Opinionated About Dining’s top 100+ Asia 2020: Shanghai’s Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet leads chart, while Hong Kong restaurants lose out to Macau
Shanghai’s Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet topped the influential bloggers’ chart for a second year running, while Bangkok’s Sorn was a new entry at No 2 – but how did the Greater Bay Area’s restaurants fare?
Hong Kong and Macau restaurants have claimed 11 of the top 20 spots on the Opinionated About Dining Top 100+ Asia Restaurants 2020 list, which was released on March 2. Macau claimed four spots, while Hong Kong took seven, on this year’s chart, which is the only restaurant listing judged by more than 6,000 food lovers globally, each vetted for their gastronomic background and reviewing experience.
The top two Hong Kong restaurants are popular eateries serving Cantonese fare – Seventh Son stays at the same spot as last year, sitting pretty at No 6, while The Chairman landed at No 7, a drop of two places. High-end Japanese restaurants Sushi Saito and Sushi Shikon entered at Nos 10 and 14, respectively. David Lai’s Neighbourhood dropped to 16th, from last year’s 10th-place spot, with French fine dining Belon and Japanese kaiseki restaurant Tenku Ryugin rounding off Hong Kong’s top 20, at 17th and 19th, respectively.
Although Macau has fewer spots than Hong Kong in the top 20, the city’s restaurants ranked higher than Hong Kong’s, with Robuchon au Dôme at No 3 and Jade Dragon at fourth. Sing Gor Private Kitchen grabbed the ninth spot – this popular eatery has garnered a loyal following in Macau for its Shunde cuisine. The Grand Lisboa hotel’s popular Chinese eatery The 8 Restaurant rounds off Macau’s four top 20 spots, at number 11.
The No 1 spot for a second year running went to Shanghai’s single-table experimental restaurant Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet – which unites creative cuisine with multisensory technology – while second place went to creative Thai restaurant Sorn, in Bangkok, a new entry from chef Supaksorn Jongsiria.
Regional competitor city Singapore has three restaurants in the top 20, Zén (by Bjorn Frantzén), Odette and Esora, at fifth, 15th and 20th places respectively.
Just outside the top 20, Hong Kong’s Vea Restaurant & Lounge and Ta Vie ranked 24th and 25th, respectively, while Lung King Heen is at No 30 and Écriture at No 32. Other Hong Kong favourites Amber, Godenya, Caprice and Tate Dining Room ranked at numbers 35, 36, 41 and 45, respectively.