Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026: Hong Kong’s Chairman takes top spot, Odette is Singapore’s top restaurant

Hong Kong’s Cantonese restaurant Chairman has been named Asia’s Best Restaurant in the 14th edition of the awards, held on Mar 25 in Hong Kong at Kerry Hotel.

Hong Kong also takes the runner-up position with modern Cantonese fine-diner Wing (No 2) while Bangkok’s progressive Indian Gaggan is No 3. Completing the top five is Seoul’s modern Korean Mingles (No 4) and Bangkok’s Thai Nusara (No 5).

Chairman’s chef-owner Danny Yip paid tribute to his team, where 60 to 70 per cent have worked at least 10 years at the 17-year-old restaurant. He said: “Winning the top award makes our hard work and staying in the industry worthwhile. I’m very happy to see that the top two restaurants are in Hong Kong.”

Six out of the top 10 restaurants were from mainland China and Macau, including Hangzhou’s Ru Yuan, which debuted on the list at No 10 as the Highest New Entry award winner. Beijing’s Lamdre (No 17) jumped 33 spots from last year’s rankings to clinch the Highest Climber Award.

Singapore has a total of six restaurants on the list: French restaurants Odette (No 19) and Les Amis (No 38), modern Singaporean restaurant Labyrinth (No. 40), Korean Nae:um (No 45), as well as modern Asian restaurants Born, who re-entered the list at No 23, and Seroja (No 20)

There were also four Singapore restaurants on the extended 51-100 list: modern Indian restaurant Thevar (No 58) and modern Korean restaurant Meta (No 77), Australian barbecue place Burnt Ends (No 59), and Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay’s modern Chinese restaurant Peach Blossoms (No 78).

Nae:um’s chef-owner Louis Han shared: “I am just happy to be on the list. We just renovated the restaurant and changed the menu to one with a more specific identity, where we create Korean food that can only be found in this region, with regional ingredients and influences.”

Han Liguang, chef-owner of Labyrinth, which has been on the list for the past six years, added that he has been “making massive changes to the menu in the past two years through a more mature use of ingredients, showcasing traditional recipes and global techniques. The priority is to make cuisine that is tasty and makes our diners happy.”

This year’s list spans 17 cities across the region, with three cities — Kasauli, Penang and Ubud — in the 1-50 ranking for the first time.

Special industry awards were also given out. Asia’s Best Sommelier accolade went to Odette’s head sommelier Lesley Liu, while the Best Pastry Chef is Ardika Dwitama from Jakarta’s August (No 42). The only peer-voted accolade, the Chef’s Choice Award, went to Thai chef Thitid 'Ton' Tassanakajohn ofNusara and Le Du (No 36). Bangkok’s Baan Tepa (No 53) picked up the Sustainable Restaurant Award.

Chef Cho Eun-heefrom Seoul’s Onjium (No 14) was named Best Female Chef while Chinese restaurateur Zhang Yong, the founder of Xin Rong Ji, which has branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, took home the Icon Award.

Prior to the official awards ceremony, Mumbai’s Masque (No 15) won the Art of Hospitality Award for outstanding service while Seoul’s modern Korean San (No 54) clinched the One to Watch Award, given to a restaurant with the most potential to break into the Asia top 50 list in the following years.

Peggy Chan, executive director of Hong Kong-based non-profitZero Foodprint Asia, won the inaugural Asia Champions of Change award, which was first launched at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards in 2021. The Hong Kong-born, Canada-raised chef and sustainability advocate has been reaching out to restaurants and hotels in Asia to pledge one per cent of their sales towards helping farmers set up regenerative practices like composting and crop rotation.

The rankings are voted by a gender-balanced panel of 350 experts comprising food writers, critics, chefs, restaurateurs and regional culinary leaders with the results adjudicated by professional services consultancy Deloitte.

Here is the 2026 list of restaurants:

*new entry

*re-entry

1. The Chairman (Hong Kong) 

2. Wing (Hong Kong)