The best restaurant in the world? It's the Peruvian-Japanese Maido in Lima
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Drumroll, please, for the best restaurant in the world: It’s Maido, in Lima, Peru.
The top pick in the annual ranking of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants is a 16-year-old restaurant led by chef Mitsuharu Tsumura that specializes in a singular style of Nikkei cuisine, the combination of Peruvian and Japanese flavours and influences. Tsumura’s menu prioritizes seafood, with dishes like raw razor clams in a ponzu emulsion with truffle oil and tuna nirigi with shoyu-infused cured egg yolks and toasted quinoa. The Maido experience starts at 1190 Peruvian sols, or around US$331.
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In an exclusive first interview with Tsumura, the chef said: “This is not for me, this is for the country, this is for Peru, this is for the Peruvian restaurants, This is for Latin America, and this is also for the whole industry.” He also paid tribute to the influence of the organizers on the culinary community.
“Before 50 Best, the community of chefs didn’t get together as they do right now. And this is important because from there, we have built together many, many beautiful connections and this should be an example for all the industries in the world. There is competition, this is like a football game, but when you finish, you shake hands, you have a beer. There’s so much differences in the world right now. We don’t agree in so many things. Maybe food will be there, the tool to fix [it].”
Maido stands in sharp contrast to last year’s No. 1 spot, the fantastical Disfrutar in Barcelona, where dishes have names like Fear: The Prawn.
Spain was the big winner in 2024: Three of the top five restaurants on the list were located there. This year, it was Italy’s turn. It had five restaurants in the top 50. The city of Bangkok did even better: It had six.
The No. 2 spot on the 2025 list went to Asador Etxebarri in Spain’s Basque country, where chef-owner Victor Arguinzoniz uses custom-made grills to prepare seemingly simple, yet outrageously flavorful dishes like grilled baby squid and ink with caramelized onions and pan-fried white truffles. The tasting menu goes for 280 euros ($321).
If you’d asked ChatGPT what the winners would be, you would have gotten a very different answer. Atomix (No. 12) came out as their pick for top recommendation; the platform also saw top contenders in Table by Bruno Verjus (No. 8) and the Alchemist in Copenhagen (No. 5). Atomix was the top-ranked US dining room, and fell 6 spots from last year. It was also the only American restaurant to appear on the top 50 list. (It’s based in New York.)
The UK had two spots in the top 50: The forward-thinking Mexican restaurant Kol at No. 49, which prioritizes local ingredients over imported ones, even avocados, and the dynamic Ikoyi, which, at No. 15, won the title of “highest climber” moving up 27 spots from last year’s spot.
The 50 Best awards are owned and operated by the UK-based William Reed media company, which also publishes regional restaurant rankings in as well as ones for bars and hotels. The ranking is based on the votes of 1120 panelists around the world.
The 50 Best also doles out special awards. They included the World’s Best Pastry Chef award went to Maxime Frédéric, from Plénitude. The Best Female Chef in the World is Pichaya Soontornyanakij, known as Pam, runs the modern Thai-Chinese dining room Potong in Bangkok; it was also the highest new entry on the list, at No. 13.
This year’s winning restaurants
(Last year’s rankings are listed in parentheses; restaurants that are new to the list this year are marked with an asterisk(*).)
1. Maido, Lima (5)
2. Asador Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain (2)
3. Quintonil, Mexico City, Mexico (7)
4. Diverxo, Madrid, Spain (4)
5. Alchemist, Copenhagen, Denmark (8)
6. Gaggan, Bangkok (9)
7. Sézanne, Tokyo (15)
8. Table by Bruno Verjus, Paris (3)
9. Kjolle, Lima, Peru (16)
10. Don Julio, Buenos Aires (10)
11. Wing, Hong Kong (20)
12. Atomix, New York (6)
13. Potong, Bangkok *
14. Plénitude, Paris (18)
15. Ikoyi, London (42)
16. Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy (12)
17. Sorn, Bangkok (38)
18. Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy (19)
19. The Chairman, Hong Kong (26)
20. Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler, Brunico, Italy *
21. Narisawa, Tokyo (re-entry)
22. Sühring, Bangkok (23)
23. Boragó, Santiago, Chile (29)
24. Elkano, Getaria, Spain (28)
25. Odette, Singapore (24)
26. Mérito, Lima*
27. Trèsind Studio, Dubai (13)
28. Lasai, Rio de Janiero*
29. Mingles, Seoul (44)
30. Le Du, Bangkok (40)
31. Le Calandre, Rubano (re-entry)
32. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy (39)
33. Steirereck, Vienna (22)
34. Enigma, Barcelona*
35. Nusara, Bangkok *
36. Florilège, Tokyo (21)
37. Orfali Bros., Dubai (re-entry)
38. Frantzén, Stockholm (35)
39. Mayta, Lima (41)
40. Septime, Paris (11)
41. Kadeau, Copenhagen*
42. Belcanto, Lisbon (31)
43. Uliassi, Senigallia, Italy (50)
44. La Cime, Osaka (re-entry)
45. Arpege (45)
46. Rosetta, Mexico City (34)
47. Vyn, Skillinge*
48. Celele, Cartagena *
49. Kol, London (17)
50, Restaurant Jan, Munich *
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