The 50 Best Restaurants in the World Worth Flying to the Other Side of the Earth for in 2024

📍 Hong Kong · 👁 234 reads

[ World's Best Restaurants]

The world's best restaurants –

maybe I say they’re good, but you might not agree.

Every restaurant has its own culinary language,

every ranking has its own values.

Not long ago, the 50BEST awards ceremony was held in Las Vegas.

The committee sent an email to Disfrutar, which was crowned the world’s number one,

the only restaurant that made me cry this year.

They describe their culinary language in two phrases:

playful with the profound,

the deliberately discombobulating with the downright delicious.

In my personal translation, that means:

sophisticated fun, surprising, and delicious.

This is also the aesthetic the ranking conveys.

You can see the values of 50BEST – it doesn’t care much about the relationship between “tradition” and “innovation,” nor does it deliberately emphasize scientific rigor or fairness. Instead, it speaks of a kind of “modernist” independent consciousness that tears everything down and starts anew. As Krishnamurti once explained: “Freedom is independence, not依附, not fear.”

So I’m freely listing from memory, and I’ve filmed some of these restaurants. I hope you get a chance to go and eat – the “intuition” of personal experience is irreplaceable. Whatever I say, you don’t have to believe it.

No.1 Disfrutar (BARCELONA)

I walked straight from the entrance of this Spanish restaurant to the chef’s table, where there was only one workstation and one dining table. I exclaimed excitedly: “Ah, this is Disfrutar!”

To be precise, that space felt more like a shared library & laboratory of three superstar chefs – Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casañas. They previously worked for years in the kitchen of the legendary El Bulli (the bull), which pioneered the era of molecular gastronomy, and were the core R&D force. It’s fair to say Disfrutar is now the leading research base for molecular cuisine. But the chefs refuse to define the restaurant as “molecular cuisine” – to them, it’s just a technical tool to present deliciousness.

If I say a restaurant is “special,” you’d probably first think of a special dish or drink, a secret menu? No! Disfrutar’s specialness is in the bone, not in the skin. They create contradictions and boldly “go against conventions”! The core team of molecular cuisine can actually counter molecular cuisine. 🤐️ So everything that follows becomes special. It’s no surprise to have “fake” wine at the world’s 🥇 ranked restaurant Disfrutar – they are exploring a healthier future for humanity. The familiar wine on the list may be alcohol‑free, the main course may have no starch, the appetizer may not come first, ingredients can reappear on the same menu, and even the same dish can be served in different forms at once… They embrace everything that is “not allowed”!

Their dessert section is truly like a musical! I might have used too many exclamation marks…

As an aside, besides Spain and France, Peru is still a favorite of this year’s global 50BEST. According to the ranking rules, the world’s number one restaurant cannot retain its title consecutively. Central, the world’s best in 2023, remains the white moonlight in my heart.

No.2 Asador Etxebarri (ATXONDO)

This restaurant was recommended by Mr. Liang Wenda in his article. On my pilgrimage to this world’s best grill restaurant, I stood quietly by the window, though inside my heart was already scorched.

Etxebarri is recognized by global food lovers as the best grill restaurant. It is still personally run by the aged but robust Victor, while his son manages the restaurant’s operations and service. The charcoal wood comes entirely from nearby mountain forests. The grill is a Josper, used by many great Spanish restaurants, and the grate is custom‑made, allowing free height adjustment.

Nowadays, top restaurants around the world are all striving to excel, and the threshold for making a visit “worthwhile” keeps rising.

My foodie friends Lin and Crystyl.

So far in Spain, this is the meal that truly won my heart. Before eating, I thought Spain is small – how could a restaurant in a mountain valley attract top foodies from all over the world. After eating, I realized that even picky eaters are willing to go to the countryside.

The most impressive dish was the ribeye of a 9‑year‑old Galician cow. The fat was yellow because the cow had been raised long enough and was properly aged for up to a month (any longer would dry it out). The juice was abundant, the flavor incredibly intense and lasting. Cooked to just under three‑doneness, the charcoal fire brought the beef back to life, delicious enough to make the soul tremble like the castanets of flamenco!

All profound things have simple truths. Consistently good food is just consistently good ingredients plus good craftsmanship.

A few days before coming here, I had eaten at Estimar in Madrid, which already had top‑tier seafood. But today’s place was on another level – both in size and sweetness, it took a further step. The preparation of Spanish sea bream was also more tender and juicy than before.

Spaniards often eat seafood, so you can trust their pairing of seafood with wine. The Rías Baixas region on the cool Atlantic coast is not only famous for white wines but also rich in seafood. The port of Vigo is the largest fresh fish market in Europe. The Albariño white wine from there is the perfect companion for Spanish red prawns (Palamos Prawn).

Practice makes perfect eating. The St. George mushrooms from the mountains near the restaurant paired with a more mineral dry Riesling had the aroma of sun‑dried grains. While the goose barnacles and razor clams paired with a slightly cat‑pissy Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc made the sweetness even more pronounced!

As for the Côtes du Rhône, the Georges Vernay with pineapple and tropical fruit flavors paired with the tuna and tomato part – I didn’t quite understand it. But separately, both were good to eat and drink. The tomato crisp was delicious, blending perfectly with the tuna’s fat. When I asked the owner, he said he used the most common Terreno tomatoes from Spain.

Going back, the aperitif Champagne was a 2015 Georges Laval, a pure organic grower with oxidative notes. Then came a fresh, savory cold tomato and zucchini soup – a seamless transition that reminded me of Jiangnan. The sardine crispbread toast and the house‑made chorizo were the best I’ve had in days.

Spanish red, white, green, and black sauces differ from Italian ones. When the mini burrata cheese came, it was accompanied by various herbs. Underneath the cheese was a green sauce based on classic Spanish white sauce but made with rocket. Spanish white sauce, also called Pil‑Pil sauce, gets its name from the sound of frying cod – as the cod releases its own gelatin and mixes with olive oil, it forms a thick white texture. The sweet and delicious little squid were stuffed with sweet onion filling, served over a black sauce. The black sauce’s main ingredient is squid ink, usually seasoned with Txakoli white wine. This was paired with a Gewurztraminer, which surprisingly worked well. As everyone knows, Basques love cod, but salted cod – different from dried cod – can be rehydrated in water to return to a fresh state. Today, after the “seafood sweets,” I had the deeply flavorful cod cheeks (kokotxas), which instantly cut the richness. Then a small bowl of chanterelles balanced everything back.

Finally, a cheeky sweet wine, Les Jardins de Babylone, paired with all sorts of smooth desserts that drove Lin crazy – making the sweet girl even sweeter!

No.3 Table by Bruno Verjus

I haven’t eaten at this restaurant yet. In recent years, French cuisine in Asia has been developing, but the French cuisine far away in Paris has somewhat deterred me. Perhaps too many flights to Paris have made me lose my sense of novelty – I’d rather go to the countryside to find more unconventional French dishes. I asked friends, and they said this place is “different”! It shows me the possibility of French cuisine “being wild,” with many bizarre combinations. Bruno Verjus, before opening this restaurant at age 54, was a medical student, photographer, radio commentator, food writer, and even ran a company in China. If I’m lucky enough to get a reservation when I go to Europe later this year, I will!

No.4 Diverxo (MADRID)

Chinese elements have quietly entered Western dining tables and become the mainstream of creativity. This is the world’s No.4 in Best50 this year, three Michelin stars. The chef said the restaurant name came from his love of Chinese XO sauce…

The night before going there, I went to StreetXO (owned by Diverxo’s owner and chef Dabiz), which also had a strong Chinese vibe.

Dabiz’s main restaurant used Australia’s best black truffle to wrap the robata‑grilled trout belly, with pine needles as the handle. I really suspect he can read minds. Just as we judge people by their hearts, when we talk about eating and drinking, we study the roots of food. The sommelier’s underlying logic for pairing was using the Piedmont Alba (white truffle) region of Gaja in Italy to match the Spanish Pyrenees (the border between France and Spain, with tiny Andorra in the mountains) where the trout was produced. The terroir of the wine and food matched from the inside out.

The chef illustrated the entire jungle and river ecosystem involved in this nigiri in a drawing, and this dish also took root in my heart – the tongue’s experience and the image in my mind instantly flourished.

Before lunch, I went to have an afternoon drink with Millan, the world’s best sommelier. The pre‑meal drink was a special Krug Champagne with 140 different blends. Spaniards generally have lunch at 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 9 p.m. to midnight. My stomach tightened – I needed to relax…

Then we returned to Lima, Peru.

No.5 Maido (LIMA)

The restaurant’s chef also won the Chef’s Choice Award.

Chef’s Choice Award: Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura

Maido was closed the day before, so the next day I risked missing my flight to check out this Peruvian‑Japanese high ground. But I arrived early, worried about the long walk‑in line… I was a mess in the wind at the door for a long time.

What does it mean to practice martial arts like fighting left and right? The appetizer called Geisha contained camu camu, black cod tempura dipped in Peruvian tuber sauce, Japanese ceviche with corn sauce underneath…

This fusion was embracing itself – Japanese “wa” meeting Peruvian “richness,” gentleness meeting strength, everything fitting perfectly.

The razor clams came from the Peruvian town of Huarmey, dipped in both Peruvian roasted chili sauce “rocoto parrillero” and Japanese orange sauce. The combination of salmon roe and rice crisps created wonderful layers – my taste buds were completely mixed and homogenized by the hybrid flavors.

In the end, it became Chef Micha’s own thing. He is an immigrant from Osaka, Japan to Peru, with a bold yet rigorous nature.

Because I had to catch a flight, I couldn’t have the full tasting menu, so I consoled myself at the bar with an à la carte. So the menu wasn’t long, but I had plenty of patience and found comfort in every bite.

No.16 Kjolle (LIMA)

It’s worth noting that the female owner of this restaurant is upstairs from the world’s No.1 restaurant Central. Central is run by her husband, but she managed his kitchen for 15 years. I love her garden.

I discovered a state of dining called “dual cultivation of eating and drinking” – not to be confused with dining on weekends.

To balance hardness and softness, yin and yang, unity and friendship… yesterday I ate at the husband’s place downstairs, today at the wife’s place upstairs. Just look at the 🦑 and 🐙 in the picture – the styles are as distinct as men and women – and you’ll understand what I mean.

Last night’s South American wines were spectacular. As usual, I practiced “fish farming” – in Chinese: “train well, drink little.” In English: “I’m tasting, not wasting.” At lunch, the sommelier asked, “Aren’t you interested in non‑alcoholic options? I’ll give you half alcohol, half blended.” I said, “Sure, you can mix as you like – anyway, we’re not toasting.”

Now all the waitstaff in the restaurant know me. Kjolle, consecutively ranked 16th globally – don’t underestimate the female owner!

No.20 Wing (HONGKONG)

The restaurant also won the Best New Restaurant Award.

In the Chinese category, Wing is a dark horse!

I think friends should come and try Vicky’s four‑finger threadfin – he only uses the fin area, which is incredibly smooth and tender. The homemade dried tangerine peel and black bean sauce brings out the sweetness – it’s the dream fish of every Hong Kong kid.

Time and again, truly talented palates can quickly find the fast track to deliciousness. Vicky’s signature chicken alone went through nearly 80 trials. Everything he puts in is reflected in the dish. Genius and diligence go hand in hand.

Actually, just the appetizers – razor clams with Yunnan wrinkled pepper and sea moss, spicy Japanese oysters with homemade golden century egg, smoked sour eggplant, drunken South African abalone (huadiao wine and wujiapi) – already awaken the taste buds with balanced and colorful fermentation and spiciness. There’s even a small bowl of noodles for dipping in the spicy sauce, very satisfying.

Red date and angelica stewed French lamb – a clear soup as pure as morning dew, with only one piece of lamb and one red date – clean and sweet. The first time I had his scallion‑braised sea cucumber spring roll, that “fatty” piece was truly plump and glutinous. Beyond traditional Chinese cuisine, Vicky’s dishes have their own mark.

Finally, dessert: osmanthus and snow fungus with coconut sorbet – healthy yet ethereally beautiful, delicious yet leaving no trace.

No.26 The Chairman (HONGKONG)

The restaurant also won the Most Improved Award.

In 2020, thanks to Agnes, I got to taste the off‑off menu: camphor wood and chrysanthemum smoked black goose, crab roe and shrimp roe sautéed with slipper lobster, chopped pepper and salted fish steamed grouper head, and the master’s sauce cake as the finale… It looked ordinary, but every bite was a revelation.

Chinese cuisine goes so far as to study all kinds of quirky details: for example, how many days of fermentation for chili to become sweet? How to extract squid oil? How to pair different dishes with different meat juices for fresh marinades (insisting on not using the same stock)?

Also, in the glutinous rice with crab meat and sakura shrimp, how soon after live‑removal must the crab meat be used to ensure sweetness? To enhance the viscosity and flavor of plain rice porridge, you need yuba? Real skill!

Today’s meal at Da Ban Lou (The Chairman) really hit the spot again.

The small lion’s head fish poached in black bean and Sichuan pepper oil – the fish was delicious as expected, but even the garlic cloves were like umami‑packed rice cakes, which was over the top.

The “first cut” char siu with crispy‑outside‑chewy‑inside pig tail was so fragrant it could escape the wall.

The chopped pepper and salted pork steamed fish head would make any foreigner who hates heads admire the depth and breadth of Chinese cuisine – brain and mouth included.

The clear broth with sea whelk and green/white radish was the most sweet and delicious soup I’ve had this year.

The crab roe and soybean kernel sautéed with slipper lobster – the sea flavor of “liyunzi” (crab roe) was like clouds.

I didn’t understand why they would serve a dish of stinky tofu with lamb tripe – until I tasted it: inside the stinky tofu were water chestnuts and minced pork, the tofu had a milky fragrance, and the smell was different from anywhere else!

The last time I ate at The Chairman (Da Ban Lou) was four years ago. With the new location and a completely changed menu, I fell in love all over again.

Apart from the previously mentioned stylish Maido chef, Wing, and The Chairman, this year’s special awards also include:

Art of Hospitality Award: Plénitude

Sustainable Restaurant Award: Nobelhart & Schmutzig

World’s Best Pastry Chef: Nina Métayer

World’s Best Sommelier: Pablo Rivero

Best Female Chef Award: Janaína Torres

One To Watch Award: Kato

Champion of Change Award: João Diamante; Caroline Caporossi and Jessica Rosval

Icon Award: Neil Perry

I think 50BEST may have more possibilities in China in the future – let’s wait and salivate!

Do you love global restaurants?

“You cannot change the outline of a mountain,