Bangkok--24 Nov--CNNGo
CNNGo today announces its top picks for its first annual Bangkok ‘Best Eats Awards’. More than 50 restaurants are recognized for their culinary excellence across a range of categories from the traditional (‘Best Noodles’, ‘Best Cheap Eat’, ‘Best New Restaurant’) to more local categories such as ‘Best Som Tam’ and ‘Best Teochew Restaurant’.
Selected by a panel of five local experts across the restaurant industry, each of the 16 categories includes one definitive ‘best’ selection and two to four honorable mentions. The complete list of Bangkok's ‘Best Eats Awards’ is available at http://www.cnngo.com/besteats where quotes, comments and information on each restaurant are included.
Bangkok's ‘Best Noodles’ award went to the Provence Caf? for its boat noodles, a popular dish enjoyed regularly by prime ministers and local celebrities like TV host and one of the ‘Best Eats Awards’ judges, Chef McDang (see below for details on the CNNGo Best Eats experts panel).
The Polo Fried Chicken at Soi Polo bagged the ‘Best Cheap Eat’ award and ‘Best Som Tam’ went to Som Tam Nua, a Siam Square restaurant that has built a solid following on som tam alone, offering dozens of versions of the famous papaya salad. Mason Florence, one of the judges said: "Som Tam Nua has got the art of papaya salad nailed, in more varieties than one can imagine. Be prepared to queue for a table."
The Seafood Bar bagged the ‘Best New Restaurant’ award, for keeping their dishes "blessedly simple." The team gave the eatery the nod not only for using the freshest catch but because “it also doesn’t drown the flavours of its food with unnecessary sauces or peculiar combinations."
"We’re delighted to present our global readers with a list of Bangkok’s best, so they can share the passionate love affair we have with food in this city. From the cheapest food stalls to high-end dining, we celebrate what makes Bangkok one of the world’s great gastronomic destinations,” says CNNGo.com Bangkok Editor Karla Cripps.
CNNGo’s first annual ‘Best Eats Awards’ launch across six Asian cities. Bangkok is the fourth city announcing winners following Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai. Singapore are to announce their winners on November 29 and Mumbai on December 6.
2010 CNNGo Bangkok Best Eats Awards:
Best Sushi Bar: Maru
Best Noodles: Boat noodles at Provence Caf? Best Peking Duck: Great Shanghai Best Sunday Brunch: Sunday Brunch at the Four Seasons Best Som Tam: Som Tam Nua Best Cheap Eat: Polo fried chicken Best Steakhouse: New York Steakhouse at JW Marriott Best Indian Restaurant: Rang Mahal Best Teochew Restaurant: Somboonlarb Best French Restaurant: Le Beaulieu Best Burger Bar: Hyde & Seek
Best Pasta: Palazzo’s linguine all’aragosta di scoglio
Best Dessert: Carrot cake at Coffee Beans by Dao Best Gourmet Restaurant: Le Normandie at Mandarin Oriental Best New Restaurant: The Seafood Bar Best Burrito: La Monita
Judges of the 2010 CNNGo Bangkok Best Eats Awards:
Chef McDang - Leading food expert, chef, TV personality and writer A household name in Thailand, Chef McDang began writing about food and appearing on TV cooking shows in 1993. Today, he is Thailand's most famous food expert and a respected ambassador for Thai cuisine.
Tim Footman - Author, journalist and editor Known for his restaurant reviews in Thailand Tatler and the Bangkok Post, Tim lists his preferred cuisines as essentially finger food -- Spanish tapas, Japanese sushi, Lebanese mezze. Tim blogs about books, music, movies, philosophy and sometimes food at culturalsnow.blogspot.com.
Mason Florence - Journalist and travel guide author This native New Yorker moved to Thailand in 2002 after 12 years in Japan as a correspondent for The Japan Times newspaper and a travel guidebook author for Lonely Planet publications.
As founder of Talisman Media Group, he has created publications including Bangkok 101 magazine and BAM!, the Bangkok Art Map.
Chef Pongtawat "Ian" Chalermkittichai - Chef, consultant and TV host His path to culinary success started at the Waldorf Hotel in London. He attended culinary school in Sydney and spent his years as an apprentice absorbing French fine dining cuisine at Claude's. He then worked at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok as a demi chef and hosted a weekly cooking show. In 2004, he opened his famous Kittichai Restaurant in New York's Thompson Hotel and later formed his international food and beverage management and consulting firm, Cuisine Concept Co., Ltd.
Yuki Srikanchana - Businesswoman and restaurant owner Yuki is one of the most recognizable faces in Thailand's social circles. A mother of three daughters, she is also the managing director of Gaysorn Shopping Plaza's posh Pendulum Watches, as well as a veteran cook and restaurant owner.