Every year, people in the restauranteur around the world go pretty nuts to find if their names make it to respected UK-born William Reed Business Media's 50 Best. In 2021, they shake things up a little more by expanding their awards to embrace diversity and uniqueness of cuisines in many regions, all the while attempting to help the food business recover from the pandemic.
After announcing earlier two new awards, the Icon Award that goes to street food queen Jay Fai and the Essence of Asia, the 50 Best crew has continued to showcase Asia's "diverse restaurants, cuisines, and unique dining experiences" with the debut of the 51-100 list of best restaurants ahead of the top 50 that's set to arrive on March 25.
Yet again, eight restaurants in Bangkok have made Thailand proud by making the cut to the second half of top 100. Five of them are the first-timers of the 50 Best family, which are Samrub for Thai (No. 59), Jay Fai (No. 62), Le Normandie (No. 74), Baan Tepa (No. 79), Nahm (No. 80), and Quince (No. 97).
Some shocking news appears to be how three big names of Bangkok's fine dining scene slip from the top 50 down to the 51-100 group. 80/20 is the first that slightly moved down to No. 55 from No. 47; meanwhile, Paste and Bo.lan are also dropped from No. 38 to No. 70 and from No. 39 to No. 78, respectively.
This means, there are four restaurants that we still need to keep an eye on whether they can hold onto the spot at the prestigious first 50s this year, namely Sühring, Le Du, Gaa, and Sorn (ranked 6th, 8th, 15th, and 16th, respectively, in 2020)
March 25 is the date that the complete list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants will be revealed. Could there be more surprises like a grand debut or a gasp-inducing disappearance on the list? We'll find out together here. Stay tuned.