Tokyo’s Den took top honors as Japan dominated this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards at a ceremony on Tuesday.
Led by owner-chef Zaiyu Hasegawa, Den is the first Japanese restaurant to claim the top spot since Narisawa took first place in 2013.
Hasegawa is celebrated for his modernist take on Japan’s traditional kaiseki multicourse menu and is perhaps best known for his take on KFC chicken — which he calls "Dentucky Fried Chicken" — a fragrant piece of fried chicken stuffed with rice and served in a mock KFC box.
Ten other restaurants in Japan joined Den on the list, including Florilege (Tokyo, No. 3), La Cime (Osaka, No. 6), Sazenka (Tokyo, No. 11), Ode (Tokyo, No. 13), Villa Aida (Wakayama, No. 14), Narisawa (Tokyo, No. 15), Sezanne (Tokyo, No. 17), La Maison de la Nature Goh (Fukuoka, No. 36), Été (Tokyo, No. 42) and Cenci (Kyoto, No. 43).
Ode picked up the event’s highest climber award, while Villa Aida won the highest new entry award. Last month, Natsuko Shoji, head chef of Été, was crowned Asia's best female chef, the first Japanese chef to win the award.
Japan’s restaurants faced stiff competition from restaurants in China, which also had 11 restaurants in the top 50, and Thailand, which had nine. Sorn in Bangkok was ranked No. 2, while three other Thai restaurants placed in the top 10.
Last year’s winner, The Chairman (Hong Kong), dropped four places to No. 5 on the 2022 list.
This year’s list is the 10th iteration of the Asia’s 50 Best awards, and includes restaurants from 12 countries and territories across the continent. The awards were presented in-person at events in Bangkok, Tokyo and Macau, and were simultaneously livestreamed to a global audience.
See the full list at theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50.
