#restaurants

The fifth MICHELIN Guide Kuala Lumpur & Penang, released Nov. 4, recognises 159 places: one two-star restaurant, nine one-star restaurants, 60 Bib Gourmands and 89 MICHELIN Selected establishments. The only promotion is Potager, a contemporary French restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, which earns its first star. Darren Teoh's Dewakan, known for indigenous ingredients and Malaysian flavours, keeps two stars and remains the country's only two-star restaurant.

The other one-star restaurants are Akar, Beta, Chim by Chef Noom, DC. by Darren Chin, Molina and Terra Dining in Kuala Lumpur, and Au Jardin and Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery in Penang. Four places joined the Bib Gourmand list and 12 entered the Selected category. Aidan Low of Akar won the Young Chef Award, and Potager's Mr Nazahar won the Service Award.

ExpatGo notes that, unlike previous years, Michelin skipped a gala and announced the selection by press release only.

Asador Etxebarri, Bittor Arguinzoniz's restaurant in the Basque village of Atxondo, Spain, took No. 1 at The 50 Best Restaurants 2026, announced Wednesday, Nov. 4, at Teatro Municipal de Lima, the first time the global awards were held in Peru. It was No. 2 last year. Arguinzoniz cooks over custom-built grills, from red prawns and beef chops to the milk ice cream that ends the meal.

The rest of the top five, per CNN: Gaggan (Bangkok), Alchemist (Copenhagen), Quintonil (Mexico City) and Wing (Hong Kong). New York's Atomix placed 11th, the top U.S. entry, and its chef Junghyun "JP" Park won the Chefs' Choice Award. Jessica Rosval of Al Gatto Verde in Modena was named the World's Best Female Chef and Naar in Kasauli, India, won the Sustainable Restaurant Award.

The list (formerly The World's 50 Best Restaurants) comes from votes by more than 1,100 industry experts, who must have eaten at the places they nominate within the previous 18 months. Past No. 1s, including last year's winner Maido in Lima, are no longer eligible. The 51-100 list came out Oct. 21.

The Michelin Guide unveiled its second Manila and Environs & Cebu selection on Thursday night at the Manila Marriott Hotel: 127 establishments, including one Two Star restaurant, nine One Star restaurants, 31 Bib Gourmand picks and 86 Michelin-Selected restaurants.

Helm in Makati, led by chef Josh Boutwood, keeps its two stars. The only new star goes to Flow in Makati, led by chef Kevin Jonathan Uy. All eight returning one-star restaurants keep their star: Asador Alfonso (Cavite), Celera, Hapag, Inatô, Kása Palma and Toyo Eatery (Makati), Gallery by Chele (Taguig) and Linamnam (Parañaque). Michelin says Filipino cuisine made up nearly 60% of the newly selected places.

Special awards went to chef Frances Tariga's Tadhanà (Opening of the Year), Digámo's chef Francis Lacson (Young Chef), Tito Boy's Clyde Joshua Zafra in Pampanga (Service) and Automat's Ron Job Sanchez (Exceptional Cocktails).

Michelin revealed its 2027 Beijing & Tianjin selection at a ceremony in Tianjin on Wednesday, the first time Tianjin has been included. The combined list has 135 establishments: 34 starred restaurants, 48 Bib Gourmands and 52 Michelin Selected.

In Beijing (107 restaurants), Chao Shang Chao and Xin Rong Ji keep three stars, and Black Swan, Jingji, King's Joy, Lamdre and Lu Shang Lu keep two. The one-star list grows to 26 across 14 cuisine styles: Sichuan restaurant Chef 1996 is promoted from Selected, and Old Tower earns a star on its debut.

Tianjin's first selection has 27 places, including one star for China Banquet, a Huaiyang restaurant opened in 2023, plus 16 Bib Gourmands. Special awards went to Jun Dai of Lamdre (Mentor Chef), Yunjia Zhang of Under Clouds Green (Young Chef), Wei Qiao of Re Hai Fan Zhuang in Tianjin (Service) and Andrea Amadio of Monsieur Dior by Anne-Sophie Pic (Sommelier).

Since 2023 more than 4,900 businesses have carried Yelp's "Consumer Alert" banner, which sits on a business's page for 90 days after it is caught planting or paying for reviews, according to a recently published working paper described by Eater.

Co-author Yi Cao, an assistant professor of accounting at George Mason University, says flagged restaurants' foot traffic fell about 8%, dipped further around the holidays, and most had not recovered to pre-alert levels even 18 months later. The team matched Yelp data with SafeGraph foot-traffic records and Consumer Edge card transactions.

Cao says Yelp relies substantially on reports from consumers and owners, plus an algorithm that screens for AI-generated language. "When the risk is relatively low, the business owners decide the incremental benefits are worth the risk," he told Eater.

Just Eat has paused an AI tool that generated menu images for restaurants on its UK platform after it produced surreal results, Restaurant Online reports: fried eggs and sausages floating in cola for a "breakfast soda", a tiny burger inside a sauce pot, cheese-filled sushi and wine glasses holding watermelon. The tool was meant to help small independents add pictures without paying for photography. "We're sorry for any inaccurate images," a spokesperson said; affected images were removed.

In Chicago, the Tribune finds AI-generated food photos spreading across restaurant menu boards and signs, with burgers, burritos and shrimp that look plainly synthetic. Jay Goldberg of Chicago Culinary Kitchen in Palatine told the paper AI is fine for flyers, "but the second you're going to just bait and switch me with your food, I don't trust you as a business."

The first Michelin Guide for South Australia awarded stars to 11 restaurants and listed 77 venues at a ceremony in Adelaide on October 14. Magill Estate Restaurant, at the Penfolds vineyard in Magill, was the only two-star winner and no restaurant received three; regional restaurants took more than half of the single stars, including Anvers in Kangarilla, Maxwell in McLaren Vale and Hentley Farm in Seppeltsfield. They are the first Michelin stars awarded anywhere in Australia. The state government paid for Michelin to cover South Australia and says restaurants cannot pay to be included.

Michelin's 2026 Texas selection adds three One Star restaurants: Fabrik in Austin, an entirely plant-based tasting menu built on produce from local Texas farms; Goldee's Bar-B•Q in Fort Worth, open only a few days a week, where the inspectors say the brisket is worth an hours-long wait; and newcomer Kappo Kappo in Austin. Six restaurants received a Bib Gourmand for good food at good value, and 16 more joined as recommended. The full guide lists 149 restaurants across 30 cuisines.

Michelin's fifth Dubai selection lists 122 restaurants across 38 cuisines. Orfali Bros, rooted in the founding brothers' Aleppian, Armenian and Turkish heritage, moved up to Two Stars two years after its first. Birch, led by chef Arslan Berdiev, and the Japanese restaurant KIGO enter with One Star, and FZN by Björn Frantzén and Trèsind Studio keep Three Stars. The guide is produced with destination partner Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism.

Time Out picks seven U.S. restaurants cooking over wood, embers and open flame, where the hearth often sits in full view of the dining room. Among them: Michelin-starred chef Eyal Shani's Malka in West Palm Beach (his first kosher restaurant, built around a custom wood grill); Hillary Sterling's Ci Siamo in Manhattan, known for whole fire-roasted trout; Ajax Downtown in Denver, where even the bread and cocktails touch the fire and steaks are dry-aged in-house; and Corkfire in Temecula, cooking produce from its own garden over flame. It's a trend roundup, not a list of new openings.

Time Out Buenos Aires reviews Ámbar, a newly opened 500-square-meter restaurant on Junín Street across from Recoleta Cemetery, started by Iggy James, a 23-year-old New Yorker. Chef Nahuel Cora's French-Argentine menu skips starters and mains for small, medium and large plates to share (duck pâté with persimmon, triple-cooked fries with five-spice, Patagonian oysters), alongside a cocktail bar, DJs and a live-streaming radio station. The reviewer thinks it could be one of the year's standout openings if it keeps up its early level and fine-tunes service.

Food & Wine’s editors list nine restaurant dishes they loved in September.

A growing online backlash is targeting restaurants backed by private equity, with younger diners using the phrase “PE slop” for food they see as overpriced, standardized or stripped of local character.

The discussion intensified after beloved New York taco shop Los Tacos No. 1 took investment from TSG Consumer.

Why it matters

Restaurant ownership used to be invisible to most diners. Now corporate structure itself is becoming part of a restaurant's brand story—and potentially a reason customers choose where not to eat.

The debate

Private-equity firms argue they provide capital and expertise that help popular concepts expand. Critics say debt, cost cutting and aggressive growth can damage quality and erase what made a restaurant special.

High-end restaurants are increasingly spending serious design attention on bathrooms, turning them into immersive, photogenic spaces with dramatic lighting, mirrors, mosaics and theatrical decor.

Why it matters

Social media has expanded what counts as part of a restaurant's product. Diners photograph bathrooms, share them on TikTok and Instagram, and sometimes remember the restroom more vividly than the dining room.

The strange economics

A beautifully designed loo does not improve the food—but if customers post it, the bathroom can function as free advertising.