Top 10 countries for fine dining: Australia and the UK among the best

Australia and the United Kingdom rank among the best countries in the world for fine dining, according to Elite Traveller. And proving that UK Aussies can do it better, a London restaurant run by an Australian expat ranks well above any back home.

The 2015 Elite Traveler’s Top 100 Restaurants in the World list puts Alinea in Chicago as the world’s best restaurant. The Fat Duck, carrying on the culinary wizardry of celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, is still the UK’s top foodie heaven at #5 while The Ledbury in London – run by expat Australian chef, Brett Graham – came in at #12, making it Britian’s second best eatery.

The top placed Aussie restaurant is Tetsuya’s in Sydney at #64, followed by Attica in Melbourne at #72, Marque in Sydney at #80, Vue De Monde in Melbourne next at #81, while Quay in Sydney dropped 9 places on the list to scrape in at #97.

And when it comes to cities, London ranks at #3 in the world while Sydney is at #5. Sorry Melbourne, you only made it to #15… Sydney is a better eat for the fancy foodie traveller. Paris at #2 was topped by New York at #1.

By country, Australia’s overall ranking has slipped since last year but it still features in the top 10 along with the UK while the USA has for the first time claimed #1, overtaking France as the world’s finest nation to dine in.

Elite’s Top 10 countries for fine dining in 2015

10. Mexico

Mexico only has two restaurants in the top 100, but both are high ranking. Pujol restaurant in Mexico City came in 17th and Biko restaurant, also in Mexico City came in 36th.

9. Australia

Sydney was voted as the 5th best city in the world for fine dining with three restaurants in the top 100. Melbourne is home to another two world top 100 restaurants, giving Australia five restaurants in list.

8. China

Robuchon au Dome restaurant in Macua ranked 6th, with five other China restaurants featuring in the top 100.

7. Japan

While only six restaurants in Japan made it into the top 100, Tokyo ranked as the fourth best city for fine dining. Mizai restaurant in Kyoto came in at 15th.

6. Germany

Germany has six restaurants featured in the top 100 with Restaurant Vendome in Cologne cracking 18th position.

5. Italy

Italian restaurant La Pergola in Rome came in 8th and Modena’s Osteria Francescana came in 10th, while five other restaurants featured in the top 100.

4. Spain

Spain boasted a total of eight top 100 restaurants with El Celler de Can Roca in Girona and Azurmendi in Larrabetz ranking second and third. San Sebastian tied for fifth best city for fine dining along with San Francisco and Sydney.

3. United Kingdom

Just as the UK is the third best county for fine dining, so London is the third best city. The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray took fifth place in the top 100 while expat Australian chef, Brett Graham’s The Ledbury in London came in 12th. Elite counted eight UK restaurants in their top 100.

2. France

While France took fist place in 2014 with 18 restaurants in the top 100, this year it only has 14. Paris ranked as the second best city in the world for fine dining with Pierre Gagnaire restaurant coming in 13th for top restaurants in the world. La Vague d’Or in Saint-Tropez came in 20th.

1.United States of America

While Alinea restaurant in Chicago took first place for top restaurant in the world, New York ranked as the best city in the world for fine dining. New York restaurants Eleven Madison Park, Per Se and Le Bernardin took fourth, seventh and ninth place in the top 100 respectively. The United States is home to 19 of Elite’s top 100 restaurants.

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