Supposedly these are the Best Hotel Restaurants, although with these lists I often wonder how many the writer has actually been to.
My personal favorite fine dining in Washington DC (certainly the most beautiful restaurant space) belongs to Blue Duck Tavern at the Park Hyatt, not on this list.
And it’s hard to imagine leaving off Amber at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong.
The ceiling fixture in the dining room at Amber is made of 4320 bronze rods.
Hokkaido sea urchin in a lobster jell-o with cauliflower, caviar, crispy seaweed waffles
Meanwhile, though I’m not a fan, Iggy’s at the Hilton Singapore warrants consideration.
And surely Waku Ghin at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore ought to be on such a list?
Fresh-shaved wasabi with wagyu beef and a citrus dipping sauce and garlic chips on the side
Some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever eaten? At the Grand Hyatt Mumbai. (The best restaurants in Mumbai, and in several cities in India, will actually be found in hotels — and Chinese food is generally high quality in the large cities of India.)
Beggars Chicken at China House, Grand Hyatt Mumbai
I’m not well-traveled enough, at least to hotel restaurants, to put together a list of the world’s best hotel restaurants on my own. And even having been to a good portion of the restaurants at the very top of most of the world’s best lists, I certainly haven’t been to them all. But I’ve been to enough restaurants to wonder whether a list like this is based more on reputations than experience.
(HT: Alan H.)
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You have good taste, Gary. The Blue Duck is fantastic. My son and I ate there twice during a 4 day stay in DC. 🙂
I have a friend who writes for a travel publication, and I can tell you that for many of the “Top 10” lists she’s written, she’s never set foot in the establishments.
BDT is interesting. I lived in DC when it opened, initially to great reviews (and I loved it too). Then it started to suck, or at least get mediocre for a while, since I really think they couldn’t deal with the volume. It didn’t help that M.C. Escher did the floor plan. Then they opened the space up, had some changes at the helm, and at my last visit it was very good again.
You usually don’t see restaurants recover from mediocrity, especially not hotel restaurants, which usually have a captive audience. You can look across the street to the Fairmont for that – Juniper isn’t BAD. I just don’t know why anyone would go there instead of walking across the street to BDT.
I live in Maine now. The closest I do to hotel restaurants is to stay at the HGI on Commercial and walk across the street to Hugo’s.
My experience is quite limited, but my favorite hotel restaurants are:
New York Grill: Park Hyatt Tokyo
Jade Garden: Hyatt Regency Tokyo
K’shiki: Mandarin Oriental Tokyo
Ka’ana Kitchen: Andaz Maui
Victoria and Albert’s: Grand Floridian (Walt Disney World)
Waldorf Astoria in Ras Al Khaimah
Lexington Steak House. This restaurant was great. Service was slow , food was wonderful.
http://waldorfastoria3.hilton.com/en/hotels/uae/waldorf-astoria-ras-al-khaimah-RKTWAWA/amenities/restaurants-lexington-grill.html