Once Again, None of Asia's Best Restaurants are in Beijing (Apparently)

Another year of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants rankings, another year when no Beijing restaurants made the list. Now in its ninth year, Asia’s 50 Best has yet to laud a single Beijing restaurant (we didn’t even make it into the extended list of the 51st-100th best restaurants), although one Shanghai restaurant, Fu He Hui did make the cut in 22nd place (Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet, formerly a staple of the top 50, dropped to 52nd place). 

Hong Kong's restaurants take home the most accolades, with 11 spots on the list, followed by Japan in second place with nine spots, and Singapore with eight spots. 

Unlike the Michelin Guide, which is put together by anonymous reviewers, Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants tallies the opinions of a 300+ person voting panel made up of chefs, regional food critics, and well-traveled foodies. While we admit that Beijing isn’t playing at the same level as big-hitting foodie cities like Tokyo and Hong Kong, our opinion has always been that the panel probably doesn’t make it to Beijing that often, as there are certainly a couple of venues here that are worthy of consideration. It is also true that Chinese restaurants, fine dining or not, sometimes struggle to fit the criteria applied by these kinds of restaurant ranking systems.

However, we had thought that this might change since the launch of the Beijing Michelin Guide, now in its second year. Two restaurants — King’s Joy and Xin Rong Ji — were awarded three Michelin stars this year, and with its creative, sustainable take on vegetarian cuisine, King’s Joy seems like a good tip for future Asia's 50 Best rankings. Indeed, two other branches of Xin Rong Ji in Shanghai and Taizhou, ranked 61 and 76, respectively, on the extended list of the 51st-100th best restaurants.

Interestingly, one Beijing restaurant, the venerable Li Qun Roast Duck, did make it into the “Essence of Asia” collection, a new listing launched this year. Essence of Asia "features the sort of places that honor culinary traditions, revive indigenous cuisines or rediscover centuries-old recipes, as well as many that play a key role supporting and connecting their communities," selected by the chefs from the restaurants on the 50 Best list, 50 Best's Academy Chairs, and trusted local gourmets. 

This year’s awards, announced at 4.30pm Beijing time on Mar 25, were once again hosted virtually due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, with viewers able to tune in live via Facebook or Youtube. 

READ: Find all of our writings about Beijing's food scene here

Images: Asia's 50 Best Restaurants