Four HK restaurants on top of world

Hong Kong has four of the world's 100 best restaurants, says an international panel of judges, building on the city's reputation as a foodie paradise.

Michelin-starred favourites Amber, Bo Innovation, Caprice and Lung King Heen made the cut in the San Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants List, announced on Monday.

Just one mainland restaurant - Shanghai's Mr and Mrs Bund - is represented, ranking 95th. Asia as a whole has just 11 representatives, with Macau's Robuchon a Galera ranked at No 82.

Alvin Leung, the mastermind behind Wan Chai molecular gastronomy restaurant Bo Innovation, said the 800 food critics, chefs, restaurateurs and gastronomes who judged the list were encouraging restaurants to develop.

'The list has motivated a lot of chefs to be innovative and creative,' said Leung, whose restaurant is 52nd on the latest list. It first joined the list at No97 in 2009. Amber the Asian-French contemporary restaurant at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, was the only local restaurant to make the top 50, ranking 44th.

The Four Seasons Hotel's French restaurant Caprice came in 54th, and its Cantonese restaurant Lung King Heen was at No93.

Leung and Richard Ekkebus, culinary director at Amber, agree that the list has been fundamental in promoting the food culture of destinations such as Sweden, Peru and Brazil, not previously known as destinations for food lovers. 'There's a restaurant from Brazil at No 4. When I think of Brazil I think dancing, parties - the last thing on my mind when I think of Brazil is food,' Leung said.

Asia is underrepresented on the list, with just five of the top 50 - Iggy's in Singapore is the region's top performer - and Ekkebus says chefs here have to work even harder to get noticed by the judges.

'Most of the places are in Europe or America. Asia is far away, we do not get the travellers, and so we need to work twice as hard to get on the list,' Ekkebus said. 'I'm looking forward to the Top 50 Asian [restaurants] list that's coming out in February [from the same organisation].'

The world list, originally created by the British magazine Restaurant, is now in its tenth year.

Noma, the Danish restaurant which has topped the list for the past three years, is known for its dedication to the constant investigation of all that is edible in Scandinavia.

Its head chef, Rene Redzepi, forages through forests and combs beaches for ingredients.