The verdicts for the global fine dining industry’s Oscars equivalent are out. After much anticipation, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 list was revealed on June 5. It took a panel of 1,080 culinary experts from around the world – food writers, critics, chefs, restaurateurs and well-travelled gourmets – under two stringent rules with only ten votes each. The first is that the voters can’t have an economic interest in their restaurant of choice. Second, they must have dined at the restaurants that garnered their votes in the last 19 months. Plus, a restaurant will no longer be eligible for a repeated win once it cinches the top spot. Instead, it’ll join the elite ‘Best of the Best’ list.
Thus, Barcelona’s Disfrutar was crowned the World’s Best Restaurant in 2024, up from second place in 2023 – except it wasn’t the only establishment from Spain to have made it to the top of the list. Two others came out as among the highest-ranked: Asador Etxebarri (No. 2) and DiverXO (No. 4). Meanwhile, New York’s Atomix (No. 6) takes the prize of representing Korean fine dining on a global scale. Read on for the top 10 best restaurants in the world, as dictated by the World’s 50 Best.
1. Disfrutar (Barcelona, Spain)
It’s a big year for three-Michelin-starred Disfrutar and its three chefs at the helm – Eduard Xatruch, Oriol Castro and Mateu Casañas – who met during their time at El Bulli. Not only is it the restaurant’s 10th anniversary, but it has also claimed the title of The World’s Best Restaurant 2024 and The Best Restaurant in Europe 2024. It’s hard to define Disfrutar’s cuisine in a word, but what’s agreed upon by all who visit is that the creations are imaginative, playful and daring, yet executed with exceptional technical skill.
Some innovations that have emerged from the kitchen include “solid bubbles”, a constantly changing “living table”, and a multi-spherical coconut served with Thai-style cuttlefish. An even more famous item is the indulgent caviar-filled Panchino doughnut. Still, dining at Disfrutar is an entire experience with two tasting menus at play: Classic and Festival. The former showcases signature dishes, while the latter is a party of the latest seasonal creations. Both are equally avant-garde, consisting of 30 courses highlighting its Mediterranean identity with a twist.
2. Asador Etxebarri (Atxondo, Spain)
With some fire magic from his custom-made grills, chef Victor Arguinzoniz can make extraordinary barbecue that still preserves the ingredients’ natural flavours and quality. Many travel to the little Basque village between Bilbao and San Sebastian for an unforgettable taste of Asador Etxebarri. Most of the ingredients are simple. Everything touches the grill – even the desserts – yet every humble dish awakens the palate.
Some of Arguinzoniz’s best dishes include a grilled succulent red Palamós prawn served as-is, juicy beef chop, anchovy on toast, and milk ice cream with beetroot. Guests can opt for à la carte or embark on a 14-course tasting menu to savour Arguinzoniz’s homemade chorizo and seasonal delicacies like baby eels and caviar-like Basque peas.
3. Table by Bruno Verjus (Paris, France)
At Table (pronounced the French way), ingredients are placed on a pedestal as chef Bruno Verjus and his team emphasise quality over quantity. Whether it’s shellfish from Norway, pigeon from Brittany or bread from the nearby Persephone bakery, Verjus will go to great lengths to source the finest ingredients.
All that effort is well-spent as the products are treated with the utmost respect, serving them in a way that brings out their natural flavours, if not enhancing them. The Brittany blue lobster, for example, is prepared by infusing it with hot clarified butter that’s been flavoured by its jus. The result is juicy meat with a caramelised texture and a subtle sweetness. The dessert is another iconic dish: a tartlet topped with melted dark chocolate, caper-infused cream and Ossetra caviar. It works!
4. DiverXO (Madrid, Spain)
“Welcome to the dream world of Dabiz Muñoz.” Rather than a restaurant, DiverXO presents itself as more of a gastronomical theatre starring its creative, hedonistic, and unpredictable chef. The plates serve as Muñoz’s canvas where his modern “artworks” push boundaries, challenging every diner’s palate and imagination. Think roasted caviar with vindaloo curry and Greek yoghurt, freshwater crab with XO kimchi, or nigiri matured for 45 days.
DiverXO’s fun personality is evident with its wacky interior reminiscent of pop art and a theme of flying pigs. The “oink”-piration serves as a humble reminder of Muñoz’s childhood. When Muñoz shared his ambition of opening a restaurant, his father responded, “Sure, and pigs might fly”. They certainly do—at Muñoz’s dining establishment.
5. Maido (Lima, Peru)
At Maido (which translates to ‘welcome’ in Japanese), chef Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura combines Japanese techniques and Peruvian ingredients into Nikkei cuisine. The term ‘Nikkei’ represents the Japanese community that immigrated to Peru, thus bringing about this unique fusion cuisine unheard of in Japan itself.
Whether diners opt for à la carte or the tasting menu, they will find the dishes beautifully presented on the plate, but on the palate, it’s an explosion of flavours. Some of Maido’s best delicacies include The Triple, a combination of avocado, eggs, tomato and chashu (braised pork belly); and caracoles al sillao (soy sauce), sea snails, with yellow chilli foam and Nikkei sauce.
6. Atomix (New York, USA)
Ranked sixth in the entire list, and incidentally ‘The Best Restaurant in North America 2024’, is a quaint 14-seater dining room in a basement tucked away on the edge of Manhattan’s Koreatown. The ‘Ato’ in Atomix originates from an ancient Korean word for ‘gift’ and is the brainchild of the husband-and-wife team, chef Junghyun Park and manager Ellia Park. The fine dining establishment has been served as many raving reviews as it has served tasting menu plates that are highly original, yet authentically Korean at its heart.
From the lamb with deodeok (a Korean root vegetable) to sea cucumber served with shrimp and egg over rice to freshly grilled wagyu accompanied by cold noodles, the dishes are delicate yet sublime, with textures and flavours dancing with finesse on the palate. Every dish is also plated in gorgeous bespoke ceramics alongside an explanatory card with information on the ingredients, origin and inspiration.
7. Quintonil (Mexico City)
Contemporary Mexican cuisine shares the stage among the world’s top ten restaurants. A gastronomical project headed by chef Jorge Vallejo and his wife Alejandra Flores, Quintonil consistently delivers fresh, local ingredients prepared through a mastery of modern techniques that result in creative and refined dishes.
Taking its name from a herb native to Oaxaca, diners can expect seasonal tasting menus that might include some surprisingly pleasing protein-rich insect-based combinations like charred avocado with escamoles (ant larvae) or tacos with grasshoppers and chicatana ants. Other notable masterpieces to have been served include duck pibil tamales with elote cream, braised oxtail in traditional black recado sauce, crème fraîche with melipona honey, cape gooseberry and caviar or prickly pear snow.
8. Alchemist (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Enter through a set of heavy bronze doors and into the mystical world of Alchemist, where chef Rasmus Munk and his team present what he calls ‘holistic dining’. By his definition, it is a multi-layered sensory experience that extends to gastronomy, theatre, art, science, technology and design. At the end of the day, while theatrical on the plate and in the surroundings, Munk seeks to change the way his diners think about food. For example, a plate with sustainable rabbit meat draped over thin silver ribs is named Hunger. Ice cream is served in the shape of a single blood drop next to a QR code that leads diners to an organ donor scheme. A chicken foot clamped down in a factory-farmed chicken-sized cage is called Burnout Chicken. As part of the immersion, the domed ceiling would play a video of metal cages clanging together.
Despite the rather uncomfortable messaging, the dishes are prepared with high-quality ingredients and highly technical skills. The flavours are superb, and Munk’s holistic mission has led to research collaborations on sustainable future-proof ingredients and a project in which his team created protein-rich ice cream for cancer-recovering children. One can’t deny that those skills are equivalent to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Besides, it’s a four- to six-hour dining experience with up to 50 plates to explore.
9. Gaggan (Bangkok, Thailand)
Kolkata-born chef Gaggan Anand has turned many heads with his progressive Indian cuisine, pushing the boundaries and changing the perceptions of fine dining with his theatrical cooking. With a subtle infusion of French, Thai, and Japanese influences – and a dollop of molecular gastronomy, cutting-edge equipment, and complex techniques involved – Gaggan’s menus are known to be imaginative, filled with vibrant narratives, and oftentimes a tad cheeky.
Menus could be written in emojis, and diners might even be asked to lick the plate. As Anand said, it’s “a culinary adventure of the senses and a roller coaster ride of emotions”.
10. Don Julio (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
One day in 1999, owner-chef Pablo Rivero opened Don Julio as a neighbourhood parrilla (steakhouse). It made sense since his family all shared a passion for meat, with his grandmother once being a butcher and his parents being cattle breeders. Fast forward years later to today, Don Julio is Argentina’s most famous steakhouse, where the steaks are impeccable, using only grass-fed Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle.
The cherry on top is the tantalising accompaniments that range from gooey provoleta goat’s cheese to mollejas (sweetbreads) to organic grilled asparagus or heirloom tomatoes. Don Julio’s wine cellar is equally famous, centering around Argentinian wines with over 14,000 labels.
See the rest of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024 in the video recap below.
