On 29 March, the World’s 50 Best, an internationally renowned food list has posted Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for the year 2022.
This year, local restaurant Dewakan moved up several places from last year (66th) to claim the 50th spot in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and also the title, The Best Restaurant in Malaysia 2022.
The name Dewakan is a combination of the Malay words “dewa” which means food and “makan” which means to eat. The restaurant’s mission is to “honour the bounty and blessing given to the land.” What wonderful meaning!
Completing the concept is chef Darren Teoh who emphasises on using local ingredients to create and elevate modern dishes.
“Each dish is made with ingredients sourced from Malaysia, carefully crafted to encourage deeper appreciation for the land and culture,”- reads their website.
Some examples of such dishes are duck tongue dumpling with ubi kemili (an indigenous variety of potato) and pickled maman (also known as cat’s whiskers) glazed with vinegar or bamboo shoots with salted mackerel bouillon. They sound very intriguing.
If you’re wondering how the chef is so creative, it’s because Darren Teoh was born in a family of cooks.
So, his dishes are anchored on his childhood memories and upbringing of how the mother figures in his family created their signature curries.
After receiving news of the listing, Dewakan has posted a thank you note on their Instagram page.
If you would like to know more about Dewakan, you can click here.
There were 3 other Malaysian restaurants on the 51-100 list as well and they are Nadodi, Eat and Cook and Cilantro.
The rising number of Malaysian restaurants on the list is proof that they are making a name for the nation on the gastronomy map.
We hope that the restaurants will only continue to grow and get better at what they do in the years to follow.
Also read: This Japanese Man Opened A Nasi Kandar Restaurant In Tokyo & It’s Constantly Selling Out!