2023 was an amazing year, and admittedly I am slightly behind on publishing some of the restaurants I’ve tried. Nevertheless, here are the 10 best dishes of 2023, with 5 honorable mentions.
Honorable Mention
Starting off the list we have the biggest and most spectacular paella I’ve ever had, boasting huge pieces of tender charred scallops, flavorful morsels of mussels, and a huge argentinian tiger prawn. The rice had an amazing complex flavor with the tomato, lemon, and seafood, and it really tied the whole dish together.
Honorable Mention
Amazingly fatty oxtail and an almost disastrously soft potato were braised with such a flavorful sauce, and the flavor just completely permeated through the dish. This powerful dish showed complete mastery of flavors and sauces.
Honorable Mention
Layers of passion fruit vacherin and milk tea ice cream were adorned with thin merengue and tart passion fruit jelly. The technical mastery of this dish was impressive, and the flavors of milk tea and passion fruit worked perfectly together.
Honorable Mention
Abalone and shiitake mushrooms had the perfect texture to be braised with gelatinous duck feet in a thick and flavorful Ah Yat sauce, and the abalone was extremely tender and meaty. Pair this with rice and it was just heavenly.
Honorable Mention
Perfect pillowy buns topped with a crispy shell of sweet pineapple crisp were filled with a sweet, savory, and sticky pork and pineapple mixture. They have combined two of the best dim sum and perfected it, and the result is truly extraordinary.
10
Starting off our main list is an absolutely stunning dessert, both visually and taste-wise. The soft and moist cake, fluffy cream, and glazed pineapple combined for an interesting texture, and the flavors were on point. So refreshing and delicious.
9
French cooking is known for its butteriness and heaviness, but these scallops were probably the most well-balanced dish I’ve ever tried. Perfectly caramelized scallops were topped with a crispy calamari and accompanied by an herbaceous cilantro broth and sweet coconut cream. All the components worked together perfectly for a truly complex dish.
8
Plump and tender sweet shrimp was paired with refreshing mango coulis and crunchy jicama, allowing the freshness of the shrimp to truly shine. This was the epitome of freshness and acidity and a perfect start to the meal.
7
An absolutely stunning presentation was backed up by an amazing dessert, with a crunchy chocolate shell wrapping around a cream of hazelnut and praline, and the soft ice cream and crunchy praline paired well with the smooth chocolate.
6
Here the powerful and heavy techniques of the kitchen truly shined, and this was most definitely a sensational dessert. A thin layer of chocolate cracked into rich chocolate sabayon and creamy ice cream, with the chocolate cracker providing more body to the entire dessert. This was extremely satisfying and delicious.
5
The black-garlic crusted lamb chop was unbelievably tender and soft, and the chunks of lamb belly were incredibly fatty. This was easily the best cooked meat that I’ve ever had, and it had good flavors from the jus and garlic. Absolutely mindblowing main course.
4
Fresh, tender, and juicy lobster was fried with such aromatic onions, shallots, and green onions. The lobster itself was so tender, and it was cooked to really bring out the best flavors in the lobster. A complex combination of sweet, savory, spicy, and aromatic flavors with perfectly cooked lobster made this dish one to remember.
3
Tender braised short rib was topped with an amazingly fatty piece of foie gras, and the fats in the foie gras seeped into the already amazing short rib. The combination was just divine, and the savoy cabbage wrapper just really completed the whole dish by allowing the short rib and foie to combine together, with the foie almost marbling the short rib. The complex red wine reduction added a deep balance to the fatty and tender meat, and the dish as a whole was the most satisfying and complex of the year.
2
This lobster had the absolute best texture out of any lobster I’ve had, being so tender yet still maintaining a plump snap on the outside. The morels were another interesting contrast, being soft and meaty. The flavors in this dish were also impeccable, with an amazing vegetal sweetness and umami from the tomato reduction and amplified sweetness from the lobster emulsion.
1
2023 was an amazing year, and the top dish has more than earned its spot. This was the single greatest bite ever, with perfectly toasted sesame buns, tender and fatty wagyu patty, and intensely rich and creamy foie gras accompanied by the sweet and spicy peppers and complex tomato jam. One bite was just a one way ticket to heaven with such intense richness and potent flavors.