The Chairman, a Cantonese restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central district, was named the Best Restaurant in Asia at the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 awards ceremony held on March 25 at the Kerry Hotel in Hong Kong — the first time the awards have been hosted in the city. The result marks the second time The Chairman has held the top position, after its 2021 win, and signals a consolidation of Hong Kong’s standing as Asia’s leading culinary destination; Bangkok and Singapore, which together account for fifteen entries in the top fifty, remain the ranking’s dominant Southeast Asian presence.
Key Facts At A Glance
- The Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 ceremony was held at the Kerry Hotel, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, on March 25, 2026, the first time Hong Kong served as host city for the awards
- The Chairman (No. 1) and Wing (No. 2) both occupy The Wellington building in Central, Hong Kong, making it the first time two restaurants at the same address have claimed the top two positions
- Bangkok led the full 1–50 ranking with nine entries; Tokyo followed with seven; Hong Kong, Seoul, and Singapore each placed six
- Singapore’s entries in the top 50: Odette (No. 19, Best Restaurant in Singapore), Seroja (No. 20), Born (No. 23), Les Amis (No. 38), Labyrinth (No. 40), Nae:Um (No. 45)
Seroja climbed 20 places from No. 40 in 2025; Locavore NXT in Ubud, Indonesia entered at No. 44, the first time Ubud appeared in the top 50; Penang’s Au Jardin debuted at No. 39 - Bangkok-based chef Thitid Tassanakajohn of Nusara received the Inedit Damm Chefs’ Choice Award, the only peer-voted honour in the programme
- August in Jakarta won the Asia’s Best Pastry Chef Award through pastry chef Ardika Dwitama
- The full 1–100 ranking spans 17 cities in the top 50 and 27 cities across the extended list, with four cities appearing for the first time: Busan, Chengdu, Kanazawa, and Nishikawa
The Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 awards were unveiled during a live ceremony at the Kerry Hotel in Hung Hom, Hong Kong on the evening of Wednesday, March 25. The event drew over 1,000 culinary industry professionals, chefs, and international media, and was organized by UK-based media company William Reed, which administers the rankings. Voting is conducted by more than 350 members of the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, a gender-balanced panel of food writers, critics, chefs, restaurateurs, and regional culinary experts.
The Chairman’s Return To The Top
The Chairman, a Cantonese restaurant in Central founded by Danny Yip, claimed the top position for the second time, having previously done so in 2021, a year widely noted as the first time a Chinese restaurant had topped the list. Danny Yip’s team, which has worked at the restaurant for seventeen years, received a prolonged ovation as they took the stage. One of the team members, sommelier Ambrose Chiang, who is currently being treated for stage-four cancer, was helped onto the stage during what multiple publications described as an emotionally charged moment.
The Chairman and Wing, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively, share an address at The Wellington building in Central, representing two distinct interpretations of Chinese cuisine: The Chairman focused on preserving heritage Cantonese dishes, and Wing reimagining China’s eight major culinary traditions through a French lens.
Bangkok’s Gaggan, last year’s No. 1 winner, dropped to third place while retaining the title of Best Restaurant in Thailand for its theatrical, boundary-pushing Indian cuisine.
Bangkok Leads Southeast Asia’s Showing
Bangkok placed nine restaurants across the top 50, the most of any city, including Nusara at No. 5, Gaggan at Louis Vuitton at No. 8, Sorn at No. 12, and Potong at No. 25. Bangkok’s Sühring, the German-Thai fine-dining restaurant helmed by twin brothers Mathias and Thomas Sühring, ranked at No. 18.
Chef Thitid Tassanakajohn of Nusara received the Chefs’ Choice Award, with culinary heavyweight and Mirazur chef-owner Mauro Colagreco making a special appearance at the ceremony to present the honour.
Singapore’s Mixed Performance
Singapore placed six restaurants in the top 50, with Odette at No. 19 retaining the title of Best Restaurant in Singapore, and Seroja at No. 20, Born at No. 23, Les Amis at No. 38, Labyrinth at No. 40, and Nae:Um at No. 45.
Odette fell 12 places from its No. 7 ranking in 2025, a decline that came in the same year the restaurant completed a major renovation marking its tenth anniversary, introducing a refreshed menu with greater Southeast Asian and Asian influences. Odette’s head sommelier Lesley Liu won the Asia’s Best Sommelier Award, a separate individual recognition that elevated Singapore’s profile at the ceremony despite the restaurant’s ranking slide.
Seroja’s climb of 20 positions from No. 40 the previous year was among the most notable upward movements for Southeast Asian entries, with the restaurant retaining a Green Michelin star and operating a menu that reimagines the flavours of the mid-Malay archipelago.
First-Time Southeast Asian Entries In The Top 50
This year’s list marks a first for Penang and Ubud, both of which moved up from the extended 51–100 ranking into the top 50 for the first time. Penang’s Au Jardin entered at No. 39, while Locavore NXT in Ubud, Bali, entered at No. 44. August in Jakarta ranked at No. 42, with its pastry chef Ardika Dwitama winning the Asia’s Best Pastry Chef Award, sponsored by Valrhona.
The Extended List And Regional Breadth
Kuala Lumpur’s Dewakan recorded the biggest upward movement on the extended list, climbing 22 places to No. 62 under chef Darren Teoh’s ongoing focus on indigenous Malaysian ingredients. Vietnam was represented through Anan Saigon at No. 86, the Ho Chi Minh City restaurant by chef Peter Cuong Franklin, which returned to the list after a year’s absence. The Philippines was represented by Celera in Makati City at No. 100, a new entry by chef-owners Nicco Santos and Quenee Vilar.
Hong Kong Tourism Strategy
The Hong Kong Tourism Board leveraged the awards to arrange exchanges between leading Asian chefs and local culinary talent, invited media representatives from mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, and produced curated immersive culinary experiences under the citywide Taste Hong Kong Gourmet Guide banner. Hong Kong’s total representation across the 1–100 list reached ten restaurants, including The Chairman, Wing, Neighborhood (No. 24), Estro (No. 32), Caprice (No. 35), Mono (No. 46), Ta Vie (No. 68), Vea (No. 70), Ando (No. 88), and Amber (No. 90).
The city’s parallel positioning across the Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau 2026, which now counts 77 Michelin-starred restaurants, and the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide reinforces Hong Kong’s strategy of using multiple international culinary rankings as destination marketing instruments.