The 23rd edition of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants has been unveiled, celebrating culinary innovation and excellence across the globe. Revealed during a grand ceremony on June 19 in Turin, Italy, the 2025 list features elite dining destinations from 22 countries, selected by a panel of 1,120 food industry experts from around the world.
Leading the prestigious rankings this year is Maido, a celebrated Lima-based restaurant helmed by chef Mitsuharu ‘Micha’ Tsumura. Known for its seamless blend of Japanese techniques with the rich diversity of Peruvian ingredients, Maido clinched the title of The World’s Best Restaurant 2025. Guests are greeted with the word “Maido”, a traditional Japanese welcome, before embarking on a culinary journey that explores Peru’s Amazonian bounty. Dishes such as a parcel of pork jowl with palm heart and sustainable paiche “ham” highlight the restaurant’s dedication to honoring local ecosystems while offering world-class flavours.
Indian cuisine grabs a spot on the list
India may not have secured a spot in the top 50 directly, but restaurants serving Indian cuisine made an impactful mark on the global list.
Gaggan in Bangkok, led by the ever-provocative Chef Gaggan Anand, has been ranked 6th Best Restaurant in the World and named Best Restaurant in Asia for 2025. The progressive Indian eatery continues to turn heads with its genre-defying dining experience that blends Indian roots with Thai, French, and Japanese elements. Described by the awards panel as a place where “music, colours and creativity combine on the menu,” Gaggan is also known for its playful use of emojis on the tasting menu and an insistence that guests eat with their hands—or even lick the plate. This marks the third consecutive year the restaurant has featured in the top 50.
Meanwhile, Tresind Studio in Dubai, under the culinary direction of Chef Himanshu Saini, has earned the 27th spot globally and been declared Best Restaurant in the Middle East 2025. Situated on the iconic Palm Jumeirah, the restaurant offers an immersive tasting menu where guests are guided through different parts of the dining space—each area thoughtfully designed to enhance the flavor journey. “Expect to be relocated to different areas of the restaurant, each carefully curated to match the plates in front of you,” the panel noted.
Masque grabs a spot on the extended global list
Back home, Mumbai’s Masque achieved a significant feat by securing the 68th position on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Extended List (positions 51–100), making it the only Indian restaurant to feature in the global rankings this year.
Founded in 2016 by Prateek Sadhu and Aditi Dugar, Masque is renowned for its hyper-seasonal 10-course tasting menus crafted from indigenous Indian ingredients. Set in a refurbished textile mill, the restaurant has steadily gained a reputation for being at the forefront of modern Indian cuisine. Since Chef Varun Totlani took over the kitchen following Sadhu’s departure in 2022, Masque has continued to evolve under the stewardship of Dugar, a self-taught chef and entrepreneur.
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants has been recognising trailblazing gastronomic talent since 2002. The rankings are based on votes cast by an international academy of chefs, food writers, restaurateurs, and culinary experts, each of whom nominates ten establishments they believe represent the best dining experiences in the world.
With this year’s list shining a light on diverse cuisines – from the Peruvian rainforest to the streets of Bangkok and the shores of Dubai, it reaffirms that the future of food is as much about honouring tradition as it is about bold reinvention.
