Gourmet food is a global phenomenon and who better to appreciate it than travellers who explore the globe? The Traveller’s Choice Restaurant Awards are run by TripAdvisor, the American travel and restaurant website, that is trusted by people around to world for its honest hotel and restaurant reviews. Every year the list publishes the top gourmet restaurants with all eyes on who makes it into the top 10 gourmet restaurants. In the latest 2018 awards, South Africa and Australia performed well with La Colombe from Constantia, Cape Town coming in at 6th place and The Grove in Auckland coming in at 9th place.
How the awards are selected for the best gourmet restaurants
An algorithm, that analyses millions of reviews and opinions by global travellers over a year, selects the winners of the awards. This makes the awards very unbiased and as a result is trusted by foodies all over the world looking for fine food and the restaurants on the list are regarded as “best-in-class”.
The top 10 gourmet restaurants in the world for 2018
According to the algorithm the top 10 gourmet restaurants in the world are:
- Au Crocodile – Strasbourg, France
- Martin Berasategui – Lasarte, Spain
- El Celler de Can Roca – Girona, Spain
- Restaurant Sat Bains – Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Restaurant Benazuza – Cancún, Mexico
- La Colombe – Constantia, South Africa
- TRB Hutong – Beijing, China
- Ristorante Villa Crespi – Orta San Giulio, Italy
- The Grove – Auckland, New Zealand
- David’s Kitchen – Chiang Mai, Thailand
La Colombe: The jewel in South Africa’s gourmet crown
La Colombe has iconic status in South Africa and not surprisingly is regarded by TripAdvisor as the top restaurant in Constantia. For people with food allergies, it even as an incredible gluten-free tasting menu and is renowned for its international style of food celebrating both French meets Asian and European cooking styles. It enjoys a wonderful aspect making it a fantastic venue for lunch, but it is equally enjoyable in the evenings and has private dining options for intimate parties.
The restaurant has also been newly refurbished and has a minimal, clean aesthetic ambiance that ensures the focus falls on the food. For a treat – ensure you enjoy the famous Karoo lamb, a delicious, complex dish that is a modern classic!
The Grove: The pride of Auckland
This renowned restaurant had a degustation menu that is famous and celebrates local cuisine as well as European cooking styles. It is pitched as the perfect menu for a romantic dinner and you can certainly spend plenty of time gazing into each other’s eyes over the seven courses that make up the degustation menu.
The restaurant itself says it is currently on a “journey of discovery” to redefine New Zealand cuisine and places a strong focus on local ingredients which that treat with “respect”. The Grove was started in 2004 and has won numerous awards over the years.
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