Singapore’s Iggy’s is Asia’s best restaurant according to the Miele Guide which made its grand debut last week. The guide is claimed to be Asia’s first truly independent regional restaurant guide.
The Miele Guide 2008/2009 edition evaluates restaurants in 16 Asian countries… Brunei, Cambodia, China (Hong Kong, Macau), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The top 20 restaurants according to the Miele Guide 2008/2009…
1. Iggy’s (Singapore)
2. L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (Hong Kong)
3. Les Amis (Singapore)
4. Gunther’s (Singapore)
5. Mozaic (Bali, Indonesia)
6. Robuchon a Galera (Macau)
7. Garibaldi (Singapore)
8. Yung Kee (Hong Kong)
9. Hutong (Hong Kong)
10. Antonio’s Fine Dining (Cavite, Philippines)
11. Caprice (Hong Kong)
12. Zuma (Hong Kong)
13. L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon (Tokyo, Japan)
14. Bukhara (New Delhi, India)
15. Grissini (Hong Kong)
16. Nobu (Hong Kong)
17. M on the Bund (Shanghai, China)
18. Fook Lam Moon (Hong Kong)
19. Zanotti Il Ristorante Italiano (Bangkok, Thailand)
20. Kyubey (Tokyo, Japan)
It’s not a convincing top 20 to be frank. To begin with, it’s not a good idea to rank restaurants without separating their food genre. I mean… how are we supposed to justify that the best steak is better than the best sushi, or that the best Japanese restaurant is better than the best Chinese restaurant?
The fact that Singapore and Hong Kong are dominating the chart isn’t pleasing as well. It’s always a subjective matter when it comes to dining, so there is no right or wrong in this matter; but to think that restaurants from Chinese mainland and Japan are outclassed by those in Singapore and HK… I am not convinced.
Off course, I can’t tell much because I have only been to one of the top 20s… Yung Kee (#8) that is. They made great roast goose, and have the best century eggs that I have ever had. It’s a good restaurant, that I agree… but the best 20 in Asia? Hmmm… I am not too sure about that.
Besides, I have a feeling that most if not all the “top” restaurants are high-expenditure in nature… I probably won’t see much cheap eateries with the guide.
Set the flaws aside, it’s not a bad idea to compile a list of high quality restaurants in Asia… and it’s their first edition, there’s still room for improvement obviously. The Miele Guide is available for online ordering now, but I’ll wait until it hit the local book stores… would like to flip through the book before deciding to buy it or not.
