Meituan Black Pearl Restaurant Guide
Black Pearl Restaurant Guide 2025 Awards Ceremony made its debut outside of China. Taking place on April 25, 2025, at Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, the event brought together top chefs, industry experts, and food lovers from across Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, Macao, Hong Kong, and Taiwan for an evening celebrating the pinnacle of Chinese gastronomy.
Founded by Meituan in 2018, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide is a premier fine-dining guide that spotlights exceptional Chinese restaurants worldwide. Designed to help Chinese travelers discover outstanding dining experiences both at home and abroad, the guide evaluates restaurants through anonymous tastings by expert judges, emphasizing culinary heritage, innovation, and ingredient excellence.
As the first international food guide rooted in Chinese dining standards, the “Black Pearl” has served approximately 130 million users since its inception. This year, the Guide shines a spotlight on 55 overseas restaurants, marking the fifth consecutive year of growth in international listings.
Tokyo leads the way with 30 restaurants, while Singapore and Bangkok each achieved record highs since the guide’s debut in 2018. Notably, two Singaporean restaurants earned the highest honor-the prestigious 3-Diamond rating this year.
Wei Wei, Vice President of Meituan and the company’s head of the in-store dining division, described the ceremony as a major milestone in the global expansion of Meituan’s ranking products. He highlighted the platform’s use of advanced AI technologies to streamline user decision-making. Moving forward, Meituan aims to integrate AI and expertly curated recommendations to seamlessly connect users with quality restaurants, hotels, and attractions, enabling efficient connections between consumers and premium businesses.
The 2025 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide upholds its strict evaluation standards, with anonymous reviewers conducting multiple rounds of tastings throughout the year. Big data insights from Meituan, combined with verification from China’s national notary agencies, ensure the integrity and fairness of the rankings.
Restaurants are awarded based on three levels of excellence:
- One Diamond – A must-visit for refined Chinese cuisine
- Two Diamonds – An outstanding culinary destination worth traveling for
- Three Diamonds – A world-class dining experience offering the best in Chinese gastronomy
The Black Pearl has evolved beyond a ranking system into a platform for fostering global culinary and cultural exchange. Its annual “Food Vision Summit”—a global culinary exchange platform held every summer—aims to promote collaboration and dialogue between Chinese and international chefs.
Southeast Asian restaurants featured in the Black Pearl have flourished amid rising demand. Le Du, a celebrated modern Thai fine dining establishment, retained its 1-Diamond rating in the Black Pearl Guide for two consecutive years. Chef Ton shared that Chinese guests now make up 20% of the restaurant’s clientele.
Potong, a Thai-Chinese fusion restaurant nestled in the heart of Bangkok’s Chinatown, earned its first 1-Diamond rating this year. Chef and founder Pam described the accolade as a significant milestone for cross-cultural cuisine and shared her excitement for welcoming more Chinese diners to experience Potong’s unique offerings.
Les Amis, one of Singapore’s most established French fine dining restaurants, has been awarded 3-Diamond rating in the 2025 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide. “We love that it continues to grow its reach and push culinary standards, not just in China, but globally. It’s also given us new ideas in how we run things — like hiring team members who speak Chinese,” shared Chef Sébastien Lepinoy.
After 15 years of remarkable growth, Meituan today connects merchants across over 170 countries and nearly 1,000 cities worldwide, offering a comprehensive ranking system spanning food, hotel, transportation, and travel.
Here are the international restaurants featured in the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide 2025
Also read IHG Greater China Adds 3 More Restaurants in the Black Pearl
