How do restaurants make the Top 50 list?
Best restaurant' lists are subjective - and often worlds apart from diners' choices
The World's Best 50 Restaurants list will be revealed on Monday, following the announcement of Asia's Best 50 Restaurants in February. And no doubt, much foodie controversy will ensue from Restaurant magazine's choices.
How, then, are the rankings - which actually list 100 restaurants - decided, and how much clout do they have with diners and in the industry?
Interestingly, local foodies whom the South China Morning Post spoke to seemed either unfamiliar with the awards or questioned their validity. If it comes to an actual restaurant recommendation, they prefer to take tips from friends and acquaintances or use websites such as OpenRice.
"People have not heard of these awards," says CeCe Hoang, a foodie and founder of PR and marketing consultancy Bloomchain.
The Asia list has not convinced Hoang that the restaurants are on the judges' radar. "I don't think it has touched Asia enough," she says. "I don't know the criteria, but there are a lot better restaurants in Asia."
In the 2012 world rankings, there were three from Spain, three from the US, and one each from Denmark (Noma, which ranked first), Brazil, Italy and England in the top 10. There were none from Asia.