Thailand's Gaggan is Asia's best restaurant

THAILAND'S Gaggan held on to its position as Asia's best restaurant for the third year in a row at the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2017 awards in Bangkok on Feb 21. This is the longest that any restaurant has held on to the position since the award was launched five years ago.

Closing in at second place was Singapore's Restaurant Andre, which moved up from third place last year. Chef-owner Andre Chiang is also the only one to hold the Best Restaurant award in two countries - Singapore and Taiwan. The latter is for his restaurant RAW in Taipei.

Julien Royer's Odette made a strong showing at number nine as highest new entry to the list.

Burnt Ends' David Pynt won the Chefs' Choice Award, and the restaurant moved up to 10th place from 14th spot last year. Burnt Ends is also co-owned by Chef Chiang.

The other Singapore restaurants in the list are: Les Amis at 16 (down from 12), Waku Ghin at 20 (down from 6), Corner House at 23 (down from 17), Tippling Club at 27 (up from 31), Jaan at 42 (down from 29), and Shinji By Kanesaka at 44 (down from 21). Iggy's and Wild Rocket, which were on the list last year, are no longer on it.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Umberto Bombana of 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana received the Diners Club Lifetime Achievement Award; May Chow of Little Bao in Hong Kong was Asia's Best Female Chef 2017; while Kim Dae-chun of TocToc in Seoul took home the Miele One To Watch Award.

The Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list is an offshoot of the World's 50 Best list which is published by William Reed Media and sponsored by S Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. The Asian awards made its debut in 2013 in Singapore, where it was hosted for three years before moving to Bangkok in 2016.