A whiff of injustice was in the air and the rumour mill began when the S.Pellegrino's Worlds 50 Best Restaurants were announced at a lavish ceremony at the beginning of this week. For three years now, the El Bulli restaurant in Spain has won first prize and many judges are wondering if others on the 600-strong judging panel are really taking the voting seriously.

Judging criteria
As a judge, one of the criteria for..

Herewith the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2008 by www.theworlds50best.com, reckoned to be the 50 best places on earth to eat.. enjoy !

1. El Bulli, Spain
This is the third consecutive year that Farron Adria, chef at El Bulli on the Costa Brava in Spain, has topped the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. Offering diners a unique taste experience, Adria was one of the first to delve into the world of molecular gastronomy. His most famous protegée was..

Having been at the pinnacle of modern European cuisine for over a decade, The Fat Duck restaurant in England, is still a pioneering force in the culinary world thanks to its owner and head chef, Heston Blumenthal. So what puts this restaurant at the top of the pile?

Science and Cooking
After failing to gain employment in the kitchens of London, Blumenthal set himself the task of learning to cook and he began accumulating his knowledge and expertise on his travels to France. In 1995 he opened The Fat Duck in Bray, situated near Maidenhead..

Would you believe that in the world of European Michelin stars, Germany is now second on the list to France? Amazing but true. The world of fine dining in Germany has grown, such that 9 of its restaurants now hold the sought-after 3 Michelin stars.

Unadventurous cooking
Catching up with the French, who currently have 28 3-starred restaurants, has been a long time coming for the Germans, who have always held the stereotype among other Europeans as being a little un-adventurous when it comes to their kitchens. According to Juan Amador, owner of the Amador restaurant which has recently been awarded its third star, this about-turn in German cuisine has been quite a recent event..

Imagine a restaurant so huge that it spans six floors and needs 35 chefs to hold the fort. Welcome to the famous Tour d'Argent, Paris' oldest restaurant which has just been re-opened to grand fanfare after 3 months of re-furbishment and upgrade.

The new owner André Terrail, 27, set about re-establishing the reputation of this gastronomic legend, as it had fallen in Parisian estimation in recent years. Frequent changes of the "master" chef in meant that the Tour d'Argent suffered inconsistency in its..

In the world of haute-cuisine, it is a grand achievement for a chef to receive one or two Michelin Stars, and the absolute epitome of culinary excellence to achieve three. This week, however top chef Marco Pierre White launched an attack on the Guide claiming that it is "outdated" and has "varying standards" from country to country. He said, "I've dined in Michelin-starred places in New York and I'm confused. There are at least fifty restaurants in England as good as the two-star restaurants over there, rather than the paltry ten that currently hold..

Michelin has sensationally broken with tradition and showered Tokyo City with stars in its first guide to Japan. Tokyo now holds a total of 191 stars compared to only 42 for New York and 64 for Paris. According to Jean Luc Naret the Guide Director, the secret is in the number of true restaurants in each city. Tokyo has a staggering 8 times more restaurants than Paris..

Amador of Frankfurt famous for its Molecular Cuisine wins a 3 star endorsement in the latest Michelin guide. The Spanish restaurateur Juan Amador is particularly commended for developing his own style of MC, including Müritz lamb with coconut and curry says Jean-Luc Naret of Michelin. "Everything we make is basic on classical cuisine," says Chef Juan. "Even when we cook with modern..

The furore surrounding the new 2008 Michelin Guide for Los Angeles reached fever pitch last week when some over anxious chefs decided to raid the Michelin website in advance of the official announcements. Whether they hacked into the site, or obtained the information legitimately is unclear, but the whole of the Las Vegas and Los Angeles results were..

After opening only 11 months ago the New York Michelin Guide announces it has awarded Gordon Ramsay of 'The London' two stars in its first year making Ramsay one of only 6 establishments in the city to have two stars. Gordon Ramsay now claims that between all his various restaurant ventures he now has the largest total of Michelin Stars in the world; currently 12 stars..

Restaurant Magazine has just announced the S. Pellegrino 2007 Best Restaurants list. Europe always does well in this report and this year is no exception with 74% of the listed restaurants located in the EU..

Described as soft, shy and determined, Anne-Sophie Pic, 37, celebrates her award today of three Michelin Stars, the first of its kind to a woman in more than 50 years. Behind the award a touching story covering four generations of the Pic family. Just imagine, 4 generations! How many people do you know are still working in a business started by their great grandmother ?

Of great interest to many of our readers is knowing which truly are the Top Restaurants to visit, and where can they find the best dining out experience.
Many have not seen this list and so we publish it here with links to Restaurant Magazine; well worth a look if you want to read up on how the voting is handled, and exactly what constitutes a 'Best' rating