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    China's High-End Restaurants Drop In Rank On 'World's 50 Best' List

    Hong Kong-based Amber's signature frog legs might have won it a place in the world's top 50 restaurants list, but its victory is a solo one for China-based restaurants.
    Amber's signature frog legs earned it a spot in the world's top 50 list, while other restaurants from China are relegated to top 100. (Amber)
    Jing DailyAuthor
      Published   in Finance

    Amber's signature frog legs earned it a spot in the world's top 50 list this year, while other previously listed restaurants from Hong Kong and China are relegated to top 100. (Amber)

    Hong Kong Michelin-star restaurant Amber’s signature frog legs in crispy kataifi earned the restaurant a place in S. Pellegrino’s “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” for the fourth year running. But while Amber gets to savor its prestigious win, other restaurants in the Greater China region previously on the list have been knocked off of their pedestal this year.

    Amber, located in the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong, was ranked 24th on this year’s list that was released today, as it climbed up from being 36th in 2013 and 44th the year before. In a press release, Amber’s star chef Richard Ekkebus said his team was honored to win the award judged by a panel of over 900 critics from over 26 separate regions.

    It is a lonely spot for Amber in the top 50 this year, since it’s the only restaurant from Greater China on the list. 8½ Otto E Mezzo Bombana from Hong Kong and chef Paul Pairet’s Mr & Mrs Bund from Shanghai were ranked 39th and 43rd respectively last year, but are relegated to the lower half of the top 100 this year, where four other restaurants from China reside.

    With restaurants on the top 100 list from both Shanghai and Hong Kong, both cities are vying to be China’s haute cuisine capital. Shanghai trails behind in this year’s fight: in addition to Amber’s win, four Hong Kong restaurants make the total list, but only one additional Shanghai spot—Paul Pairet’s latest restaurant, Ultraviolet—joins Mr & Mrs Bund this year.

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