2015: Lava Buns
Chef Man
2016: Cheese Tarts
Pablo
The influx of cheese tarts in the second half of the year made us forget about lava croissants and embrace our inner Hong Kong uncle. It all started with the arrival of
Bake from Sapporo just at the end of last year. Then a few other Japanese names followed, including
Me & Cheese and the much-hyped
Pablo. Local bakers Hiro Keki and the Bread Talk chain also jumped on the train. Our pick? Bake!
2015: Dessert-inspired booze
Revoclusion
2016: Booze-inspired desserts
Barisa
Did you try the lemon meringue cocktail thing at
Revolucion last year? That thing was way too sweet. We much prefer the 2016 way: desserts which take their inspiration from cocktails. At
Clandestino Cantina, that means a pina colada (B270) in the form of deconstructed tart with rum-infused pineapple, pina colada mousse and coconut ice cream.
Barisa’s mojito ice cream sandwich (B150) features layers of mint and rum ice cream in between lime cake, while
Robuchon offers a take on the caipirinha in the form of passion-banana cream, cahaca granita and coconut nectar (B450).
2015: Tomahawks
Attico
2016: Beef Ribs
Meat and Bone
Tomahawks didn’t go anywhere this year. In fact they became more apparent than ever. But they were also joined by a new on-the bone cut, from the eight-hour-smoked slab at
Meat & Bones to the plump, melt-in-your-mouth wagyu short rib at
Bunker to the latest smoked beef rib at
Wild & Co.
2015: Bingsu
Wicked Snow
2016: Kakigori
Maygori
Japan’s version of fluffy shaved ice took over the scene from Korea. First, long-time sweets specialist
After You popularized the dessert by adding it to its menu before launching a full kakigori-specialist cafe,
Maygori. Now you can also find the mineral water variation at Matcha Ten, sweet-savory combos like melon and Parma ham at
Sweet Pista, and the much-loved Japanese sweet potato flavor at Abpo Cafe. Even ice-cream specialist
Jaiyen Cafe hopped on board.
2015: Mexican Cuisine
Mexicano
2016: Latin Cuisine
Azul
While 2015 welcomed more new Mexican openings than we could keep track of, 2016 moved on from tacos and burritos to scour all over South and Central America. Get a taste of Ecuador at
Cali’s Grill 23, “Nuevo Latino” cuisine at
Azul, and playful takes on food from from Latin-speaking countries at
Clandestino Cantina. Blu 36 also joined
Above Eleven with its Peruvian food. Even Cuban sandwiches are popping up. Our favorite is at
Havana Social.
2015: The French
Savelberg
2016: Underdog Nations
Freebird
Last year, we obsessed over big Michelin-star names like Robuchon,
Savelberg and
Lorain. But this year we looked beyond the obvious food capitals and embraced new flavors, with Bunker doing “modern American,”
Freebird doing “modern Australian” and
Suhring doing “modern German.”