SINGAPORE — A fixture on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants lists since 2017, Bangkok's Le Du climbed to the top spot to be awarded The Best Restaurant in Asia, at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023 awards held in Singapore on March 28.
Under the tutelage of dynamic young chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn, le Du presents a modern take on refined Thai food interpreted through a French-leaning lens. Its menus champion the use of seasonal and local ingredients, and the steadfast belief in the superiority of Thai produce. It is also a great year for the restaurant as it celebrates 10 years of operations.
“I am proud and honoured to be the first Thai chef to be placed at No.1 in Asia,” chef and co-owner Ton told the Bangkok Post. “The team is very important to me. My right hand has been with me for eight years. We are luckily that Le Du is popular with many tourists and among the locals, which is why we survived Covid. Of course, I am hoping that more people come if they haven’t already after this award,” laughs the chef. “It will be a lot of pressure but I will stay true to myself.”
“It is a big year for Le Du and to be Asia’s No.1 at the 10th anniversary of the awards, as well is a great honour. We didn’t expect the No.1 position so thank you to everyone who made it possible,” Le Du co-owner Rungroj “Ta” Indudananda told the Bangkok Post.
Bangkok is also home to another three restaurants who made it to the top 10 list, with another two being in the top 5.
Chef Ton’s Thai fine dining establishment Nusara claimed No.3 spot. “You can do so much with two hands, but you can do anything with more hands,” said chef Ton, when asked how does he trust leaving his restaurant in the hands of his head chef. “I did not expect to have two restaurants in the top five. Last year was pushing it already with two in the top 10. I want to do something different and for those who have visited Le Du and Nusara will know that they are very different restaurants.”
Gaggan Anand, who exited the list at No.5, is back on the list at No.5. “I was not expecting to be placed so high. We left at N0.5 and we are back at N0.5 so we are starting again. The last two years was to fight back and retain my temple, where I worship, where I cook. Now our presence has started to be felt,”chef Anand told the Bangkok Post.
Chef Anand's Mexican-Indian eatery Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh debuted at No.33. “Ms Maria and Mr Singh was the biggest surprise; we just opened last August. If you look at it, for being open for seven months, it is great. Ms Maria was the only restaurant I had where I did not have to put money into. It was very successful from the beginning. There are a lot of restaurant that are easy restaurants and we represent Thailand’s easy restaurants,” said the chef.
Southern Thai fine dining restaurant Sorn, which has been all the rage since it opened its doors in May 2018, made it into the top 10 at No.9. “It feels great. All I see are great chefs. I don’t see numbers. It is good to see all my friends and this helps us improve our food and makes it better. I’m happy, very happy,” said chef Supaksorn “Ice” Jongsiri.
Sühring took No.22, Potong debuted at No.35, Raan Jay Fai was No.38 and Baan Tepa debuted at No.46.
Singapore and Bangkok both count the highest number of entries on the list at nine restaurants each. Moving up an impressive 29 spots was Labyrinth (No.11) in Singapore, which won the Highest Climber Award. Debuting at No.30, Avartana in Chennai claimed the Highest New Entry Award. Manila's Toyo Eatery (No.42) won the Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award. Zén (No.21) in Singapore is this year's Gin Mare Art of Hospitality Award recipient.
Louisa Lim from Odette (No.6) in Singapore earned the title of Asia's Best Pastry Chef. Della Tang of Ensue (No.31) in Shenzhen won the inaugural Beronia Asia's Best Sommelier Award. Hiroyasu Kawate of Tokyo's Florilège (No.7) took home the peer-voted Inedit Damm Chefs Choice Award.
Tokyo is represented by seven spots on the list. Sézanne, at No.2, climbed an impressive 15 places. Seoul took four spots, while Shanghai and Macau took two spots each. Nordic dining destination Refer broke into the list at No.50 and is Beijing's sole representation at the awards. Shenzhen is represented by Ensue (No.31). Mumbai and Delhi both have a restaurant each, while Manila's Metiz, with a menu that spotlights the terroir of the Philippines, debuted at No.48.
Osaka's La Cime is at No.8, Villa Aida from Wakayama at No.14 and Kyoto's Cenci at No.32. Anan Saigon is Ho Chi Minh's solo entry at No.40, while Taipei's Mume re-entered the list at No.45.
For the full 1-50 list, visit theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50.
