The release of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is always anticipated by both restaurants and diners; spanning every continent across the globe. This year’s list is finally here and these are ten of our favourites.
Many of these restaurants are already familiar names amongst the Michelin Guide crowd, carefully watched by the eyes – and taste buds – of top food critics. Yet, as year on year the boundaries of innovation, flavour, and experiential concepts only grow, so too do the standards, expectations, and competition. These are some of our highlights from this year’s The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Ikoyi, London (No. 42)
Ikoyi lies right on the pulse of London’s cultural happenings, at 180 The Strand, and is at the heart of the city’s food chatter. The two Michelin-star restaurant by former school friends Jeremy Chan and Iré Hassan-Odukale takes its name from a wealthy neighbourhood in Lagos. The menu is informally inspired by West-African cuisine, reimagined by the creative team so that jollof rice meets lobster custard, for example. Across the £300 10-course tasting menu, there is equal excitement to be found in the visual pleasure of each plate as in the ingredients and flavours of the dishes. Ikoyi is also worth visiting for the sleek, moody Japandi-style interior by Copenhagen-based designer David Thulstrup. Here, copper and dark oak panels on the wall mirror the brutalist style of the whole building, whilst also adding a very romantic and minimalist touch.
Le Du, Bangkok. (No. 40)
Le Du, a Modern Thai-inspired restaurant in the heart of Bangkok, was awarded its first Michelin star in 2019 thanks to its reimagining of staple Thai dishes. Highlights include scallop and local greens delicately served inside a scallop shell, and a banana prawn dish from South-West Thailand served with a selection of Thai herbs, including sea grapes and Thai basil. The menu is led by Chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn who uses locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients – and aptly so as his restaurant’s name Le Du translates to ‘seasons’ in Thai. The restaurant also shares its list of suppliers on its website for full transparency.
Frantzén, Stockholm (No. 35)
The delicate precision and ‘tidiness’ of traditional Swedish culture is amplified at Restaurant Frantzén, where refined dishes by chef and founder Björn Frantzén marry the flavours of traditional Nordic cuisine with contemporary Japanese flair. While described by fellow Michelin-star chef Sergio Herman as “pure understated class”, the menu does not shy away from dramatic colour and flavour; food is cooked over a fire in the kitchen to make the flavours in the dishes richer. The fixed menu comprises the same plates for both lunch and dinner seatings with optional drink pairings to accompany. Expect plenty of seafood – including langoustine and cod – and a king oyster plate served with reindeer, topped off with delicate sweet delicacies of montélimar and marshmallow.
Kol, London (No. 17)
Interiors ©charliemckay
Kol, by chef Santiago Lastra is a newer, vibrant addition to Marylebone’s food scene, bringing the flavours of Mexico to the UK’s capital since 2020. Authentic to the true tastes of Mexican cuisine, Kol imports its ‘essentials’ of tortillas, chocolate and native chillies (that can’t be found or matched in London), across the Atlantic, while the chef continues to source local, British alternatives for other core ingredients. An innovative example of this is the restaurant’s use of sea buckthorn – a spiky thistle plant that grows in sand dunes across Britain – in place of lime, which does not naturally grow in the UK. Traditional Mexican dishes featuring larch rose, green strawberry, sweet cicely, and smokey mezcal are inspired by Santiago’s childhood in Cuernavaca, known as “The City of Eternal Spring.” Plant-based eaters will be happy to hear that Kol offers a vegetarian and vegan menu, which boast the likes of maitake mushrooms with smoked chilli, pistachio sauce and sea buckthorn, as well as a sunflower-seed ice cream for dessert. After dinner, pop downstairs to the popular KOL Mezcaleria bar for a Mexican-style digestif.
Sézanne, Tokyo (No. 15)
You’ll find the dynamic French restaurant, Sézanne, on the seventh floor of Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo. Here, a lightness touches everything – from the airy, pastel decor to the rich yet not overly-indulgent plates. Executive chef Daniel Calvert serves up nothing short of masterpieces including a saffron, crispy skin Kinki (fish); Saku-kasu young turnips; and the neatest crème brûlée ice cream you’ll ever see. Among the many highlights here is Sézanne’s Chef’s Table private dining-room experience, where guests can see straight into the kitchen and marvel at the artful, incredibly-skilled touches that fashion each plate.
Septime, Paris (No. 11)
Septime salle ® F.Flohic
Septime by chef Betrand Grébaut opened in Paris‘s hip and bustling 11th arrondissement in 2011, and it only took two years for the environmentally-conscious restaurant to be awarded its first Michelin star. Expect a cool, relaxed, and unfussy vibe – from the pared-back decor, friendly service, very local-feeling, and word-of-mouth clientele. Unsuspecting interiors feature oak school chairs, wooden tables topped with candles and fresh flowers, and industrial-metal finishings to create a modernised, French farmhouse atmosphere, complementing the vegetable-focussed menus. Over 99 per cent of the produce on the menu is grown and harvested in France, by small-scale farms that prioritise the fair treatment of workers. Septime also participates in Conservatoire du Gout, a project that preserves over 1,400 seed varieties from extinction. The menu consists of two tasting menus with wine pairings (one five courses and the other seven), across which you are taken on a seasonal journey of the very best of French cooking. Dishes change regularly – find them informally taped to the restaurant’s window for passersby to check out. Recent favourites include a scallop with celery root dish, as well as octopus served with leaks.
Don Julio, Buenos Aires (No. 10)
This Buenos Aires‘ neighbourhood and family-run parrilla (steakhouse), Don Julio, was quietly opened in 1999 by Pablo Rivero, then in his 20s. The restaurant has gone on to win a Michelin star as well as the Best Sommelier Award in 2024. An incredibly refreshing addition to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, dining at Don Julio feels like stepping back in time. Over 14,000 bottles of Argentine wines line the walls, from floor-to-ceiling; chefs prepare their steak-heavy dishes from an open kitchen reminiscent of a local deli counter; and there is no pretence or unwanted jazz in the table settings. The menu covers all the best bits of a steak, served alongside a choice of six salads or pasta.
Alchemist, Copenhagen (No. 8)
The planetarium dome at Alchemist. This universe is called Space.
The Alchemist in Copenhagen takes the ‘otherworldy’ restaurant concept literally with its hard-to-miss planetarium interiors. More of an experiential evening than a traditional restaurant, dining at Alchemist is formed by up to 50 ‘impressions’ and guests are asked to arrive with an open-minded attitude for an evening that will last for four to six hours – and use every sense. Alchemist approaches cuisine in the same way that traditional alchemists fuse philosophy, natural science, religion, and the arts, meaning eating here is not just about the food (which itself uses a lot of experimental techniques) but the setting too. The menu is composed by Acts and Scenes; like a play where the guest is the actor, embarking on a modernist performance of ambiguous yet entertaining courses. At the sommelier table, the focus of the evening is placed on wine pairings using bottles from an extensive cellar collection.
Disfrutar, Barcelona (No. 1)
Disfrutar 5 – @Joan Valera
The much-anticipated winner of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants is three Michelin-star Disfrutar in Barcelona, by chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas. The classic experience here is a 28-course evening with wine pairings, and while the menu changes twice a year, recent favourites include a gazpacho ice-cream sandwich and an eel pesto. Despite the restaurant’s prestigious credentials, entering the space is akin to venturing into one of Barcelona’s many esteemed tapas spots, with wood-panelled interiors and lots of greenery.
Lead image: Sézanne, Tokyo
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