Sydney's 'Tetsuya' restaurant fourth on world's best list

SYDNEY - It's not exactly snail porridge but a Sydney restaurant's orange, honey and black pepper sorbet is an international hit.

Tetsuya's, which serves up the unique fruity dish with a twist, has been voted the fourth best restaurant in the world by an influential British industry magazine.

A converted English pub, The Fat Duck, whose signature dish is snail porridge, took top honours in Restaurant Magazine's World's 50 Best Restaurant awards.

Tetsuya's was one of only three Australian eateries to make it onto the list, with Melbourne's Flower Drum at number 33, and Sydney's Rockpool at number 42.

World renowned chef Tetsuya Wakuda credited Australia's fresh produce for his success.

"When I see good produce I get excited," Wakuda said.

"Good produce inspires me."

The lack of an Australian food tradition had helped put Tetsuya's on the international food map, the chef said.

"We don't have a long food history and culture, and we don't have a traditional food like England, France, China and Japan have," he said.

"We have a very mixed cuisine, which is an advantage in some ways because we can mix every ingredient."

Tetsuya Wakuda arrived in Sydney from Japan in 1982, and his restaurant has been a Sydney landmark for the past 18 years.

Tetsuya's cuisine is based on the Japanese philosophy of natural seasonal flavours, enhanced by classic French technique, cooked in an Australian way.

The signature dish is confit of ocean trout served with unpasteurised ocean trout roe, and deserts include an orange, honey and black pepper sorbet.

"We try to make the best food we can using the best possible freshest ingredients - Australia has great produce," Tetsuya said.

"I've got to thank Australia too for this award, otherwise I wouldn't have got it."

The top 50 restaurant list was compiled by an international panel of more than 500 chefs, food critics and restaurateurs, comparing factors including culinary excellence, service and overall dining experience.

Winning restaurant, The Fat Duck, in Bray, a riverside village west of London, was founded by British chef Heston Blumenthal, and has championed "molecular gastronomy", the application of laboratory science to cooking.

As well as snail porridge, the restaurant serves up sardine on toast sorbet, bacon and egg ice-cream, and salmon poached with licorice.

World's top 50 restaurants

The world's top 50 restaurants as voted by Britain's Restaurant Magazine

1. The Fat Duck, England
2. El Bulli, Spain
3. The French Laundry, California
4. Tetsuya's, Sydney
5. Gordon Ramsay, London
6. Pierre Gagnaire, Paris
7. Per Se, New York
8. Tom Aikens, London
9. Jean Georges, New York
10. St John, London
11. Michel Bras Laguiole, France
12. Le Louis XV, Monte Carlo
13. Chez Panisse, California
14. Charlie Trotter, Chicago
15. Gramercy Tavern, New York
16. Guy Savoy, Paris
17. Restaurant Alain Ducasse, Paris
18. The Gallery at Sketch, London
19. The Waterside Inn Bray, Berkshire
20. Nobu, London
21. Restaurante Arzak San Sebastian, Spain
22. El Raco de Can Fabes San Celoni, Spain
23. Checcino dal 1887, Rome
24. Le Meurice, Paris
25. L'Hotel de Ville Crissier, Switzerland
26. L'Arpege, Paris
27. Angela Hartnett at the Connaught, London
28. Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Oxford
29. Le Cinq, Paris
30. Hakkasan, London
31. Cal Pep, Barcelona
32. Masa, New York
33. Flower Drum, Melbourne
34. WD50, New York
35. Le Quartier Francais Franschhoek, South Africa
36. Spice Market, New York
37. Auberge de l'Ill Illhaeusern, Alsace
38. Manresa, California
39. Restaurant Dieter Muller Begisch Gladbach, Germany
40. La Maison Troisgros Roanne, France
41. The Wolseley, London
42. Rockpool, Sydney
43. Yauatcha, London
44. The Ivy, London
45. Gambero Rosso San Vincenzo, Italy
46. The Cliff St James, Barbados
47. Le Gavroche, London
48. Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence
49. Felix, Hong Kong
50. La Tupina, Bordeaux
Source: The Guardian

- AAP