Support NeoGAF

[Subpar Scrub]

we don't have to deal with a bunch of laowei clogging up the restaurant, breaking the chairs, and driving prices up and quality down.

I'm guessing laowei is a negative term for non-chinese?

I think this is less of a racist bias of the list and more of a sign of established luxury chefs moving to Asia

I initially had this feeling too. Some of the white/European/whatever dudes are master chefs with 20+ years of intensive, difficult and high standard cooking to the biggest celebrities and politicians in the world. No matter where they open their restaurant, odds are they'd be in a top ten or top twenty list.

Also, I imagine it's easier for whoever compiles a list like this to simply go to the top tier or highest rated restaurants in a town or city and take those into consideration for a definitive list. I guess it'd be much easier and quicker than having to eat at every small restaurant in a city. Which is a shame, because some of the best meals I had in Japan and Thailand were from establishments that looked more like a furnished hole in a wall than a restaurant.

 

[ahoyhoy]

If they're good at making the food does it matter what race the chef is? I realise it's Asian cuisine, but you don't need to be Asian to cook it well no?

Yep. Not going to give a fuck if some dude from Zambia nails Greek food. If it's better than my YiaYia's then that's just how it goes.

 

[Stinkles]

Why is that a problem, if I might ask?



.

it's not a problem but i dont like it because

a) the best food is a reasonable criteria
b) the criteria currently used are cyclical and exclusive in a negative fashion and create massive placebo effects.

if the list was "Fanciest Restaurants" a reasonable person would assume the food was also exquisite. this is like a list of best movies that only includes big budget sepctaculars.

 

[Big-E]

These lists always favor haute cuisine and Chinese doesn't play well in that market. The best Chinese in China is usually a hole in the wall place. Some of the worst meals I had in China were at 5 star hotels.

 

[TBiddy]

it's not a problem but i dont like it because

a) the best food is a reasonable criteria
b) the criteria currently used are cyclical and exclusive in a negative fashion and create massive placebo effects.

if the list was "Fanciest Restaurants" a reasonable person would assume the food was also exquisite. this is like a list of best movies that only includes big budget sepctaculars.

Well, you did write "a problem in itself", but fair enough. You not liking the list is entirely up to you.

 

[Gully State]

I'm guessing laowei is a negative term for non-chinese?

Naw...just means old flavors.. 老味

 

[vern]

Naw...just means old flavors.. 老味

Her pinyin game is wack.

 

[GoutPatrol]

Naw...just means old flavors.. 老味

Laowais are sucking up all the Laowei.

 

[cashman]

At least my boy Gaggan made the list

 

[Snowybreak]

Yeah seriously.

But you know, it's probably a blessing in disguise. This way when we go actual delicious Asian food places in Asia we don't have to deal with a bunch of laowei clogging up the restaurant, breaking the chairs, and driving prices up and quality down.

I hope you realize how fucked up what you just said was.

 

[Kill3r7]

Just to provide a bit more color the discussion. This is what Gaggan's CTM (chicken tikka masala) burger looks like.

Paneer Tikka with herb foam

it's not a problem but i dont like it because

a) the best food is a reasonable criteria
b) the criteria currently used are cyclical and exclusive in a negative fashion and create massive placebo effects.

if the list was "Fanciest Restaurants" a reasonable person would assume the food was also exquisite. this is like a list of best movies that only includes big budget sepctaculars.

Ditto. This is the equivalent of making a list of the most auteur indie filmmakers.

 

[Billy_Pilgrim]

Usual suspects embarrassing themselves in this thread. It's food ffs.

 

[tearsintherain]

These kind of lists feel less like "50 best items I actually ate" and more "50 best restaurants that gave me an experience that had very little to do with the actual taste of anything I ate" and is more about presentation, management, location, wine selection, serving staff training, yadda yadda.

My top 50 list would all have been tiny hole in the wall places run by a man or woman who had been doing the same thing for 30 years and is a master of their craft, and i love Bourdain because he clearly thinks the same way.

 

[stn]

Yeah seriously.

But you know, it's probably a blessing in disguise. This way when we go actual delicious Asian food places in Asia we don't have to deal with a bunch of laowei clogging up the restaurant, breaking the chairs, and driving prices up and quality down.

Yeah, this is ridiculously unfair of you to say. Should I say the same thing about you since you're Asian and live in North America? Does that make you a "laowei"?

 

[boiled goose]

Usual suspects embarrassing themselves in this thread. It's food ffs.

Umm. Do elaborate.

It's more than food.

It's social perceptions.
It's representation at top positions.
It's about diversity.
It's about culture.
It's about people's careers.
Etc.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Tokyo Banana is overrated.

Ichigo Daifukus, Japanese cheese tarts.

trapped strawberry reminds me of the raindrop cake

 

[ccbfan]

These list tend to be extremely eurocentric.

Asian and local fare (unless Japanese) tend to be treated as "cheap food" and not high class enough. Even most of the Non-Japanese Asian food restaurants on the list tend to be extremely white washed. These list are usually "how white can I make my restaurant while still serving great food". All these place probably serve great food, so the metric becomes how much can I suit the European taste.

Its the same reason I never use yelp for asian food, they bitch about shit I never care about, lowering the rating.

 

[sasimirobot]

they bitch about shit I never care about, lowering the rating.

I asked for pad Thai, no fish sauce, peanuts on the side, not spicy because I want to be able to taste my food duh, tofu and no oil. it came out so bland. Yelp score - 1

also they charged me 25$ to replace the chair

 

[Yellowflashdude]

Its funny because locals are usually the one who loves to discredit or undervalue their own cuisine in some situations in Asia. When a Chinese restaurant in Shanghai received its first 3 Michelin Starred ranking in 2016 last year, it was basically laughed off the list by locals - saying it is in no way deserving of it compared to others (mainly Western restaurants) on the list.

I see the same thing in USA also. The Asian communities there expect their own cuisine to be cheap and accessible. Its an internal problem as well.

Yeah this is possible too. Lack of pride by the locals. The french, for example, would never admit to the possibility that a foreigner can cook their food better than them.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Even if it's just the 'top chefs in Asia' and not 'top chefs of Asian cuisine in Asia', it's still problematic. You're telling me that French cuisine is objectively better than Chinese cuisine? Get out of here.

 

[LucidMomentum]

trapped strawberry reminds me of the raindrop cake

HOOOOOOOOOOOW IS THIS DOOOOOONE?

 

[Nista]

I feel like the true travesty of that top 10 list is Den being only at #11. We went there last year, and it was fantastic and fun, with the chef and his international squad of helpers right there in front of you. And he has a cute dog that bows to people, which is worth at least 0.1 Michelin stars in my book.

Narisawa has an option for iced tea pairings from all over Japan, which is a wonderful concept that I wish more fine dining restaurants would do. Especially for lunch when you don't want to be drunk all damn day from wine or sake.

But if you look at the top 100 world list from the same site, it's a majority of white men as well. Women are hard to find in haute cuisine, and that's a shame. It's a business and atmosphere that a lot of people don't want to put up with due to the stress and perfectionism it takes.

 

[jbug617]

HOOOOOOOOOOOW IS THIS DOOOOOONE?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp2Pm1bTTwc

 

[TCRS]

Literally nothing wrong with this. If 300 experts from asia decided that those are the top guys then I guess they are the top guys.

 

[Hubbl3]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp2Pm1bTTwc

Annnnnnnnnd this has turned into today's youtube black hole. I'm now watching videos on how to make homemade candy with a panda face in the middle.