Korean restaurant Mingles ranked Asia's 11th best restaurant
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From left, Korean chefs Kim Dae-chun of Toc Toc, Kim Jeong-ho of Jungsik and Kang Min-goo of Mingles pose after the awards ceremony of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 held at Wynn Palace, Macau, Tuesday night. / Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-young
Top hotel restaurant dropped from list after 3 years
By Yun Suh-young
MACAU -- Contemporary Korean restaurant Mingles have been ranked 11th on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2018, up four ladders from the previous year, during an award ceremony held at the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants event in Wynn Palace, Macau, Tuesday.
Mingles had been ranked no. 15 on the list for the past two consecutive years since entering the list in 2016, stepping above Jungsik, which had held the highest rank in Korea with no. 10 in 2015 but has dropped to 22 and 25 in the past two years. This year Jungsik was ranked no. 26 on the list.
"I'm really happy and thankful. It's hard to line up restaurants and the fact that my restaurant was evaluated this way comes as a huge burden and responsibility. It's my restaurant so I had always felt like I could do whatever I wanted to and I did, but now I feel like I'm doing what I love but I have more responsibility that follows. I'm going to try to live up to that," said chef owner Kang Min-goo of Mingles, after the award ceremony.
"This (rank) is going to have some kind of influence. It's going to be an indicator of Korean cuisine, Korean restaurants."
This year, three Korean restaurants have been listed on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, two of which have maintained their place while the third is a newcomer replacing a previous listing. While Mingles and Jungsik kept their places in the list, Korea's top hotel restaurant La Yeon of The Shilla Seoul has been ousted from the list this year after keeping its place for three consecutive years since 2015.
The new entry is Toc Toc, a French contemporary dining restaurant in the posh district of Cheongdam, alongside its neighbors Jungsik and Mingles. Toc Toc was ranked no. 42 in this year's list, a fairly good start for a first entry.
"It's embarrassing because I don't feel like I'm there yet but I'm very honored to be included in the list because this itself is a huge recognition, to be selected in the 50 out of millions of restaurants," said chef owner Kim Dae-chun of Toc Toc, after the ceremony.
"The rank itself is not important. But this will be a stepping stone for my next restaurant in preparation. My aim is to look beyond Asia -- I'm aiming to enter the World's 50 Best Restaurants one day, whether it takes 10 years or 20. I think it's possible. Honestly, I do desire to climb up the ladder but this is the start and I will continue to try hard."
The inclusion of Toc Toc instead of La Yeon signals an important change in the culinary genre representative of Seoul -- until now, dominated by Korean cuisine.
Since contemporary Korean restaurant Jungsik entered the list in 2014 as the first Korean restaurant, and a brief inclusion of Ryunique, innovative modern fusion cuisine of Japanese and French, in 2015 alongside Jungsik and La Yeon, the list since 2016 had regularly been the likes of Jungsik, Mingles and La Yeon all of which practice Korean cuisine -- be they contemporary or traditional.
"Our main focus is on the ingredients and I think that appealed to the panel. If you can't leave an impression, you can't survive," said Kim.
Having seen Mingles climb up the ladder, Kim said he was truly overwhelmed.
"It's amazing. I applauded from the bottom of my heart because I know how hard it is. Especially for Korea, we don't have many votes or influx of foreigners. The fact that Mingles could climb up the ladder like that is amazing. I'm hopeful for the future of fine dining in Korea. Restaurants like Mingles or Jungsik don't fall behind any of the world's Michelin restaurants," he said.
Toc Toc's entry in the list may lead to another important accolade for the restaurant -- the Michelin -- as Mingles, which entered the Asia's 50 Best Restaurant list in 2016 as the Korean restaurant with the highest ranking, ended up with one Michelin star later that year, in the 2017 guide for Seoul.
Despite the achievements of three Korean restaurants, there could be more Korean entries, which is something the industry should work on as a whole, said Kim.
"This is like the Olympics -- an Asian Olympics. I think it's a matter of how much team work we can play out. Our chefs need to join forces and really stand out. It requires a community. And it's about time that Korean chefs form a community to stand together and support each other."
Meanwhile, Asia's top restaurant award went to Gaggan, a restaurant in Bangkok run by Indian chef owner Gaggan Anand, who received the top prize four years in a row.
"I don't know what to say... you award me too many times," he said, after being announced no. 1, yet again.
"I started cooking 22 years back and dreams do come true. I just want to say to all of us who are here, all 49 restaurants and chefs who are here. I'm not just a proud winner. What I feel is that this time, for the first time, I was least stressed of what my number would be. We have young chefs taking over the old ones so it's time for us to leave and for you guys to take over."
In a press conference following the ceremony, he continued with the same message.
"I don't think my future is anything except food. When you climb the mountain and reach the top of the mountain, you don't climb to the top from the top, you go down and then climb up again. Right now I'm climbing my mountain and when I feel I'm on top, I quit. I (will) quit as a respectable person and give chance to young chefs."