The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 2019 was recently announced at an awards ceremony in Singapore. This list is globally recognized as a reference for leading restaurant trends around the world.
The list is compiled of opinions of over 1,000 international restaurant industry experts who are part of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy. These industry experts finalize the list by casting their votes — with the Academy being comprised of 50% female voters and 50% male voters, being split into 26 regions in the world (each region having 40 members).
Food writers, critics, chefs, restauranteurs and well-traveled gourmets make up the industry experts who are part of the Academy.
According to The World’s 50 Best, “what constitutes ‘best’ is left to the judgment of these trusted and well-traveled gourmets”.
This year, the best restaurant in the world is Mirazur in Menton, France.
Although the list was mainly comprised of restaurants located in Europe and South America; two South African restaurants made it onto the list.
The two Cape Town restaurants made it to the top 150 this year — with The Test Kitchen ranking 44th best in the world and La Colombe ranking 114th best in the world.
The Test Kitchen was named Africa’s best overall restaurant and moved up 6 places from it’s ranking in 2018 as the 50th best in the world. The restaurant is described as a ‘treat for the senses with light and dark melding perfectly in a quirky, industrial space’.
“The experience starts with distinctive small bites from around the world like ceviche and roti paired with cocktails in the quiet dark room. More classic-mod fare is served in the buzzy light room — like Eiland and (local oryx) carpaccio, local kingklip smoked with curry leaves and scallops with a Cape Malay Sabayon”, noted by The World’s Best.
This restaurant continues to make it on the list because of it’s globally recognized dishes with a South African twist.
La Colombe is a French and Asian fusion restaurant and has won numerous awards both locally and internationally.
This year, the list was extended to 120 in celebration of it’s main sponsor San Pellegrino’s 120th anniversary.
This is the fifth time The Test Kitchen has made it into the top 50.