Controversy over Michelin's list

The list of 103 restaurants selected by Michelin for the first time, Michelin Guide Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City restaurants, was announced on the evening of June 6 and has caused many mixed opinions.

The list of 70 Michelin Selected restaurants (restaurants recommended by the Michelin Guide) has caused a lot of controversy.

Besides the congratulations and compliments, many netizens on many forums said that the above evaluation was unfair. Many opinions said that the experts chosen by Michelin to evaluate were foreign diners who could not fully understand and grasp Vietnamese culinary restaurants.

In fact, in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, there are many delicious and long-standing restaurants that are not mentioned. Meanwhile, Michelin also selected too many pho restaurants but ignored the famous Vietnamese sandwich.

Netizens also said that many of the names on the list have ordinary, unappealing flavors. The nomination list includes many strange restaurants in terms of street food, which is very famous in Vietnam.

Crab and eggplant soup at Ngon Garden, a restaurant honored by Michelin in the list of 70 Michelin recommended restaurants/eateries

In response to the interest of the community and social networks, Mr. Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of Michelin Guide, said he was very happy to receive this attention.

According to Mr. Gwendal Poullennec, the people's debate and discussion around the Michelin list will contribute to raising the level of Vietnamese cuisine in particular and international cuisine in general.

Speaking further about the controversial results, Mr. Gwendal said that the Michelin Guide has an independent evaluation process, separate from the restaurants. The evaluators work completely anonymously so that no factors affect the results. Each restaurant will have many evaluators to evaluate, however, each evaluator only visits the restaurant once, not returning to ensure the proposed process.

Luxembourg Prime Minister enjoys Vietnamese cuisine at Ngon Restaurant, a restaurant honored by Michelin in the list of 70 Michelin recommended restaurants/eateries

"The final result is the result of a group of appraisers, not from an individual. We guarantee that a Michelin star in Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo or Paris is of the same quality," Mr. Gwendal affirmed.

The Michelin Guide representative said that the team of judges comes from 20 countries and this award has been present in more than 40 countries and territories. Although it has international standards, Michelin still emphasizes the unique identity of each country. And up to now, not only in Vietnam, Michelin has faced challenges when coming to any country for the first time.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quynh, General Secretary of the Vietnam Chefs Association, admitted that he had received some mixed opinions from people in the profession. Those are understandable feelings, because cuisine, like beauty, depends on each person's perception. What is delicious to one person may not be suitable for another.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quynh, Michelin has its own criteria for independent evaluation in the same way they have been doing for hundreds of years in other countries. It is no coincidence that up to now, the culinary cultures of many countries still respect the evaluation value that Michelin brings.

Beautiful appetizers by chef Sam Tran from GIA restaurant

Ms. Pham Bich Hanh, owner of the restaurant chains Quan An Ngon and Ngon Garden, believes that time will be the best answer for quality assessments.

With Ngon Restaurant and Ngon Garden being on the list of 70 recommended restaurants, Ms. Pham Bich Hanh emphasized that Michelin's title is a great source of motivation for restaurants to strive and improve their services. This is an honor but also a responsibility for the units to affirm their name and brand.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/du-lich-xanh/tranh-luan-trai-chieu-ve-danh-sach-vinh-danh-cua-michelin-20230607181404922.htm