Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025: Bangkok’s Gaggan is No 1, Odette remains Singapore’s highest ranked restaurant

3 weeks ago 42

Tokyo and Bangkok have the most number of restaurants on the list — nine each — while Singapore has seven.

Bangkok’s Gaggan is No 1, Odette remains Singapore’s highest ranked restaurant

New: You can now listen to articles.

This audio is generated by an AI tool.

Bangkok’s progressive Indian restaurant Gaggan was named Asia’s Best Restaurant in the 13th edition of the awards, which was held in Seoul, South Korea on Mar 25 (Tuesday).

This is the fifth time that Gaggan, which was No 3 last year, has been crowned top restaurant. Its current location in Bangkok’s Wattana district was opened in 2019.

Both first and second runners-up were Hong Kong restaurants, The Chairman (No 2) and Wing (No 3), followed by Tokyo’s Sezanne (No 4) and Seoul’s Mingles (No 5). Seoul’s Eatanic Garden (No 25) swooped in as the Highest New Entry on the list, while Macau’s Chef Tam’s Seasons (No 9) catapulted 40 spots to clinch the Highest Climber Award.

Reflecting on Gaggan’s genesis, its chef-owner Gaggan Anand said: “When we started the restaurant it was not about me but about Asia. When I was young, I’d never have imagined that (Asia) would be a gastronomic hub yet look here we are.”

Singapore fared respectably with seven restaurants on the list. Odette (No 7), which has been in the top 10 since 2017, moved up three places while Les Amis skipped 10 levels to land at No 28. The rest are Labryinth (No 37), Burnt Ends (No 38) Meta (No 39), Seroja (No 40) and Euphoria (No 48). There were also six local restaurants on the extended 51-100 list: Born (No 54), Thevar (No 70), Cloudstreet (No 74), Jaan by Kirk Westaway (No 77), Zen (No 79) and Summer Pavilion (No 95).

Mustard Seed and Peach Blossoms, which were ranked No 81 and No 74 respectively last year, were not on either lists this time.

Tokyo and Bangkok were these year’s top winners with nine establishments each on the list, while Hong Kong secured seven spots. Host city Seoul and Shanghai have four representations each.

Special awards given out include Asia’s Best Sommelier, which was won by owner-sommelier Kazutaka Ozawa from Crony (No 30) in Tokyo, and Best Pastry Chef, which went to Dej Kewkacha from Gaggan at Louis Vuitton (No 31) in Bangkok. Vicky Cheng, chef-owner of Wing and Vea in Hong Kong, won the Inedit Damm Chefs’ Choice Award, the only peer-voted prize. Ubud’s Locavore NXT (No 92) picked up the Sustainable Restaurant Award.

The late Filipino chef Margarita Fores was also honoured posthumously with the Woodford Reserve Icon Award, which was accepted by her son Amado to a standing ovation from the audience. A well-respected industry mentor, Fores had passed away suddenly in February. In a touching speech, Amado shared: “Some of my best memories are from travelling with her, visiting your wonderful restaurants and delivering those jars of Philippines crab fat, talangka, and the pastries that she loved sharing with you”.

Prior to the awards ceremony, Manila’s Toyo Eatery (No 48) was announced as the winner of the Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award while Bengaluru’s farm-to-table Farmlore clinched the American Express One to Watch Award, given to a restaurant deemed most likely to break into Asia’s top 50 list in the years to come.

Thai chef Chudaree ‘Tam’ Debhakam of Bangkok’s Baan Tepa was named Best Female Chef for her continuous work in showcasing local produce and biodiversity in her family-home-turned-urban-food-space restaurant.

A total of 16 cities are represented on this year’ Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list, whose establishments were voted by a gender-balanced panel of 350 experts comprising food writers, critics, chefs, restaurateurs and regional culinary leaders.

Here is the 2025 list of winners:

*new entry

**re-entry

1. Gaggan (Bangkok)

2. The Chairman (Hong Kong)

3. Wing (Hong Kong)

4. Sezanne (Tokyo)

5. Mingles (Seoul)