And the Best Restaurant in All of Latin America Is…

Once again, the World’s 50 Best Restaurants organization has declared it’s love of Nikkei cuisine. The group has unveiled its list of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, and has awarded Mitsuharu Tsumura’s Japanese-Perurvian fusion restaurant Maido the region’s highest honors for the second year in a row. Also, like in 2017 Virgilio Martinez and Pia León’s Central in Lima took the runner-up spot. Enrique Olvera’s Pujol moved up to third, Boragó in Santiago was up one slot to fourth, and Alex Atala’s D.O.M. in São Paulo slipped down to fifth.

With his victory last year, and seventh-place ranking in the World’s 50 Best global rankings, Tsumura has become a global ambassador for Nikkei by cooking around the world and opening a restaurant in Macau. The cuisine was born after Japanese immigrants came to Peru in the late 1800s, with some of them eventually opened restaurants. It wasn’t long before Peruvian ingredients and Japanese techniques began to merge, creating a new style of food altogether. The result was a cuisine that featured potatoes, yellow pepper, wasabi, miso, and ginger, built upon a base of lime with chili and soy sauce. “It’s a mixture of citrus, spice, and soy,” Tsumara told Fine Dining Lovers.

Outside this year’s relatively static top 5, six new restaurants El Chato in Bogota, Oteque in Rio de Janeiro, Le Chique in Cancún, Gran Dabbang in Buenos Aires, Narda Comedor in Buenos Aires, and Oro in Rio de Janeiro joined the top 50 for the first time. And Osaka snuck back onto the list at 47 after leaving last year. The most decorated country in the list was Mexico, featuring 11 entries, compared to Argentina’s 10 restaurants among the 50.

Check out the full list below.

Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018

1. Maido, Lima, Peru
2. Central, Lima, Peru
3. Pujol, Mexico City, Mexico
4. Boragó, Santiago, Chile
5. D.O.M., São Paulo, Brazil
6. Don Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina
7. A Casa do Porco, São Paulo, Brazil
8. Astrid y Gastón, Lima, Peru
9. Quintonil, Mexico City, Mexico
10. Leo Bogotá, Colombia
11. Tegui, Buenos Aires, Argentina
12. Maní, São Paulo, Brazil
13. Isolina, Lima, Peru
14. Sud 777, Mexico City, Mexico
15. Villanos en Bermudas, Bogotá, Colombia
16. Rafael, Lima, Peru
17. La Mar, Lima, Peru
18. Mishiguene, Buenos Aires, Argentina
19. Chila, Buenos Aires, Argentina
20. Máximo Bistrot, Mexico City, Mexico
21. El Chato, Bogotá Colombia (New entry)
22. Parador, La Huella Jose Ignacio, Uruguay
23. Harry Sasson, Bogotá, Colombia
24. Ambrosia, Santiago, Chile
25. Osso, Lima, Peru
26. Lasai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
27. Olympe, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
28. 99, Santiago, Chile
29. Maito, Panama City, Panama
30. Pangea, Monterrey, Mexico
31. Alcalde, Guadalajara, Mexico
32. Elena, Buenos Aires, Argentina
33. Oteque, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (New entry)
34. Le Chique, Cancun, Mexico (New entry)
35. Corazón de Tierra, Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico
36. El Baqueano, Buenos Aires, Argentina
37. Nicos Mexico City, Mexico
38. Gran Dabbang, Buenos Aires, Argentina (New entry)
39. Malabar, Lima, Peru
40. La Docena, Guadalajara, Mexico
41. Rosetta, Mexico City, Mexico
42. Aramburu, Buenos Aires, Argentina
43. Restaurante 040, Santiago, Chile
44. Proper, Buenos Aires, Argentina
45. Mocotó, São Paulo, Brazil
46. Narda Comedor, Buenos Aires, Argentina (New entry)
47. Osaka, Santiago, Chile (Re-entry)
48. Amaz, Lima, Peru
49. Oro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (New entry)
50. Tuju, São Paulo, Brazil