
- 46 - SingleThread, Healdsburg, USA
- 47 - Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland
- 48 - Hiša Franko, Kobarid, Slovenia
- 49 - La Colombe, Cape Town
- 50 - Uliassi, Senigallia, Italy
World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024: 51 - 100
UK entries in the top 51 - 100 list are in bold below:
- 51 - Le Calandre, Rubano
- 52 - Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler, Brunico
- 53 - Leo, Bogotá
- 54 - Kadeau, Copenhagen
- 55 - Mérito, Lima
- 56 - Narisawa, Tokyo
- 57 - Potong, Bangkok
- 58 - Lasai, Rio de Janeiro
- 59 - Enigma, Barcelona
- 60 - Fyn, Cape Town
- 61 - Nuema, Quito
- 62 - Coda, Berlin
- 63 - Bozar, Brussels
- 64 - Orfali Bros Bistro, Dubai
- 65 - Brat, London
- 66 - La Cime, Osaka
- 67 - Alcalde, Guadalajara
- 68 - Burnt Ends, Singapore
- 69 - Fu He Hui, Shanghai
- 70 - Le Doyenné, Saint-Vrain
- 71 - Le Bernardin, New York
- 72 - Aponiente, El Puerto de Santa María
- 73 - Mil, Cusco
- 74 - Nusara, Bangkok
- 75 - Ernst, Berlin
- 76 - Flocons de Sel, Megève
- 77 - La Grenouillère, La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil
- 78 - Masque, Mumbai
- 79 - Alléno Paris Au Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris
- 80 - The Clove Club, London
- 81 - Mugaritz, San Sebastián
- 82 - Sud 777, Mexico City
- 83 - Willem Hiele, Oudenburg
- 84 - Restaurant Jan, Munich
- 85 - Ceto, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
- 86 - Mosu, Seoul
- 87 - Lyle's, London
- 88 - Tantris, Munich
- 89 - Indian Accent, New Delhi
- 90 - Smyth, Chicago
- 91 - Neolokal, Istanbul
- 92 - Labyrinth, Singapore
- 93 - Sazenka, Tokyo
- 94 - Mountain, London
- 95 - Meta, Singapore
- 96 - Onjium, Seoul
- 97 - Core by Clare Smyth, London
- 98 - Saint Peter, Sydney
- 99 - Cosme, New York
- 100 - Fauna, Valle De Guadalupe
Special awards
- One to Watch - Kato, Los Angeles
- Best female chef - Janaína Torres, A Casa do Porco, São Paulo
- Champions of Change - João Diamante (Brazil); Caroline Caporossi and Jessica Rosval
- Hospitality award - Plénitude, Paris
The Best of the Best (The hall of fame)
Previous chart-toppers aren't allowed to win the top spot again, so they move into this list:
- Central, Lime, Peru
- 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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