WASHINGTON, June 1 — Organisers of La Liste, which was created as an alternative to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards, have compiled regional rankings of the best restaurants in China and Japan, giving the top spots to a renowned sushi restaurant in Tokyo and a Beijing restaurant famous for its roast pork.
After releasing the global results last winter, La Liste broke down regional lists for the top-scoring restaurants in China and Japan, and recently feted the winners at gala events attended by top chefs from each country.
Despite having been created as the “anti-World’s 50 Best”, organisers of La Liste seem to have taken a page from their rival in creating spin-off rankings for Asia.
The one distinction, however, is that instead of trying to squeeze in the best restaurants across the whole of Asia (Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants) into a single index, La Liste breaks down winners by country.
Topping the list of best restaurants in China 2018, is Huai Yang Fu at Andingmen in Beijing, famous for its speciality roast pork dish, of which Chairman Mao was a big fan.
At the top of the leaderboard for best restaurants in Japan 2018 is Kyubey in Tokyo, a local institution widely heralded as one of the best sushi restaurants in the capital city.
French chef Joel Robuchon also emerged a big winner, landing two restaurants on the top 10 lists for both China and Japan.
Created with the support of the French foreign ministry, La Liste launched in 2015 in response to the conspicuous absence of French chefs on the World’s 50 Best top 10 list.
The World’s 50 Best has also been criticized for being opaque, biased, heavily sponsored, and predictable.
La Liste’s methodology is based on a mathematical algorithm that aggregates scores and reviews from more than 550 guidebooks and reviews, which are graded by chefs on their trustworthiness. Scores from guides and restaurant reviews are then standardized and weighted.
By contrast, winners of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants are based on votes cast by the food and drink industry around the world.
Here are the top-scoring restaurants in Japan 2018:
1. Kyubey, Tokyo
2. Kyo Aji, Tokyo
3. Joel Robuchon, Tokyo
4. Kitcho Arashiyama, Kyoto
5. Kikunoi Kyoto, Kyoto
6. Aoyagi, Tokyo
7. Usukifugu Yamadaya, Tokyo
8. Matsukawa, Tokyo
9. Kyo-ryori Nakamura, Kyoto
10. Nihonryori Ryugin, Tokyo
Best restaurants China 2018
1. Huai Yang Fu at Andingmen, Beijing
2. “The Capital” at The Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club, Beijing
3. Robuchon au Dôme, Macau
4. Dadong Gongti (Workers’ Stadium East Gate), Beijing
5. Lung King Heen, Hong Kong
6. Ultraviolet, Shanghai
7. 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo, Bombana, Hong Kong
8. Quanjude, Beijing
9. Golden Flower at Encore Macau, Macau
10. Amber, Hong Kong, — AFP-Relaxnews
